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Problem with cooking times

Hey everyone. My question or problem I should say is as follows: I have done multiple Boston butts on my egg. Probably 10 separate cooks. Every time I do one I follow all the rules. Get egg up to 225/235 for about 30 min. Use place setter legs up. With a drip tray(I do usually put apple cider and water in it). I have a cyberq. I set it for a internal temp of 195. Usually use 2 probes in meat to be accurate. Put butts on and wait. Here is where my problem lies. Everywhere I read it is stated that the cook time should be somewhere between 1.5 to 2 hours per pound or there abouts. Well it never happens. It always takes me much longer. Usually around 3 hours per pound. I have calibrated all my probes. The dome probe. And I use a therapen for meat temp. I put the pit probe level with meat. Dome temp usually shows a little hotter. 5/10 degrees. I hate to sound stupid but I can't figure it out. I feel like I'm doing everything right. Has anyone else had this problem? And could ANYONE PLEASE GIVE ME SOME ADVICE WHAT ELSE I COULD DO OR AM DOING WRONG! All my probes,therapen and dome therm shows a close temp when I calibrated them. Less than a 5 degree variance between all of them. My meat turns out good. I just never know how long it's going to take. It's really starting to irritate me. Thanks. Any information will be most appreciated.

Comments

  • Mike8it
    Mike8it Posts: 468
    Just need to bump your temp up a bit. Most will cook at 275 dome temp which gives you around 250 grate temp. With 225/235 dome temp your grate temp could be as low as 200.
  • Thank you for the info. I will try that.
  • pgprescott
    pgprescott Posts: 14,544
    Well, I'm not sure. Could be the liquid in the pan slowing the cook down for a while at first, but I doubt it. I guess if the cooks are taking longer than expected you could either adjust your expectations or wrap in foil at 160 to increase cooking speed. I am closer to 250-275. Could make a little difference. Just adjust your schedule to meet the time or adjust your parameters to change the cook time. That's the beauty of it all. It's all up to you. You won't ruin a butt at all by raising the temp or wrapping etc. It's a forgiving cook.
  • Is the 250/275 your dome temp?
  • Pork butt is probably one of the most resilient cuts in the world. I would bump your temp up as the others have suggested, then bump it up even another 50 degrees after the first couple of hours.  Should help with not only the time but also the consistency of your cooks. Good luck!
    I raise my kids, cook and golf.  When work gets in the way I'm pissed, I'm pissed off 48 weeks a year.
    Inbetween Iowa and Colorado, not close to anything remotely entertaining outside of football season. 
  • @Jazzman22 - 50 degrees dome will make a huge difference. A tale of two 6# butts. both on at 8:00AM, one off at 5:30PM (a touch early as the money muscle was still a bit firm), one FTC'd at 3:00PM completely done. Why?
    First had a drip pan with some white wine until the drippings took over. Dome temp at 225-250. The other, no liquid in the drip pan, dome temp 290-325. 

    I had to hurry the second one up a bit and it was still very good. The bark was more pronounced on the second one, makes sense as it was cooked with more heat and no steam. Family preferred the second one for NC style sauce and slaw. 
    Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad!
  • gdenby
    gdenby Posts: 6,239
    My understanding was that the 1.5 - 2 times were a loose average for a dome at 250F. While the grill will be a little cooler for a few hours, eventually the dome and grill level will be very close together.

    No need for water or juice in the drip pan, unless the drippings start to burn. The juice adds negligible flavor, and the added water is just 1 more thing to cook. And the moisture doesn't carry the heat as well as dry air.

    There has been a lot of discussion about "turbo" butt cooking over the last year. There's a rough agreement that cooking w. a dome temp up to 300 - 350F, and wrapping the butt when it hits 165F, and then finishing unwrapped for awhile when the butt hits 190F will yield good pulled pork at the speed of about an hour per pound. The texture of the meat is slightly different, and the bark is not quite as good.

