My first q-view

[whitepony99]

Finally light and still blue smoke

 

[whitepony99]

She has been holding around 225 to 250 at the grate all morning

 

[rdknb]

looking good so far, I am sure it will be a great meal

 

[whitepony99]

Little worried about the internal temp though it keeps bouncing around 

 

[whitepony99]

UPDATE: Internal temp says 144 by my digital 6 hours in but my standard analog thermo says 151???????

Would really appreciate any advice from you guys.

 

[Bearcarver]

In my book, that's not a real big difference in temps for two kinds of thermometers, but you really should give them the boiling test to know for sure.

Meanwhile, I would go by the lowest reading.

6 hours is a long time to get to 144˚. Did you probe the meat when you started, or later during the smoke?

 

[Bearcarver]

Got a question never had this happen...........4 hours in my meat temp is 140 with the lid  closed, then I open the lid and the temp drops to 120?????????? Whats going on and I'm I safe?????

Never heard of anything like that. How long was the lid open???

That just can't happen, unless there's something wrong with the probe, or it isn't in the meat right.

 

[whitepony99]

I probed after they cooked for awhile and they both tested out fine. The current temp is 147 and I'm not understanding why the meat is not raising up quicker. Really frustrated 

right now and I feel like these shoulders are going to end up in the trash. I am 7 hours in almost now what did I do wrong? My grill temp is 225 to 250 steady, and  it checks out so I really have no idea what is going on

 

[Bearcarver]

Must just be a stall at a little lower temp than most. It's not unheard of.

Stay cool now.

 

[whitepony99]

156 now all off a sudden I got a very quick rise, weird. You think the meat is still cool?

 

[culpepersmoke]

Looking great :)

 

[Bearcarver]

156 now all off a sudden I got a very quick rise, weird. You think the meat is still cool?

LOL---I meant "you" should stay cool. If it was just a stall, it will pass.

Now it sounds like it did, if you're up to 156˚.

 

[whitepony99]

160 and holding right now, it is real weird I hope the meat is ok?????? I do not think I made 140 in 4 hours maybe 130 or 135 not 140 though

 

[whitepony99]

165 and rising so far

 

[Bearcarver]

160 and holding right now, it is real weird I hope the meat is ok?????? I do not think I made 140 in 4 hours maybe 130 or 135 not 140 though

That's why I asked if you probed it before you started.

If you probed it before you started, you would have to get it to at least 135˚ in 4 hours to know you are safe.

Sounds like your temps are picking up now. My guess is you were just in a stall.

If you foiled it at 165˚, it will rise like crazy from here on.

Bear

 

[whitepony99]

Thats the thing I can say with no certainty that I got to 135 at 4 hours maybe 130 for sure. I made 140 by 5 hours for sure and it stalled from there.

 

[Bearcarver]

Thats the thing I can say with no certainty that I got to 135 at 4 hours maybe 130 for sure. I made 140 by 5 hours for sure and it stalled from there.

Can you say how long the meat was in the smoker when you inserted your meat probe, and what temp was your smoker until then?

 

[whitepony99]

Meat was in the smoker 2.5 hours when I probed, and the temp was 120ish and smoker has been running at 225 all morning, the meat temp now is 160 I am getting a false reading from the grill temp. At 4 hours the temp was 140 but thats with the lid down I feel like I was getting a false reading from the grill then too.

 

[Bearcarver]

Then you're in good shape safety-wise.

I have from a reliable source that if you didn't probe or inject before the meat has been in the smoker at 225˚ or more, for an hour or longer, you don't have to worry about the "40˚ to 140˚ in 4 hours" rule.

 

[forluvofsmoke]

I probed after they cooked for awhile and they both tested out fine. The current temp is 147 and I'm not understanding why the meat is not raising up quicker. Really frustrated 

right now and I feel like these shoulders are going to end up in the trash. I am 7 hours in almost now what did I do wrong? My grill temp is 225 to 250 steady, and  it checks out so I really have no idea what is going on

If you didn't stick the meat with anything prior to starting the smoke, and it's bone-in meat, the whole muscle meat rules apply and you'll be fine @ anything over 200* smoke chamber/grate temps. The outer 1/2" of the meat is all that needs to pass above 135* in the first 4 hours...that only takes an hour or less at the temps you're running. I don't inject any of my larger cuts of meat just for that reason, I prefer bone-in, and I don't insert a temp probe for the first several hours.

You're on track, so keep things rolling...it'll be just fine.

The plateau/stall will pick your brains at times...just let it happen...when the meat wakes up the temp will slowly start climbing again. I've seen many large cuts actually take a drop in temp (6-8* or more) as they hit the stall...weird things can happen like that, just don't get excited over it.

Eric