Urgent help - Max time to "hold" meat

[jclarkhpa]

Aloha,

I'm doing a BBQ for our maintenance department and it starts at 1:30PM.  It's now 5AM and I've got 4 pork butts on Lola.  Two are at 200 degrees and the other two are reaching 190.  I've got a cooler with towels ready to go, but what's the max time I can keep them in the cooler?  I've got 8 hours to go before the event, I have 9 racks of ribs I still need to do plus 6 tri-tip steaks.  If keeping it in the cooler for 8 hours is too long, any suggestions?  Should I put in the fridge and re-heat?  Any help would be appreciated.

[jclarkhpa]

I should mention that the cooler has two water bottles, half full of boiling water and half of hot tap water.  The rest of the space is full of towels.  I want to make sure the meat is good AND safe.

[bosco]

You will be fine.  Keep it covered and wrapped in blankets and the hit bottles 

[tony b]

As long as you don't open them, the coolers should hold. Do you have a remote thermometer that you could put inside and monitor the temps without having to open the lid?

[jclarkhpa]

Good idea, I do have a remote thermometer and will use it.  

Thanks for your help!

Another question I have is whether I should pull it early or wait until the last minute and pull it.  I thought I read an article on this forum where someone said that they pull it and then store it.  Any thoughts?

Thanks again, and aloha.

 

[Shuley]

I always leave the meat probe in when it's a long wait. If you have heated up your cooler with the water， it should be fine. Remember the danger zone is usually regarded as being between 40-140 for 4 hours. So you should have a lot of time.

[twharton]

 My kind of crisis.  Now that you've cried Wolf you're obligated to post photos! 

[jclarkhpa]

Thanks everyone for your help and advice.  About two hours before "go" time the temp was down to 150, so I put it in a neighbors oven to keep warm.  I was non-stop busy with the cook or keeping up with work e-mails from 5AM until 1:30PM at which time I was driving to work to lay out the spread.  I have to admit I was amazed I was able to accomplish all of it because my wife was at work and I did this all by myself.  I didn't realize how helpful it is to have another pair of hands until you don't have another pair of hands.  All in all, I smoked 4 pork butts, 9 racks of ribs, 8 tri-tip steaks, and a whole mess of BBQ beans.  Unfortunately, I didn't have time to take any pictures.  I was able to bring home a little, but the maintenance guys at work kept the bulk of the leftovers for lunches next week.  I was happy to provide this for them as a thanks for all the work they do year round.