I need help, I'm about to panic

Onelick · December 2011

Hey everyone,
I did the cook last night like all my others, started the fire about 7, everything stabilized about 8, put the two 5 lb butts on around 8:30, kept checking temps until 12, looking good keeping temp at 255, went to bed and woke up this morning at 8 with a temp of 325, and an internal meat temp of 210!! everything looked too burnt and dry. I have no idea how long it's been at 210. So I took them off the grill, wrapped in foil, and they are now sitting in a cooler with towels. It's now 8:45. (East coast.) The party is set to eat at 5, so that's too long to let them sit in the cooler. My thoughts were to pull it around 11 this am and put it into a crock pot with some kind of liquid and then take the crock pot over. We'll just lose the effect of pulling pork together. They just don't look like the others I did. Any other suggestions?
Thanks,
Onelick

tjv · December 2011

Butts are a forgiving meat cut. They take a bunch of punishment and still yield good product. My hunch is once you unwrap from foil, they will look better. Might pull earlier than 11am and cool in fridge, when reheating use apple juice, dr. pepper or coke, something with some sugar (not diet). Don't need a bunch of liquid. Once the butt is heated in the crock, if it tastes dull, might add bbq sauce then. Just make sure temp is low enough in the crock, not to burn the sauce, 225-250 ish. t

Kentucky Wildcat Fan · December 2011

I agree with tjv. They are very forgiving. I've used Coke to reheat and it works great.

drbbq · December 2011

Ditto. I use a 50/50 mix of apple juice and BBQ sauce and just enough of it to keep it from being dry. Bring a squeeze bottle of the mixture so you can add just a little more as needed.

Onelick · December 2011

Thanks for the replies. I pulled it, and you guys were correct as usual, it wasn't as dried out as what I thought. 2- 5 lb butts pulled down to almost fill a crock pot. There were some pieces that aren't edible on a sandwich. So maybe I'll make some chili?
My awesome wife pointed out the error of my ways. I was thinking 2 hours per pound cook, so I had 10 lbs of meat, so I was good for a whole night's sleep with no worries. She pointed out that I had 10 lbs of meat, but in 5 lb pieces which only need 10 hours. So when I put them on around 8:30 last night, 10 hours later would have been around 6:30 this am. I should have gotten up at 5 to start checking the thermometer. I think that's where I screwed up. This is the first time I have done two pieces, I've only ever done whole pieces. I hope others can learn from this too.
Thanks for all your help, I'll let you know how it turns out this evening.
Onelick

tjv · December 2011

butts in the 6.5 to 8 lb pound range are best. if you stay consistent on size, your learning curve will speed up. some retailers sell a two butt package. Again, to speed up your learning curve, check packages to make sure butts are relatively the same size, shape and pounds....... t

stike · January 2012

The 325 temp is what speeded things up, not cutting in half. Still needs to go thru the plateau, and that's what determines length of the cook almost more than weight

Shiff · January 2012

You might want to consider getting a remote thermometer like a Maverick ET732 so you can monitor your temps from bed during the night. Saves a lot of stress.

I need help, I'm about to panic

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