Butt @ 202 degrees in 4 hours??!?

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bob loblaw

Newbie
Original poster
Jul 4, 2007
6
10
Deepindaharta, Texas
My 6.5 lb butt has been on a 225 degree smoker for a little less than 4 hours and is at 202 degrees according to the probe. I smoked it until it hit 160 then double wrapped it in heavy foil & put it back on. I have a chicken & some ribs to smoke & don't want to over smoke the butt so that's why I wrapped it.

Why in the world would it be at 202 so quickly? I've been smoking for years and never encountered this. It never stalled or anything like it usually does.
 
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That doesn't sound quite right to me either. 

Did you probe it in a few places to make sure you just didn't hit a pocket of fat? 

Have you calibrated your thermos? 
 
Sounds a little hot to me..

What kinda smoker and therms ya got???

  Craig
 
That doesn't sound quite right to me either. 

Did you probe it in a few places to make sure you just didn't hit a pocket of fat? 

Have you calibrated your thermos? 
I moved the probe around. I get 196 to 206.

I haven't calibrated anything. I've never had an issue and the thermo & probe are only about 9 mos old.
 
I'd test those probes, the one in your cooker and the one you are using for the meat - something is off. Good luck!
 
I think my probe was dead. I checked the meat with a crappy manual thermometer & it read about 180. I found another probe from an old thermometer & it reads 184 right now.

Either my wife or my daughter must have cleaned up last time I smoked because the probes were just throw into my grilling utensil drawer and not coiled nicely & put in the ziplock bag in the cabinet where they were supposed to be.
 
I think my probe was dead. I checked the meat with a crappy manual thermometer & it read about 180. I found another probe from an old thermometer & it reads 184 right now.

Either my wife or my daughter must have cleaned up last time I smoked because the probes were just throw into my grilling utensil drawer and not coiled nicely & put in the ziplock bag in the cabinet where they were supposed to be.
 It is pretty easy to whack out one of those metal probes by touching something real hot, like a grate. Probably can buy some more for a replacement. I have three meat temp probes that I use when I am questioning an internal temp. Another thing is try not to submerge the entire probe in water, but just wash off the metal probe.
 
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I agree.  Either the pit therm was off, or the meat therm was off. 

Otherwise, I would like to find where to buy butts that come out good with such a short smoke.

Good luck and good smoking.
 
Somehow....???? My probes got submerged in water....When checking meat temps it always read 205 or so.

I surmised the water in the ss tube got heated up from the oven and traveled down the tube to the wire end where the temp is recorded.

Solution: put the probe, and braided wire in the oven or dehydrator at 220* overnight or longer. You might not put the plug in the oven ?? It takes awhile to drive out the moisture to get an accurate reading again.

Worked for me. If that is your problem, maybe it will work for you.

Do not submerge the probe assembly in any liquid, only the ss tube.
 
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