Pork Butt in 20 hours at 225 and now 187 ??? Thoughts

[azbohunter]

Put a 8# (approximate) boneless Pork Butt from Costco in at 6:30PM last evening @ 225, 20 hours in a it is smelling delicious but only up to 187*. What do you all think, I'm leaning towards letting 'er roll. Anything to be concerned with? I did crank up the heat to 240 about 19 hours in.
Smokin-It #3
Auber contoller
7 ounces of pecan

 

[02ebz06]

That's a long time.
If you have another probe (from another thermometer), try it incase the probe from Auber is bad.
If OK, raise the temp higher.

 

[azbohunter]

I have a Thermapen and reads the same, it has moved up to 190 now, been about 1 hour since raising the temp to 240. Maybe finally got through the stall?

 

[02ebz06]

I usually start at 175 for 90 minutes, then go to 275. 12-13 hours that way.
Everyone has their own preference...

 

[azbohunter]

@ 240 and showing better progress up 194, getting closer.

 

[Winterrider]

Digital thermometer inside cook chamber to verify it is running at the temp set. My thought is not as hot as setting is.

 

[azbohunter]

Digital thermometer inside cook chamber to verify it is running at the temp set. My thought is not as hot as setting is.

I just double checked with two other digital thermometers, one read a couple degrees lower, the other read a couple degrees hotter. So assuming with the 3 of them reading all close it's not the temperature. I was questioning that myself...I think my next butt I'm doing at 240!

 

[chopsaw]

.I think my next butt I'm doing at 240!

Make it 250 and you got a deal .

 

[SmokinEdge]

Meat IT runs about 20* less than pit temp. So cooking at 225* is an absolute minimum and unless you have developed a method for that temp it can end in disaster. My advice in the future is to cook at 250-275* pit temp and smooth out the process.

 

[Winterrider]

Meat IT runs about 20* less than pit temp. So cooking at 225* is an absolute minimum and unless you have developed a method for that temp it can end in disaster. My advice in the future is to cook at 250-275* pit temp and smooth out the process.

Yep, butts don't care what temp. Jeff has one listed in 5 hrs.

 

[SmokingUPnorth]

That seems like an awful long time for an 8lb butt. Do you know what the temp was after 4 hours? I’d be a little concerned about the danger zone if it’s taking that long. You’re saying you had a thermometer in the cooking chamber and it was reading relatively close to what it was set at? Like what they said before. I usually run my butts now at 275* because I haven’t noticed a difference other than less time it takes to cook. Also. Wrapping when it hits the stall around 160* speeds it up a lot!

 

[cptnding]

So how did it turn out?
I've had them go as long as 18 hours a while back at 225 and they were fine. These days I start at 225 before going to bed and bump to 250 as soon as I wake up. I use a Weber kettle with a SNS and a fan controller and use 225 overnight so I know I will get at least 8 hours on a full load of charcoal. I've learned that after that temp doesn't matter so much. Once they get to 165 or so I usually bump it up to 275 to save myself some time. Doesn't seem to make a difference.
I don't wrap either. I like a hard heavy bark in pulled pork. Tried wrapping a few times and it cut a lot of time off the cook but I didn't think the bark was as good. Predictably I was the only one that noticed that lol.
Hope it came out great for ya!

 

[jcam222]

That seems like an awful long time for an 8lb butt. Do you know what the temp was after 4 hours? I’d be a little concerned about the danger zone if it’s taking that long. You’re saying you had a thermometer in the cooking chamber and it was reading relatively close to what it was set at? Like what they said before. I usually run my butts now at 275* because I haven’t noticed a difference other than less time it takes to cook. Also. Wrapping when it hits the stall around 160* speeds it up a lot!

100% agree on 275

 

[DougE]

100% agree on 275

Been known to push up around 300, but 275 is my usual as well.

 

[azbohunter]

So to close this thread I will give you the final report. I pulled it after 23 hours and internal temp on my probe read 197, when I tested with Thermopen it was pretty spot on with exception of one spot that read 200. When I pulled the meat after resting a couple hours I thought some was pretty soft. Next time, at least 250 and pull it at 195 maybe. It's meat for deer camp, I assure you it will be eaten!
Thanks to all who offered help!

 

[azbohunter]

100% agree on 275

I checked it at 3 1/2 hours and it was like 135 so I went to bed at that time!

 

[ComboSmoker]

Just smoked two Costco butts 10/13 on an Oklahoma Joe Combo with heat deflector plate following a recipe on the OK Joe's website for Tennessee style pulled pork using chunks of apple, cherry and a small bit of hickory over a charcoal minion. I panned both of them. I left them on the smoke until the larger of the two hit the stall at about 9 hours, 155F. After that, took them both out of their pans, wrapped them in foil and cooked until the larger one hit temp of 200F, about an hour later. Removed both and rested them in a cooler for another hour. The OK Joe's Tennessee style smoked pulled pork butt is a great recipe. Moist, smokey, flavorful pulled pork. It has never let me down.

 

[PulledPorkSandwich]

I smoked a 10 lb pork shoulder last week using cherry in my SI Model 2 analog. I put it on at midnight with the box temp set at about 235. IT stalled at 155 at 8 am. I let it go for another hour, still at 155. Then I wrapped it in butcher paper and kept the box temp at 235. The IT didn't move in about an hour, so I cranked up the heat to about 265 (that's the limit of my SI analog). IT hit 203 at 6 pm when I pulled it. I let it rest for about 30 minutes then shredded it. So, cook time for my 10 lb shoulder was about 18 hours. That's a fairly typical cook time in my experience.

The meat was very moist, tender, and flavorful when pulled, but it did lack "hard" bark. (The mild cherry smoke flavor was a big hit with my guests.) I've tried several times to cook without wrapping but I've always ended up with dry meat.

 

[Dustin Dorsey]

At some point you may have to toss out the temp and just go by tenderness. I've never had a stall that bad, but if it was extremely dry and the barometric pressure was very low maybe that can happen. Are you at a high elevation? That can raise the boiling point and you'll never reach the same internal temps.

 

[801driver]

I try to smoke stuff early and not have to be in a hurry, left overs are as good or better than fresh in my opinion. I smoke almost everything at 225' in my electric smoker because I have gotten lazy and no longer enjoy staying up all night tending. Nope not quite as good as a wood fire, but I get by. I had a 10lb PB go 26 hours one to get to 195-200. Yep it was very tender and flavorful. Yep would have been quicker if I had used a higher temp or had wrapped, but it came out very moist and tender and we enjoyed it. Also have had them at 200 in 14hrs. Every chunk of meat is different. And my comment about 198-200 is usually where they are butter tender for me. Sometimes at 195, sometimes at 205. Every chunk of meat is different. No right way or wrong way as long as the finished product fits your taste buds.