MES 30 - 2nd session... Pulled Pork

[oboerista]

Hey folks.  My brand new MES 30 made some amazing ribs for us on its maiden run.  Today, I'm trying my hand at pulled pork.  I started with a modest size Boston Butt - 6 lbs.  I am using the smoking technique from the Pork Sticky, more or less.  No booze on hand to mix with the apple juice, so it's getting an occasional schpritz with plain apple juice.  I have hit the expected plateau at around 150F, and I'm just waiting it out.  I am also contemplating NOT foiling the meat, since it's just short of noon, and it won't be served until 6pm or so.  If the plateau lasts crazy long, though, out comes the foil.  I'm hoping for some bark this way.  The waiting continues...

 

[oboerista]

4.5 hours later, I am still waiting for the slingshot out of the stall.  I'm hovering at 169F, and have been here for quite a while.  I have a feeling that once I cross over to 170F, it will begin to move more quickly, but that's only a hunch.  Waiting still...

 

[holyfeld]

Welcome to the stall.

I remember when I thought 1.5 hours / pound would work. That correlated well with the size butts I was smoking.

Then one day I found a small butt at the store, did the math, (about 6 hours in the smoker) bought the butt for supper, and finally gave up and pulled the pork about midnight.

Now I allow 12 - 15 hours regardless what the butt weighs.

If you scroll to the bottom of http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/151864/mes-40-model-20070512-temperature-problems you'll see what a time/internal temp graph looks like in my MES-40. It was similar in my MES-30.

 

[oboerista]

Thanks, Holyfeld - This one's a doozy of a stall.  I finally cranked up the oven & pulled the butt from the smoker & into the oven.  It sat in the mid 180s forever, and we're STILL there.  At this point, I just want to see 195F so I can drop it into a cooler and worry about it tomorrow morning.  My alarm goes off at 5:30 am, so if I finally take it out of the oven by midnight (it's 9:15 now), I can tend to it then (hopefully).  The legendary rapid rise out of the stall hasn't paid me a visit yet.

 

 

[oboerista]

Here's how it all played out:

I put the pork in the smoker at 7am yesterday.  It stalled as expected and held solidly in the 150/160s F for hours and hours.  The climb continued very slowly.  I finally added the foil at 180F to see if it would help move things along, but it didn't seem to have much of an effect.  After 14 hours, I finally decided to pop it in the oven to finish.  The temp climb was still very slow - this was one stubborn piece of meat!

At this point, it's well past my bed time on a work night, so it finally hit 196F, and I transferred it to the cooler.  I knew I could not stay up any longer to pull it after a rest period, so with it wrapped tightly in the cooler, I called it a night.

Morning came quickly, and I raced downstairs this morning to tend to the Boston butt.  It was still hot (but not too hot).  The bone slid right out, as I had hoped.  It pulled easily without any implement - just my hands.  Even though the sun wasn't yet up, I had to dribble some finishing sauce on a small sample and give it a taste - very nice!  I am hoping that the period of rest in the cooler wasn't too long, and the meat remained safe w/o refrigeration.  I'm thinking <hoping> that all is good.

Here's the mountain of smoked goodness

pork1.jpg

• oboerista
• Jul 17, 2014

I know what's on the lunch menu today!  Cheers,

David

 

[holyfeld]

David,

And that's why I start my long smokes about midnight. [emoji]128564[/emoji]

If you pulled at 196 and used towels in the cooler, the meat /should be/ fine. My memory says I lose about 5 - 10 deg / hour during rest. The temperature / time for concern is below 140 for 4 hours. Then bad things can happen to the meat. BTW, I am not ServSafe trained or a food service inspector, so if someone says differently, go with the safest answer.

I'm smoking a brisket this weekend. If I remember I'll post a temp/time graph of the brisket during rest. I usually quit recording when I pull the meat from the smoker.

 

[oboerista]

Thanks, holyfeld.  I don't think there's a chance that the meat could have spent that long under 140F.  There just wasn't enough time for it, I hope!

 

[oboerista]

The conclusion after finally eating some of this pulled pork?

It was absolutely delicious!!!

 

[ibbones]

The last two smokes I have done with pork, I had the same thing.  Now if I smoke Pork Butts, I plan on something else for supper.

I smoked two 9# butts one time and had a massive stall.  I thought my smoker died.  The next time I smoked a 6 pounder all by itself and still had a three hour stall.

I'm too lazy to get up at midnight and start them so I just cook for the next day now.  Throw in some of JJ's finishing sauce and ...YummY!!!

 

[holyfeld]

I smoked the brisket. You can see the graph here http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/166725/brisket-temperature-graph-mes-40-with-auber 

I violated the "set it and forget it rule" and adjusted the temperature a few times during the smoke. The weekend traffic delayed some guests and I wanted to extend the cooking time.

The brisket went into the cooler when the white line drops straight down. It was 183. It was just under 140 when I sliced for supper. I believe I could have extended the time by:

1. Foiling the brisket. I used the aluminum pan from the braise. This allowed more air around the meat. Quick, but inefficient.

2. The pan meant I used the big cooler, not my usual cooler. Therefore I didn't have enough towels to fill the cooler for insulation.

I guess that means I'll need to cook another brisket.