How Long to Rest Pork Butt After Smoking?

The final and arguably most crucial step in creating great barbecue is the resting period.

Now allowing enough rest can be the difference between a great cook and a bad one.

On the other hand, resting for too long can be dangerous if not done safely.

I have smoked hundreds of pork butts in my life for competition, catering, and right in my backyard.

Today I will share how long to let pork butt rest and the best methods for wrapping and resting.

How long to let pork butt rest?

If you are in an absolute time crunch and need to serve as soon as possible, I would say the absolute minimum time you need to rest a pork butt is 30 minutes. My general rule is to plan for a 2-hour resting period, the latter portion of which will be done in my insulated Cambro Go Box.

If you do not have a Cambro or a steam cabinet, you can always use the “faux Cambro” method and use a cooler lined with towels.

It’s not as foolproof as the other options, so I recommend checking the internal temperature every 30 minutes or so.

The best way to rest a pork butt

When you are resting meat, it’s important to continue to watch the internal temperature.

I usually pull pork butt off the smoker at around 200°F to 205°F internal temperature.

You need to let that pork rest and come down below 160°F (the point at which the collagen stops breaking down). Then, you can hold it at that temperature for as long as you need to depending on when you are trying to serve.

You mustn’t allow the internal temperature of the meat to drop below 140°F unless you are transferring it to a refrigerator or freezer for future use.

Temperatures between 40°F and 140°F are known as the Danger Zone because bacteria is able to multiply rapidly in this temperature range, increasing the chance for foodborne illness.

If you are not serving your pork immediately, you want to let it rest at room temperature until the internal temperature gets down to around 160°F, then transfer it to a Cambro or steam cabinet to hold the temperature at a safe level.

Do you have to rest pork butt?

There is some debate in the barbecue community about if you should rest pork shoulder/butt for as long as you rest briskets.

Most experienced pitmasters will agree that you must let the meat rest for at least an hour, but some people argue that pork butts can be shredded straight out of the smoker.

As far as a maximum time, I don’t really think there is one. Some of the best pork I’ve ever made ended up resting in my steam cabinet for 8 hours prior to service and it was fantastic. The important thing with longer resting periods is just to watch your internal temperature and make sure your meat does not enter into the Danger Zone. If you can hold the meat at a steady temperature of 150°F, you can theoretically hold it indefinitely…

Why do we rest pork butts?

The post-cook resting period is important for a number of reasons:

1. Moisture redistribution – the final internal temperature on a cut of meat like a pork butt is usually around 200°F to 205°F. As meat cooks and increases in internal temperature, the muscle fibers start to tighten and push the moisture in the meat outward. As meat cools, the muscle fibers start to relax and allow the moisture in the meat to redistribute.

2. Carry-over cooking – carry-over cooking is the term used to describe the period of time between when meat is pulled off the grill/heat source and when it reaches its maximum internal temperature before the cooling process starts. A pork butt can continue to cook for as long as 30 minutes after being removed from the smoker which can account for a difference of 5 to 10 degrees. It may not sound like much, but it can be the difference between trying to shred rubber and a pork butt that will melt apart like butter in your hands.

3. Collagen breakdown – collagen will begin to denature around 140°F, but collagen will not break down until the meat reaches around 160°F. As the collagen dissolves, it becomes gelatinous. The rich gelatin will help give your meat a lot of flavor and improve the texture. In addition to the collagen, the connective tissues will begin breaking down around the same temperature which is essential for tenderness in a tough cut like a pork butt.

If you try to shred your pork butt too early a few things will happen. First, you are going to lose a lot of moisture in your meat because it hasn’t had a proper chance to redistribute through the entire cut.

Second, it’s going to be more difficult to shred because the muscle fibers will still be tight. When I shred a pork butt too early, I notice that it can feel a bit more like pulling rubber apart than the butter-like texture of properly rested pulled pork.

Do I need to unwrap before resting?

Some people wrap their pork butts midway through the cooking process in either aluminum foil, a metal pan covered in foil, or in butcher paper.

If you chose to wrap your pork butt during the cooking process there is no need to unwrap it before the resting period. If anything, it’s better to keep it wrapped and keep as much of that moisture touching the meat as possible.

If you used my Competition Pork Butt method and finished smoking your pork in an aluminum pan filled with liquid and covered in foil, you do not need to remove the pork from the liquid prior to resting either. Let that pork swim in that juice!

How long to let pork butt rest?

I’ve talked a lot about temperature, but not time. At the end of the day when you’re planning a cook, you need to know what time you can get food on the table, right?

If you are in an absolute time crunch and need to speed through the rest as much as possible, I would say the absolute minimum amount of time you need to rest a pork butt is 30 minutes. My general rule is to plan for a 2-hour resting period, the latter portion of which will be done in my insulated Cambro Go Box.

As far as a maximum time, I don’t really think there is one. Some of the best pork I’ve ever made ended up resting in my steam cabinet for 8 hours prior to service and it was fantastic. The important thing with longer resting periods is just to watch your internal temperature and make sure your meat does not enter into the Danger Zone. If you can hold the meat at a steady temperature of 150°F, you can theoretically hold it indefinitely…

Final thoughts

At the end of the day, resting your meat is non-negotiable if you want good quality barbecue. You need to let the meat rest, let the muscle fibers relax, and let the moisture redistribute throughout the meat.

You want to aim for an insulated rest starting at about 160°F and ideally want to hold the meat at 150°F during the remainder of the resting period.

If you’re short on time, you can get away with a rest as short at 30 minutes, but I recommend giving it about 2 hours if you are able. Patience is a virtue when it comes to great barbecue, so just relax and let your meat rest.