Mutant Pork Butts in MO??

Kelly Keefe

I am starting to believe I'm buying some sort of genetically altered pork butts lately. Other than the very first butt I cooked four odd years ago, each butt was done, on time, and without the stall around 150°. Butt so help me (pun intended) the last two have me confounded. It's been all I can do to hit an internal temp of 195°.[p]Usual set up: Indirect with plate setter and drip pan in my Large. Plenty of lump. Calibrated dome AND Redi-check Maverick at 212°. 5lb bone in butt. No probes touching meat or bone. Put the butt on at 7:30AM. Grid level temp of 225°,steady, dome temp between 250-300°. Should have been done around 5:30, right? Wrong. At 6:30 it still hadn't hit an internal temp of 195° Well, Mama, the baby and the dog insisted on being fed. So I pulled it anyway, instant read the end and wacked off a chunk for supper. (God help me, I finished it off in the oven... I'm so ashamed.) Don't get me wrong, it was good. But what the heck am I doing wrong? And why did we all have a slight blueish glow all evening? Now I didn't actually SEE the pig it came from, but somehow I'm convinced I either got hold of a mutant pig or Stumpbaby is somehow behind this...[p]Kelly
Jefferson City, MO

sprinter

Kelly Keefe,[p]Not 100% on this one but it seems that the colder weather and the dampness of the humidity has something to do with it. I notice that during these colder damp fall months things tend to cook more slowly, at exactly the same setup, than during the dryer summer months. I did a couple of briskets on a WSM the other weekend, thought they should take about 10-12 hours to do and they ended up taking much longer. Couldnt explain that either. I chalk it up to being colder out, the wind cooling off the cooker a bit, colder air being dragged into the bottom vent, just colder in general.[p]I may be way off base here, others may know what actually happened, but this is my 2 pennies anyway.[p]Troy

Bordello

Kelly Keefe,
Funny, I just had a 4 1/2lb one that I removed after about 9 hours at 195, still not pull-able, put it back in for almost 2 1/2 hours more, removed at 205 and it did sort of pull but had to use a knife some to chop it. )[p]Maybe too damn lean and it was very lean. This is the first time I have ever had a problem with a pork butt.[p]Just try another one and see what happens.[p]Sorry I could not help "butt" we are in the same boat. LOL[p]New Bob

Unknown

sprinter,[p]What cut are you using? I had a similar problem with a shoulder. The picnic went much smoother. Also, if your gasket is worn out or you have the top damper open too much, you are loosing a lot of heat.