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Help - Pork Butt Stuck at 190

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Rauchbier
Rauchbier Posts: 24
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Happy 4th everyone!

I started smoking a 9.75 lb pork butt last evening -- 23.5 hours ago. When I went to bed last night the dome temp was 250 but when I got up 6 hours later the fire had nearly gone out; the dome temp was 130 and the meat temp was 142 at the time. Since 0630 this morning the dome temp has been consistently maintained at 250. For the past 3+ hours the meat temp has been stuck around 190 -- it got as high as 192 but its now down to 189. I've probed a couple other places and this is the warmest part of the butt with others as much as 5 deg lower. I usually remove the meat from the BGE when it reaches 195, but I'm wondering if I should remove it now? Any advice would be most appreciated. Thanks!

Jim
Purcellville, VA
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Comments

  • BBQMaven
    BBQMaven Posts: 1,041
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    You're so close it really won't hurt to bump up the temp to 300 for the finish.... doing so can firm up the bark also.
    Kent Madison MS
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  • Eggcited in Paradise
    Eggcited in Paradise Posts: 14
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    I had the same problem earlier and followed the advice of BBQMaven and others on here. I bumped my temp to about 340 to finish the butts off. I just placed them in the cooler to rest. Total cooking time was 21 hours after a long, long plateau at about 160 degrees to 171 degrees (10-hr plateau). My fire didn't go out but I was cooking too low (210 dome).
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  • Grandpas Grub
    Grandpas Grub Posts: 14,226
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    You are probably at the end of the plateau, if you are getting late for your eat time, then kick the temperature up. Or, let it go and it will finish up when it's done.

    All that is assuming your dome thermometer is calibrated. Should you be cooking at 200° or less at grate level, you may just be keeping the meat warm.

    GG
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  • Rauchbier
    Rauchbier Posts: 24
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    Thanks for the advice everyone! I kept the egg at 250 and eventually the meat eventually hit my desired 195. As in the past, I was able to tell when the meat temperature would start to rise again from where it had stagnated when the grid temp began to rise to be close to that of the dome temp. I'm happy to report that the meat turned out superbly! Thanks again.

    Jim
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  • tsheehan7
    tsheehan7 Posts: 105
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    The rule I've followed (I think from thirdeye's site) is that once you've hit 180, you can safely bump the temp up without much moisture loss. That rule hasn't failed me so far.
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