# Pork Butt Danger Zone - Need Help



## mohlrich (Apr 25, 2015)

Need some help!! I bought a pack of 2 boston butts that weighted a total of 20.5 lbs. I brined them for 1.5 days in salt, pepper, sugar, and hot sauce. Got up early this AM and got the smoker going. Pulled the butts out and dried them and rubbed them, they were pretty cold. The brine water was very cold. I put them in the smoker at 5:30 this morning and the smoker was running about 225. Had a 30-40 min stretch about daybreak where the smoker wanted to stay in the low 200's regardless of what I did. Got it back between 225-235. I waited to insert my Maverick ET-732 probe until 4.5 hours (lost track of time). The probe is in the bigger one that sits on the shelf higher then the other. By bigger I mean maybe a pound or 2. It just looked bigger. It just now hit 140 at 7 hours into it. I checked the meat with my thermopop and that read slightly higher but couldn't get as deep into the center. I also tried another probe to make sure the one I started with didn't break. They read about the same. Any thoughts?? Going to taste and smell the meat when it gets fully cooked but never had one take this long to reach 140.


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## noboundaries (Apr 25, 2015)

What was the temp when you inserted the probe at 4.5 hours?  If it was in the 130s, you are fine.  I've actually had butts stall in the 130s for hours and I'm still here typing.


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