Newbie question

[mike r]

I have a WSM smoker and have only smoked a few times with it.Today I smoked my third pork butt, (delicious by the way) but the directions I followed http://wyntk.us/pulled-pork-barbecue  says to cook until meat temp gets to 205 deg. with a grill temp of about 225. I use the maverick et-732 thermometer (does a great job). On all the pork butts I did smoke they took forever to get to the 205 temp. The meat was 7.75 lbs. and the guide says it should take about an hour and half for each pound of meat. I got up early and had the meat in the smoker by 5:40. At 8:00 p.m. the meat temp was only 192 deg.

anyone have any ideas as to why its taking over 15 hours to reach the 205 internal temp? Hope I described it good enough. If not please ask!

 

[scarbelly]

Welcome to the world of pork butts. Most of us here figure 2 hrs # plus a 2 hour stall 

Since you already have the smoke in it you can put it in the oven at 300 to finish it 

 

[mike r]

Thanks for the quick reply. If I put it in the oven, do I just cook until the 205 temp is reached?

 

[chef jimmyj]

Yep I learned real quick at 225-250*F you will definately need 2Hr/Lb plus a 2 Hr Pad, just in case. So what you have is Normal. You can foil and go in the oven as dave said or test it. If it is at 190*F plus long enough it will get fall apart tender even though it didn't get to 205*F...JJ

 

[mike r]

Thanks!! I thought I was doing something wrong. Glad to know its normal and I can finish in the oven.

 

[indyadmin1974]

You're not doing a thing wrong.  Butts are infamous in their complete unwillingness to be consistent in cooking time.  That's why the mantra here is cook by temp, not by time and start earlier than you think.

Starting earlier than you think (read the day before) for something important like a big gathering is highly suggested.  Butts will hold well in a cooler wrapped in foil and stuffing the cooler with towels.  Up to 8 hours sometimes.

 

[mike r]

Thanks you all for the info! I'm just glad it wasn't my rookie mistake. I've tried to do a lot of reading here before I started this! It has helped a lot.