# pork shoulder taking a long time?



## jjw (May 26, 2010)

ive been smoking a very small pork shoulder (3.5 pounds) and its taking a long time to get to 195. ive been smoking it between 225 and 250 just about the whole time, but its been on for 10 hours. does the 2 hours per pound not apply for small cuts of meat?

also, it did reach 140 in 2 hours, just stalled in the mid 140's to 50's for a long time.

anyway, are there any issues with this? its at 175 right now, but it want to take it to t least 190


----------



## rdknb (May 26, 2010)

it is the stall, you can not predict it or rush it.  The reward is the great meat you get when done. So hang in there


----------



## jjw (May 26, 2010)

except now it appears to be stalling in the 170's. could it be that hat i percieved to be the stall early on wasnt? them temp has even dropped now, which i hear is a symptom of the stall, so obviously what i thought to be the stall earlier wasnt.

more importantly, is this normal? for a 3.5 pound pork shoulder to be on 11 hours and still not be ready?


----------



## jirodriguez (May 26, 2010)

Might try moving your probe just to make sure. Another option is to foil it (if you haven't already), helps braise it through the stall a bit.


----------



## mythmaster (May 26, 2010)

Yep, it's stalled.  Have you foiled it?  If you have foiled it, you can put it in the oven until it hits 205 for pulling.  You can set the oven to 250 to 275.  It will be faster.


----------



## jjw (May 26, 2010)

JIRodriguez said:


> Might try moving your probe just to make sure. Another option is to foil it (if you haven't already), helps braise it through the stall a bit.


i tested in about 4 places, but foiling doesnt sound like a bad idea, its already got plenty of bark. do i need to worry about it becoming mushy though?


----------



## jjw (May 26, 2010)

mythmaster said:


> Yep, it's stalled.  Have you foiled it?  If you have foiled it, you can put it in the oven until it hits 205 for pulling.  You can set the oven to 250 to 275.  It will be faster.


ive not foiled it yet. would cooking it in the oven really be faster? im not having any troubles maintaing temperature


----------



## mythmaster (May 26, 2010)

jjw said:


> ive not foiled it yet. would cooking it in the oven really be faster? im not having any troubles maintaing temperature


No.  Most of us foil it around 165 though.  If you haven't foiled it, then it wouldn't cook any faster in the oven.


----------



## jjw (May 26, 2010)

mythmaster said:


> No.  Most of us foil it around 165 though.  If you haven't foiled it, then it wouldn't cook any faster in the oven.


hmmm, is there anything ill lose from foiling? or does it just cut down cook time


----------



## mythmaster (May 26, 2010)

jjw said:


> hmmm, is there anything ill lose from foiling? or does it just cut down cook time


It actually makes it more tender and moist.  And, yes, it will speed up the cook time, too.


----------



## jjw (May 26, 2010)

mythmaster said:


> It actually makes it more tender and moist.  And, yes, it will speed up the cook time, too.


wow, hour later and temps down to 168, think im gonna foil it and see how that goes


----------



## rdknb (May 26, 2010)

most foil but I never do as I still get moist and love the bark,  but raising temps or putting in oven will help


----------



## mythmaster (May 26, 2010)

jjw said:


> wow, hour later and temps down to 168, think im gonna foil it and see how that goes


Good luck, bro!  Foiling it at 165-170 is pretty standard.  It will be awesome, I promise!  
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






Let it get to 205, and then let it rest for at least 1-2 hours before you pull it.  Yummy!


----------



## jjw (May 26, 2010)

mythmaster said:


> Good luck, bro!  Foiling it at 165-170 is pretty standard.  It will be awesome, I promise!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


can you think of any reason why this happened? 11+ hours of cook time for 3 pounds of meat seems ridiculous, im not sure how this happened


----------



## gunner69 (May 26, 2010)

I feel for you I got pummeled with a killer stall yesterday.. I put 4 Butts ~50lbs into the smoker at 0730 yesterday they finally came off and into the cooler at 0030... rester a couple hours had them pulled seasoned and sauced by about 0300... Man it was a long day...


