My smoking times are WAY off...whats the deal?

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

rtpassini

Fire Starter
Original poster
Aug 31, 2014
31
10
I had 2 pork loins with a nice fat cap on them. about 2.5 pounds each. Brined for about 12 hours and rubbed her good

Set my MES at 250 and let it ride

Well, 7 hours later they have only hit an internal of 140. are you kidding me?!



The grates were quite hot to the touch, so I know the temp is working (last time I also double checked with a probe)


Any ideas? Is it just the cut of meat? For some reason, it seems most of my butts and whatnot take about 2 hours per pound but this is ridiculous
 
throughout 90% of the process, i opened it one time to stick the meat with the probe.
 
Air flow through the smoker will affect cooking times..... More air flow, shorter cooking times.... think of what a difference, a convection oven makes to cooking times...
 
Last edited:
The MES units do a good job of maintaining temp regardless of the outside weather. The only downfall to a MES is that the built in temp probes are not that accurate. Did you monitor your smoker temp with an air probe?

I used my MES probably a dozen times without using a secondary thermo but once I started using one I will never go back. The readings on my Maverick are different than my MES so now I can adjust accordingly. If your smoker was 30-40 degrees low than that would extend your smoke time.
 
You really need to get a Maverick or similar therm. I love my MES, but know now that I need to see what temp I'm really cooking at. The MES sensor can be way off-this is common. Temps can vary a lot from rack to rack. Happy smokin', David.
 
 I had checked once before regarding the internal temps of my MES and they were almost exactly on point from what my thermoworks probe read.


I also use the mailbox mod and a chimney mod so airflow is good.

I'll have to check my readings again, but I dont think its an internal temp issue....
 
 
I had 2 pork loins with a nice fat cap on them. about 2.5 pounds each. Brined for about 12 hours and rubbed her good

Set my MES at 250 and let it ride

Well, 7 hours later they have only hit an internal of 140. are you kidding me?!



The grates were quite hot to the touch, so I know the temp is working (last time I also double checked with a probe)


Any ideas? Is it just the cut of meat? For some reason, it seems most of my butts and whatnot take about 2 hours per pound but this is ridiculous
A pork loin is done at 145. I take mine out at 135 wrap and rest for an hour in a warm oven. If They are loins and not Butts that is.
 
Last edited:
Right, I wanted to get them to a pulled point, not a sliced point. (the wife likes them shreadded more)
 
 
 I had checked once before regarding the internal temps of my MES and they were almost exactly on point from what my thermoworks probe read.


I also use the mailbox mod and a chimney mod so airflow is good.

I'll have to check my readings again, but I dont think its an internal temp issue....
IF the chamber temp is actually 250 degrees or thereabouts, there's almost nothing that could cause a small pork loin to take 7 hrs to reach 140 degrees.      Notice that I said "chamber temp" and not "Set point".    Ergo, your chamber temp couldn't have been anywhere close to 250.   Was the door accidentally left open ?  Is it possible that someone else was constantly peeking ?   Did a breaker get thrown in your fuse box and you didn't realize that the MES was plugged into that circuit ?   Was it stupidly cold outside, like 0 degrees ?  (Note: I have no idea how a MES reacts in cold environments, or how much heat it retains in extreme cold).
 
Loin is too lean for this. You will end up with dried pork. Try a different cut for this like a Picnic or Butt or even Country style ribs. They have enough fat in them to accomplish what you are trying. Happy smoking. timber.
 
oh i know its too lean. What I ended up doing was throwing it in the oven and braising it for about an hour. that got it to the pulled point.
It was delicious
 
Be careful of the 40-140 n 4 rule. I know that a loin will be done to pull at 140, but you should try to get therein 4hours. Just my dos centavos.
 
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Latest posts

Hot Threads

Clicky