    For myself, I've upped the dome to 275F. I usually aim at finishing about 4 hours before service. If the cook is going to slowly, then I bump up to 350-ish. So far, that has had me serving on time.
  • Thank you guys for all the info. I really appreciate it!
  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    water in a drip pan can't get hotter than the boiling point - 212F, so it creates a cool spot right under your meat.  Like others had said, cook hotter.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • I got my first BGE a week ago and cooked on it about 4 times already.  One was a 8 1/2 lb. pork butt and I had the same experience.  It took longer than I anticipated.  I'm been grilling for about 40 years but I can see that I'm going to have to learn to grill again.  I started the butt at 3:15am and took it off at 9:15pm.  I kept the temp around 250 according to the thermometer in the dome.  The internal temp for the butt was 190 when I took it off.  I wanted it to be closer to 200 but the family was getting mighty hostile by 9:00pm.  My 18 year old son who never complements me on my grilling told me twice that it was the best BBQ he has had in a long time.  I'm loving my new egg.

    On question, when receipts state a cooking temp are they normally referring to the grate temp instead of the dome? 
    Columbia, SC

  • There are a lot of "variables" with butts, but not as much as you are seeing.  You mentioned you are calibrating different probes to "each other" ??  Could be one is "off" and you are matching or adjusting the others to it.  I am sold on turbo cooking my butts, so all the "cooking stress" is left behind.  The water shouldn't effect the cooking time, but should help stabilize your egg throughout the cook.  I use a piece of foil, and let the drippings evaporate, while protecting my place setter.
  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,168
    @sarivers-In the great majority of cases unless specified when someone mentions temperature they are referring to dome temp as that is the one thermo that every BGE has.  And something that you should be aware of with low&slows (indirect cooks); with almost all of those style cooks the dome thermo will initially be around 20-40*F hotter than the actual temperature at the cooking grate.  This difference reduces over time with the dome shut. FWIW-
    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.
  • lousubcap said:
    @sarivers-In the great majority of cases unless specified when someone mentions temperature they are referring to dome temp as that is the one thermo that every BGE has.  And something that you should be aware of with low&slows (indirect cooks); with almost all of those style cooks the dome thermo will initially be around 20-40*F hotter than the actual temperature at the cooking grate.  This difference reduces over time with the dome shut. FWIW-
    Thanks.  I think on my next butt I will plan on 2 hours per lb.  Last time I was hoping on 1 1/2.
    Columbia, SC

  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    If you're 3 hours out from dinner time and you're still in the stall, crank up the temp.  There's no reason why the whole cook needs to be at the same temperature.  Likewise, if it's cooking too fast, lower your temp so you don't have to FTC for hours.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • Tjcoley
    Tjcoley Posts: 3,551
    water in a drip pan can't get hotter than the boiling point - 212F, so it creates a cool spot right under your meat.  Like others had said, cook hotter.
    Never thought of it that way @nolaegghead.  Learn something new on here all the time.
    __________________________________________
    It's not a science, it's an art. And it's flawed.
    - Camp Hill, PA
  • Duganboy
    Duganboy Posts: 1,118
    edited February 2013
    @sarivers here is the key about time and low and slow: always, always err on the side of getting the butt, ribs, brisket done way before you plan to eat.

    If you are going to eat at 6pm and your entree is done at 4 then just FTC and it will be luscious at 6pm.

    For your first question if you have the dome temp at 225-235 then you grid is only about 200, so bump up the dome to around 260-275 and you will be closer to the 1 1/2 hr per pound, but Q is "done when it is done".

    Enjoy the journey.
  • Duganboy said:
    @sarivers here is the key about time and low and slow: always, always err on the side of getting the butt, ribs, brisket done way before you plan to eat.
    This is good advice.  I learned it the hard way last weekend.  Next time I cook a butt I plan to start it between 8 and 10 pm the night before. 
    Columbia, SC