Butts Cook - What went wrong?

atlegg22 · November 2012

Well I decided to cook 3 butts (all boneless and about 3 lbs) this weekend because one large was not available. I was measuring the temps in the smallest one and decided to pull at 200 degrees. This was after 6 hours of cooking around 250 degrees. It seemed pretty tender when I removed it so I wrapped in foil and put it in a cooler w/ towels. I then stuck the temperature probe in the other butt and was surprised to see the temperature was only 178 so I decided to keep smoking. After about 2 hours it was only at 180 degrees and hadn't moved a degree in the last hour. I decided to pull and start the shredding process. All three butts seemed pretty tough to shred (even the first one which seemed tender when I initially pulled). Everyone raved about the meat but I was pretty upset with the outsome; especially since my last attempt produced tender fall off the bone meat. Any ideas what could of went wrong?

Budgeezer · November 2012

I'm not sure about the 1st butt, but it sounds to me that the 2nd and 3rd were in the stall period and needed to be cooked a bit longer. You can always crank up the heat @ the end to help reach your desired temp.

atlegg22 · November 2012

yea....I tried to crank up the heat. I believe at one point it was in the mid 300s and still no movement on the 180 degree meat temp.

Buckdodger · November 2012

Budgeezer said:

I'm not sure about the 1st butt, but it sounds to me that the 2nd and 3rd were in the stall period and needed to be cooked a bit longer. You can always crank up the heat @ the end to help reach your desired temp.

+1...I remember one low & slow butt cook I did that took almost 3 hrs to go from 165 to 195. Gotta be patient. ;)

TonyA · November 2012

Is that 250 dome or grate? I'm struggling to get my head around 3lb butts cooking for more than 2hrs per pound at 250 grate. But rest assured, 180 degree butts are not going to pull easily and will be dry. A properly cooked pork butt looks like it can hardly support it's own weight - like it has or may collapsed on itself.

calracefan · November 2012

Every piece of meat has a mind of its own, would agree with an earlier post , they were in the stall and were not done. Also be sure your thermo is calibrated.

SmokeyPitt · November 2012

I dislike small butts, and I cannot lie. They cook weird! IMO, go to a different store next time and find yourself some 7+ lbers to cook ;).

Fred19Flintstone · November 2012

SmokeyPitt said:

I dislike small butts, and I cannot lie. They cook weird! IMO, go to a different store next time and find yourself some 7+ lbers to cook ;).

Good one! I agree about bigger butts cook better. I like 'em and I cannot lie! Heh, heh, heh!

Duganboy · November 2012

SmokeyPitt said:

I dislike small butts, and I cannot lie. They cook weird! IMO, go to a different store next time and find yourself some 7+ lbers to cook ;).

Good one smokey

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