WTF???? 3rd pulled pork attempt...

[meateater]

Don't toss the meat, next time start earlier.

 

[ddave]

I cook 4 pound butts all the time. The Safeway store here likes to cut the bigger ones in half apparently. Most of the ones I get are in the 4 pound range. Every once in awhile I find one just over 5 pounds. Like I said, it usually takes 9 hours in the UDS with temps running between 240° and 260°. I usually foil at 165° and take 'em up to 195°. The one time I did not foil it took closer to 11 hours. I'm not saying it will take longer if you don't foil, I'm just saying sometimes it takes longer than you think.

I don't think you're doing anything wrong. As long as you are holding steady temp in the smoker, there's not much you can to wrong to extend the cook time.

I believe this to be true. I think it takes temperature and TIME at a certain temperature to break down the connective tissue. You cook a butt at 250° until the internal temp hits 195° and it is tender. Although you could cook one in at 375° and force it to 195° internal faster, I don't think it would spend enough time at the given temps to break down the connective tissue and be tender.

Similarly, country style ribs, which for the most part are strips of the pork butt, seem to take quite awhile to get really tender and they are pretty small cuts compared to a 5 pound butt.

Dave

 

[capt dan]

exactly right dave. It really has more to do with the make -up of the meat than size. Untill that breakdown occurs, its not gonna get done. I have had country ribs take 8 hrs before, and 10 lb butts take 8 hrs.

I wouldn't toss it. Just wrap it and park it in the oven at 225, and head out for a few hrs.Put it in a pan to save on clean-up too!

I have found that the 1 1/2 hr per lb guideline to be not accurate at all. Make sure that you also don't park your probe too close to the meat, because if you are opening and looking alot, the meat heat will give a false temp to the ext/grate temp probe by being too close to a mass of heated meat.

 

[guvna]

i've never thrown away any meat. i've seen a few posts on here that describe folks throwing meat in the trash and i've never understood that. anyway - about butts... like others have mentioned, no matter how small the cut is, it seems to take almost as long as any other sized butt. i.e. no less than 9 or 10 hours (or more). even for a 4 pounder. if i were you, i would smoke some wings and sausages and ribs and try my hand at a butt later. smoked chicken wings might be my favorite thing to smoke and they're done in 2-3 hours.

 

[mballi3011]

man I have smoked a 10lb butt and had it done in 12 hours but it didn't stall or anything. I would keep on smokin and it will get there soon enough. Then just throw that thing in the cooler and things will work out just fine. After all a third time is the charm ain't it.

 

[sweet chops bbq]

I did 35 lbs last night and the biggest butt I had was 10.5#. It was stuck on 170 for 2 hours. Sometimes you just have to wait it out.

 

[justsmoke2]

A lot of good advice here. I have tried smaller butts now I will ask the meat manager if they have any whole butts. I will use the smaller butts for making sausage. All the small ones I did took as long if not longer then a whole butt. Why i cannot tell you cause I don't know. You might try uping you your temps to 260 to 280 range. The other is if you haven't calibrated your thermometers you may want to do that. I calibrate mine more then I should but thats me. Fore most DON'T GIVE UP. No 2 butts are alike.

 

[disbe81]

Sounds to me like your smoker has a heat leak. When you hit 160, foil it, throw it in the oven at 275 degrees, and it will finish in no time. Even if your smoker says 220 - 250, and your meat is at 160, the smoker may have too much air flow. I have noticed on very windy days, i have to fight to keep my smoker at 200-225, and when my butts and briskets hit 160-165, they will sit there forever, so when it is windy like that, i just take em straight to the oven after i foil em around 160-165. Like i said, sounds like your smoker has a heat leak if there is such a thing, or too much heat transfer/air movement or something like that. Hope that helps.

 

[tjohnson]

Ryan,

How cold is it outside?

Is your smoker insulated?

Just throw it in the oven to finish it off. It's done smoking anyway, so the rest of the time is just to finish it up to 190-200 degrees.

My last butt stalled out around 160 degrees, and took almost 10 hours to cook.


Todd

 

[ryanje]

How would I know if it has a heat leak? The thermometer I used for temp was next to the meat and read 220-250 constantly. I did have the stack on top wide open and the vents on bottom fully closed.

I do know that smoke comes out of everywhere and not just the stack on top if that matters.

 

[ryanje]

It was about 50 outside and here is a link to my smoker.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_190449-95393...758_4294937087_

 

[ellymae]

Just getting back to this. Yes, if you were running short on time and weren't planning on eating said butt last night, I would have pulled it off the pit, wrapped it in foil and thrown it in the fridge overnight. (Some of us have left them out to rest for a "while" and that "while" turned into overnight and the meat had to be pitched).
Next day keep it wrapped in the foil, throw it into a pan then into a 225 - 250 degree oven and let the internal teamp come up to 200 degrees. It will not taste funky - it will be delicious.

What did you end up doing?

 

[eman]

If you have smoke coming out anywhere besides the stack then you need to seal that smoker.
If smoke is leaking out so is the heat.
I had an old heavy duty offset new braunfuls and wanted something smaller just for a rack of ribs or 2 . Bought an ecb from lowes and used it twice. Thing was like smoking in a screen box. As cheap as i got it . It wasn't worth the time or money to do all the fixes it would need.
Thanks to a small fast storm and a big oak tree i don't have to worry about it or my new braunfuls anymore.
If you think you are going to enjoy this smoking thing then start saving your pennies and get yourself a better unit or do some research and do the fixs for yours.
W/ all the leakage you have you will never be able to truly enjoy smoking as you will constantly be having to work your temps.
This is just my opinion and others may disagree.

 

[chefrob]

if this is correct you should have been fine......it doesn matter how much yer smoker leaks or the outside temp. i would have opened the bottom vents a little but the most important thing is patience, you sound like your on the right track.
btw - i always try to get my butts on by 9am or earler.

 

[mossymo]

With a tube or two of high heat silicone it will at least get you sealed up to see if that is where the problem is. Be sure to reseason your smoker well after the sealant is dry.

 

[roller]

He has probably got hold of an ol Sow that has had 40 litters and she just ant coming around...lol..All kidding aside these guys have given you every reason to fix your problem just heed to the deed dude...

 

[ryanje]

Thanks all for your responses and insight!

I really dont want to give up on this smoker and smoking. I am going to try ribs next weekend, if I cant get those to cook then I will go nuts!

Maybe its just the meat I am using.

 

[ellymae]

Glad you're not giving up - just hang in there, keep it low and slow, and you will find what works for you with time and practice.

Looking forward to your rib post next week.

 

[ddave]

What he said.

Dave

 

[disbe81]

The only thing i would add to what Jeff said is density. I have had 2 briskets before that were almost the same exact size/mass, yet 1 was around 6.5 lbs and the other was almost 9 lbs. The one that weighed less actually felt more tender to the touch and the heavier one felt harder. They were both the same temp and had about the same fat content to the naked eye, this was before they were cooked as well. The brisket that was more dense took much longer to cook then the other did. The point Jeff makes about thickness and weight are very true, but density plays a large roll as well. I have had 2 butts that were close in size and weight, but one took a good bit longer, and the only thing i could think of was the density of the meat. The more dense one was a little bit smaller then the other, and weighed a little bit more, but not by a whole lot, and the fact that it was more dense then the other made it take longer to cook.

If anyone is having trouble wrapping their mind around density in meat, just think of a marshmellow versus a 2 inch by 2 inch square of white chocolate. Put each one in the oven around 250 and see which one melts down faster.

I may have actually confused someone there, hell, i may have confused myself.

Hope i helped some! lol