Cooking Overnight

[HRC99]

Just completed my first pork butt smoke.  It came out really well.  The only problem was that it took 14 hours - 08:30 to 22:30 which meant that eating it had to wait until the next day which was a shame,

Now, I'd like to try and get to out it hot on the night rather than reheat the next day.

One answer is to get up earlier but, with my job, I might not finish work until 23:00-01:00 so getting up much earlier isn't much of an option.

So I wondered if doing this overnight somehow might be a possibility and wanted to draw on the knowledge and experience on here to see how that might be done.  :)

[tskeeter]

Hrc, I do pork butt overnight all the time. Start about 6 PM.  Done early afternoon.  FTC for a few hours and ready for dinner.

[GusRobin]

I do them all the time. Some recommendations:
1) Replace the water bowl with a disposable aluminum pan ( I think it is 9X 13)
2) Time it so that the smoke ends before you go to bed
3) Change water after smoke, and when you get up.
4) Use a remote thermometer with alarm

For example, I usually do 1 or 2 8 lb butts. I start at 8:00 pm with 4 hrs smoke. After the smoke is done at midnight, I change the water and throw away the pucks. Refill the water pan. I have a maverick 732 so I cook at 225* and set the maverick low temp alarm to 185* and high temp alarm at 255*. I go to sleep and get up about 7:30am to check everything and change the water again as it has a lot of grease by this time. Then cook until done. When you change the water, put in water that is as hot as you can get it so you recover the temps quicker.

[Ka Honu]

Well you can certainly do all that but I'm not all that sure that it's worth the effort.  Smoke when it's convenient and freeze in vacuum packs after pulling.  Reheated properly it's as good as (and sometimes better than) fresh.

[HRC99]

Well you can certainly do all that but I'm not all that sure that it's worth the effort.  Smoke when it's convenient and freeze in vacuum packs after pulling.  Reheated properly it's as good as (and sometimes better than) fresh.

How do you reheat "properly"?

[Habanero Smoker]

I always smoke/cook/pull my butts at least a day before, then reheat when I am ready to serve it. The taste is much better, because the flavors from the bark has time to meld with the rest of the pork.

There are many choices on how to reheat. First you should pull the pork, as soon as it is cool enough to handle, but still "hot". It pulls much easier that way. A 6 - 8 pound butt will fill about a half steam pan. To reheat a half steam pan for a party, I add a little low sodium chicken stock, tightly seal with foil, and reheat in the oven at 350°F, until the pork is around 165°F. Smaller amounts can be easily reheated in a crock pot or in the microwave. If you vacuum seal the pork in small portions, it can be easily reheated in simmering water or microwave; just create a small hole near the top seam to help vent the steam.

Many of us use an overnight method to cook butts and briskets. If you are going to do an overnight cook, make sure there is someone there who can respond to any problems, most commonly alarms from you probes, power outages etc. Also it would be better if you did it on a day you didn't have to go to work. I will general start the cook/smoke about 4 hours before I plan to go to sleep. The four hours is how much smoke I plan to apply. After the smoke is done, I empty the water bowl and refill with water; I still use the stock water bowl that came with my Bradley. Then I catch some sleep, which is generally around 4 - 5 hours; check the cabinet and meat temperature, refresh the water in the bowl, and catch some more sleep if needed. I trim my butts so that there is very little fat cap so I don't get as much grease in the bowl.

[KyNola]

Just a word of caution here.  If you are going to do an overnight cook, please make certain your smoker is well away from any structures.  In the unlikely but still quite possible event of a grease fire, the only thing you want burning is your meat and the smoker.  Many many many of the grease fires occur when the Bradley is left unattended.

Not trying to scare you but better to be safe than to risk harm to your family and you.

[pondee]

Any thoughts on finishig the shoulder, after smoke, in a cast iron dutch oven preheated to 225, and cotinued at 225 in your kitchen oven?

[Habanero Smoker]

Any thoughts on finishing the shoulder, after smoke, in a cast iron dutch oven preheated to 225, and cotinued at 225 in your kitchen oven?

You can do that, or place it on a rack in a roasting pan covered or uncovered, or foil it and place it in a roasting pan.

[beefmann]

have  done many  over  night  smokes,  Take some  precautions, Change  out the water bowl  after the  smoke and re fill it  with  fresh liquid, keep  the  vet  open,  smoke away  from the  home, half way  through the  night  check the water bowl be sure it  has   fresh  liquid in it,,,  not  drippings from the  meat

good luck

[OldHickory]

Any thoughts on finishig the shoulder, after smoke, in a cast iron dutch oven preheated to 225, and cotinued at 225 in your kitchen oven?

I do this method often with no problems.