----------



## mythmaster (May 26, 2010)

jjw said:


> can you think of any reason why this happened? 11+ hours of cook time for 3 pounds of meat seems ridiculous, im not sure how this happened


No, 12 hours is pretty standard for butts regardless of how much they weigh (at 225 anyway).


----------



## jjw (May 26, 2010)

mythmaster said:


> No, 12 hours is pretty standard for butts regardless of how much they weigh (at 225 anyway).


well ive given up on the smoker now, tired of going outside, and if im foiling anyway i dont feel like wasting more coals, so its been transfered to the oven now. hopefully it wont be too much longer now, stomach's grumblin

i always thought there was some hours per pound rule, but i guess fat takes a certain amount opf time to break down regardless of how much total meat there is


----------



## shhaker (May 26, 2010)

you know i had the same thing happen and this last one i did i kicked it up to 275 and it was at least a 6 pounder(shouder n butt) and it took 10 hrs or so, no foil. pulled it at 203, had to go to the hospital for ma.


----------



## mythmaster (May 26, 2010)

jjw said:


> well ive given up on the smoker now, tired of going outside, and if im foiling anyway i dont feel like wasting more coals, so its been transfered to the oven now. hopefully it wont be too much longer now, stomach's grumblin
> 
> i always thought there was some hours per pound rule, but i guess fat takes a certain amount opf time to break down regardless of how much total meat there is


Yeah, usually there's about a 1.5 hour per pound rule, but with pork butts this really doesn't apply (in my experiences, at least).  You can crank the oven up to 275 with the foiled butt in there and bring it to 205.  Also, I know that you're hungry, but letting it rest for 1-2 hours will make it much more tender and juicy.


----------



## DougE (May 26, 2010)

Time usually isn't relevant to the size of the butt from my experiences. I smoked a 4 pound one last week @ 450. Started it at 11 am, foiled it at 165 and it finally reached 205 at 10 pm. Obviously the 1.5 hour per pound doesn't always apply.


----------



## DougE (May 26, 2010)

Time usually isn't relevant to the size of the butt from my experiences. I smoked a 4 pound one last week @ 250. Started it at 11 am, foiled it at 165 and it finally reached 205 at 10 pm. Obviously the 1.5 hour per pound doesn't always apply.


----------



## jjw (May 26, 2010)

mythmaster said:


> Yeah, usually there's about a 1.5 hour per pound rule, but with pork butts this really doesn't apply (in my experiences, at least).  You can crank the oven up to 275 with the foiled butt in there and bring it to 205.  Also, I know that you're hungry, but letting it rest for 1-2 hours will make it much more tender and juicy.


yep, ive got the foiled shoulder in the oven at 275. i wa sunder the impression that i only had to let it rest for a half hour?


----------



## DougE (May 26, 2010)

I usually rest for at least an hour but have gone as little as a half hour if pressed for time with decent results.


jjw said:


> yep, ive got the foiled shoulder in the oven at 275. i wa sunder the impression that i only had to let it rest for a half hour?


----------



## mythmaster (May 26, 2010)

jjw said:


> yep, ive got the foiled shoulder in the oven at 275. i wa sunder the impression that i only had to let it rest for a half hour?


Let it rest for at least 1-2 hours...the longer the better.

I understand that you're ready to chow down on it, though, so 1 hour would probably be OK before you pull it.


----------



## jjw (May 26, 2010)

mythmaster said:


> Let it rest for at least 1-2 hours...the longer the better.
> 
> I understand that you're ready to chow down on it, though, so 1 hour would probably be OK before you pull it.


ok but i dont own a cooler, got it wrapped in foil and a towl though.


----------



## jjw (May 26, 2010)

DougE said:


> I usually rest for at least an hour but have gone as little as a half hour if pressed for time with decent results.


i spent all day on this, so i want the best results. ill go the full hour

ive already try pulling it at 180 because i didnt want to wait, waste of time to cut it short. figure i might as well wait an extra half hour for the best results. cant do two though, that just isnt going to happen


----------



## mythmaster (May 27, 2010)

jjw said:


> i spent all day on this, so i want the best results. ill go the full hour
> 
> ive already try pulling it at 180 because i didnt want to wait, waste of time to cut it short. figure i might as well wait an extra half hour for the best results. cant do two though, that just isnt going to happen


You want it to be 205 before you even let it rest.  It will pull just fine then.


