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Temp low in morning for pork butt, Help a first timer please

jeffcaputo
jeffcaputo Posts: 15
edited July 2012 in EggHead Forum
Last night i started my first attempt at a pork butt. Coals were started at 1030pm, butt on at 11pm, and by 1145pm the Egg was stable at 230. When I checked it at 1245am the dome temp was 100 and I couldn't getbit back by opening the vents. I did what I swore I would not do and opened the Egg, removed the meat' and re-lit the coals :(. It got back to between 230-250, was steady at 145am and I went to bed because I was tired and out of Bourbon (the true rookie mistake). I just checked the Egg and the dome temp was about 150, and my digital meat probe read the meat was 145. I opened the vents and have it back to 230-250 now.

My question is, did I mess this up by the temp being too low overnight, or if I still get the meat to about 195-200 by dinner time will it be ok ( still at a dome Temp of 250).

2nd question is why did this happen? It was stable when went to bed and I had the vents set the same as when I have done ribs low and slow for 5 hours that turned out amazing.

Happy 4th of July and God Bless America!

Comments

  • michigan_jason
    michigan_jason Posts: 1,346
    Jeff, was this 230-250 the temp that your BGE thermometer read? If so, it was a little low to start off, because normally your GRID temp is 40 or so degrees lower than your DOME temp. This is why a lot of us will get the DOME temp up to closer to 270 or more even. The best way to avoid this is to get a bbq guru or a cheaper maverick that you can place a probe on the grid so you get an accurate temp of where your meat is.



    "Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity, and are able to turn both to their advantage."

  • michigan_jason
    michigan_jason Posts: 1,346
    Also, your meat will be fine if you cook it to temp, do not worry about that. Also, you may have arranged the lump differently, your air holes may have become plugged, you may have a lot of ash in the bottom, all things that will restrict airflow thus causing lower temp.



    "Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity, and are able to turn both to their advantage."

  • LizzieSamps
    LizzieSamps Posts: 894
    Jeff, I am glad you are back up to temp.  I wondered why mine dropped too, will be watching!
  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,167

    Last night i started my first attempt at a pork butt. Coals were started at 1030pm, butt on at 11pm, and by 1145pm the Egg was stable at 230.

    The BGE takes a while to get to a true stable environment, especially for low&slow.  As read above, you were no where near a stable temperature on your dome thermo in that period of time.  You may have the thermo reading you are looking for in short order, but you have a mass of ceramic, cooking gear and the meat itself to get steady-state before truly stable. Down the road give yourself more time before loading the meat for a low&slow cook.

    With regard to your current cook-you will be fine food-wise-not knowing the weight of your pork butt you may have to use a higher cook temp to get finished when desired.

    And, with practice you won't need an electronic controller to run long duration cooks-but that is your choice.

    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
  • tazcrash
    tazcrash Posts: 1,852
    I believe that the temp drops after a while because you just put a large hunk (or 2) of cold meat in there and it slowly lowers the air temp in there.
    Bx - > NJ ->TX!!! 
    All to get cheaper brisket! 
  • Rolling Egg
    Rolling Egg Posts: 1,995
     You should have plenty of time left. Remember, you can always foil it later in the cook and speed it up if you are running out of time. Even if you have to foil it and bump the egg to 300, it will still be good. As far as what happened? Anyones guess. I will tell you this. I can not count the scores of eggers that have had issues holding temps under 250. It just seems like trouble zone. Always shoot for a min of 250 dome and I believe it will help you out. Enjoy the butt. It will still be great!
  • michigan_jason
    michigan_jason Posts: 1,346

    @lousubcap

    Not really saying he needed a controller, rather than a probe to place on the grid to watch that temp. I don't NEED my guru, but I will tell you that when cooking for 18+ hours, it is nice being able to leave the house, go to sleep, go to lunch etc... Not to mention the fact that when the meat gets close to target temp it will ramp down the temp in the egg to prevent overcooking (something even a pro cannot do if they arent in front of the egg.)

    Either way, it can be done with or without one, just way WAY less stress with one. No question.



    "Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity, and are able to turn both to their advantage."

  • michigan_jason
    michigan_jason Posts: 1,346
     You should have plenty of time left. Remember, you can always foil it later in the cook and speed it up if you are running out of time. Even if you have to foil it and bump the egg to 300, it will still be good. As far as what happened? Anyones guess. I will tell you this. I can not count the scores of eggers that have had issues holding temps under 250. It just seems like trouble zone. Always shoot for a min of 250 dome and I believe it will help you out. Enjoy the butt. It will still be great!

    Totally agree, matter of fact, I found the sweet spot to be about 260 on mine. Seems like anywhere between 260-275 is golden.



    "Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity, and are able to turn both to their advantage."

  • jeffcaputo
    jeffcaputo Posts: 15
    Thanks everyone, you made me feel better and I got some great advice for the future and today.
  • yep- mine settles in at 250-275 evvery time. Don't fight it. Just let it settle and ride with that. You won't hurt any meat at those temps so let the egg do it's thing where it wants to do it.

    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX