Pork shoulder cooked faster than expected

Unknown

I cooked an eleven pound pork shoulder last Saturday. It only took 9 hours for the internal temperature of the meat to reach 195. From everything I've read on the forum, it should have taken much more time to cook. Any feedback would be appreciated as the meat was OK but nothing special and I was expecting the meat to come off the Egg the next afternoon instead of the middle of the night.[p]I used the Guru in ramp mode with the pit probe attached to the grill for first hour then to the top of the meat probe. I had the Guru pit setpoint at 225 and the meat probe set at 200. I also used a platesetter and BGE lump.[p]I put the meat on at 4:00 P.M. with the dome temp at 300 and Guru indicating 225 pit temperature. At 5:00 internal meat temp was 62, dome 300. I took readings every half hour and the internal temperature continued to steadily rise...no plateau. At 12:30 AM the internal meat temp was 194.[p]I’ve since calibrated the dome thermometer and it was only about 8 degrees on the high side which probably had no effect anyway since the Guru was controlling things.[p]Any thoughts?? [p]

dan

Moonshine Mike,
I did 2 butts and a shoulder last weekend, same setup, and everything came out great. The only thing I can see is that the 300 dome temp is a *little* high. I would suggest 250 or even 225. I did it at 225 and it took me a total of 14 hours, but it was falling apart when I pulled it off.[p]Just my 2 cents,
Dan

Moldy Coyote

Moonshine Mike,[p]I'm certainly not a BGExpert, but I've cooked quite a few butts. Being paranoid about unattended fires around my log home, I've got my own way of cooking butts. I inject the butt and monitor with my Maverick probes in the meat and in the thermometer hole.
I hold the temp at about 280 and usually blow right through the plateau. My 8 pounders are usually done at 8 to 9 hours. I'm sure not as good as a 16 hour cook, but I don't get any complaints. I know what your Guru said, but do you think maybe the higher dome temp had something to do with your quick cook?
(I use a medium BGE, and maybe the meat sits higher in the dome?)[p]David

katman

Moonshine Mike,[p]Does seem a bit short of time to me. Did the meat shred/fall apart easily or was the texture more "sliceable" when you pulled it off? Did you have the meat probe close to a bone or was it in the thickest part of the meat?[p]The Guru has always worked well for me, but I did an approximately 6.5 pound butt and 5 lb beef brisket flat this weekend in about 9.5 hours. I've been testing out a little higher range on the cook temp than you used.

Unknown

Moonshine Mike, 300 is a little high for a low and slow cook. I sounds like you got the fire too hot to start with, once you are at 300 it's hard to come back down to 225. When doing low and slows you need to creep up on 225 carefully so you don't overshoot. Peace...

Sundown

Moonshine Mike,
I've had several butts do a Turbo Cook on me and so have a few other people int he past. No one seems to understand what happens. At first I thought the butt might have had water added and I was able to find the label and there was no added water. I'm always calibrating my thermometers and maintaining
dome temp is easy. Wish I could help with an answer but, I just don't have one. Best advice is keep your cooler handy wrap Mr. Butt in aluminum foil and towels and hold him till you're ready. I've held mine as long as 5 hours and it was still darned hot when I pulled it.

Revolutionary BBQ Man

Moonshine Mike,
300 sounds a little high too me Mike. The first time I cooked a butt I followed the directions in the following link: http://www.nakedwhiz.com/elder.htm
Hope it helps!
Rick

Unknown

Thanks for the replies. Maybe a dome temp of 300 was too high even though the Guru was set at and indicated 225. I plan to do some testing with my Guru to see if indeed it's accurate.[p]In any case the meat shredded easily but just wasn't as tasty as I expected.