----------



## DougE (May 27, 2010)

I wasn't telling ya to pull it at a lower temperature. What I did say was that I've pulled a butt or two off of the smoker at 205 degrees and rested it for a half hour with decent results. Longer rest is better, but in a pinch ..... a half hour will do.


jjw said:


> i spent all day on this, so i want the best results. ill go the full hour
> 
> ive already try pulling it at 180 because i didnt want to wait, waste of time to cut it short. figure i might as well wait an extra half hour for the best results. cant do two though, that just isnt going to happen


----------



## jjw (May 27, 2010)

DougE said:


> I wasn't telling ya to pull it at a lower temperature. What I did say was that I've pulled a butt or two off of the smoker at 205 degrees and rested it for a half hour with decent results. Longer rest is better, but in a pinch ..... a half hour will do.


i i know you werent, i was just citing a past instance in which i foolishly chose to cuts corners and ended up wasting my time. i waited the full hour, and it ended up damn good. pulled it out of the oven around 195 or 200


----------



## jjw (May 27, 2010)

mythmaster said:


> You want it to be 205 before you even let it rest.  It will pull just fine then.


i think i pulled it out closer to 197ish, and the thing fell apart easily. i suppose had i gone to 205 there'dve been less grease though right? although i looked and had trouble finding any left over fat, i think just about all liquidized


----------



## mythmaster (May 27, 2010)

jjw said:


> i think i pulled it out closer to 197ish, and the thing fell apart easily. i suppose had i gone to 205 there'dve been less grease though right? although i looked and had trouble finding any left over fat, i think just about all liquidized


It would have been even more tender and juicy if you would have let it get to 205 and rest for a couple of hours.

I'm sure that it's fine, though, and let us know how it came out.


----------



## jjw (May 27, 2010)

mythmaster said:


> It would have been even more tender and juicy if you would have let it get to 205 and rest for a couple of hours.
> 
> I'm sure that it's fine, though, and let us know how it came out.


it was delicious, my first true success so far.
next time ill get up earlier


----------



## mythmaster (May 27, 2010)

jjw said:


> it was delicious, my first true success so far.
> 
> next time ill get up earlier


Awesome, glad to hear it!


----------



## rc1991 (May 27, 2010)

I did a 6.5 lb butt last weekend and it was on the smoker for 15 hours. I foiled it at 165 and finished in the oven when the temp hit 170 since we had people coming for dinner. It was in the oven for about an hour where it went from 170 to 205 so it was pretty fast. Pulled real well and was very good when it came out! Good luck!


----------



## jazzybadger (May 27, 2010)

I've just started to do at least two butts and a picnic at a time now, and count on it being a 14 hour day at least.

Usually twelve hours on the smoker at 250-275... then the two hour rest.

Then I just vacu-bag it all in portions for my family, and boil the bags back up when I want some pulled pork sammies.


----------



## dick foster (May 27, 2010)

Good things alwasy take time and are worth waiting for.

Now you know all about the stall. There are threads already on here that explain what stall is all about and why it occurs in the first place.


----------



## jjw (May 27, 2010)

Dick Foster said:


> Good things alwasy take time and are worth waiting for.
> 
> Now you know all about the stall. There are threads already on here that explain what stall is all about and why it occurs in the first place.


in not so much concerned with the stall, im aware that it is the time that the fat breaks down to gel, what im more wondering is how it took me so long to even get to the stall. i didnt get there for 9 hours, and it almost seemed like it stalled twice.


----------



## jjw (May 27, 2010)

rc1991 said:


> I did a 6.5 lb butt last weekend and it was on the smoker for 15 hours. I foiled it at 165 and finished in the oven when the temp hit 170 since we had people coming for dinner. It was in the oven for about an hour where it went from 170 to 205 so it was pretty fast. Pulled real well and was very good when it came out! Good luck!


why is it that it cooks faster in the oven? or at least it seemed to. maybe its just because i didnt foil it until it got to the oven


----------



## sarcasmicd (Apr 6, 2014)

Okay, So it's April 2014 now. How's it coming?


----------

