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Turbo Pork Butt question

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Martello_Penne
Martello_Penne Posts: 42
in EggHead Forum
So I fired up the egg early this AM to start an 11# turbo butt. at about 9AM I with the dome temp at about 225 i put the butt on for a couple hours to add smoke. at 10:30 I started to crank up the temp and got up to 325-350 pretty quickly. Dome temp has been holding steady at 350 for 3 hours now. My dilemma is that the internal is already 180!!! I'd planned on this taking most of the afternoon and into the evening. There was never any apparent stall. What should I do? 

1. Bring the temp back down to 225?
2. Assume the stall may still be coming and keep right on at 350?
3. Plan on ordering pizza?
LBGE, CGW Swing Rack, Baking Steel. Mini-Max on the way. 

Boston MA
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  • SWVABeanCounter
    SWVABeanCounter Posts: 859
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    I'd take option 2, but assume you won't get a stall.  If you do that's ok, if you don't you can FTC your butt.  I've ftc'd for 4 hours and they still come out good and hot.

    Damascus, VA.  Friendliest town on the Appalachian Trail.

    LBGE Aug 2012, SBGE Feb 2014

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  • Martello_Penne
    Martello_Penne Posts: 42
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    SWVABeanCounter said:
    I'd take option 2, but assume you won't get a stall.  If you do that's ok, if you don't you can FTC your butt.  I've ftc'd for 4 hours and they still come out good and hot.
    Is it odd that the internal has come up so quickly? I'll leave it be and plan in a good long FTC. 
    LBGE, CGW Swing Rack, Baking Steel. Mini-Max on the way. 

    Boston MA
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  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,378
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    Check the placement of your thermo-if against the bone or immersed in fat then you will get an artificially high temp-(all based on calibrated thermos).  Never seen one that healthy get to that temp that fast-but that doesn't mean it can't happen.  Every hunk of meat behaves on its own.  Happy New Year.
    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.
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  • Mickey
    Mickey Posts: 19,674
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    lousubcap said:
    Check the placement of your thermo-if against the bone or immersed in fat then you will get an artificially high temp-(all based on calibrated thermos).  Never seen one that healthy get to that temp that fast-but that doesn't mean it can't happen.  Every hunk of meat behaves on its own.  Happy New Year.

    Bingo
    Salado TX & 30A  FL: Egg Family: 3 Large and a very well used Mini, added a Mini Max when they came out (I'm good for now). Plus a couple Pit Boss Pellet Smokers.   

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  • Martello_Penne
    Martello_Penne Posts: 42
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    Mickey said:
    lousubcap said:
    Check the placement of your thermo-if against the bone or immersed in fat then you will get an artificially high temp-(all based on calibrated thermos).  Never seen one that healthy get to that temp that fast-but that doesn't mean it can't happen.  Every hunk of meat behaves on its own.  Happy New Year.

    Bingo
    Placed another probe in the shoulder, and moved the original one. Temp is 180/182 on both. Perhaps my dome temp is poorly calibrated? It's brand new. I did just pull a little hunk free and it was fantastic, I just can't imagine the internal is that high. 
    LBGE, CGW Swing Rack, Baking Steel. Mini-Max on the way. 

    Boston MA
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  • Martello_Penne
    Martello_Penne Posts: 42
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    The other answer is that perhaps there is just a ton of bone in this thing and not much meat, if so I will be very disappointed. 
    LBGE, CGW Swing Rack, Baking Steel. Mini-Max on the way. 

    Boston MA
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  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,378
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    The key finish indicator for a bone-in  hunk of pork is when the bone pulls clean/no resistance.  Given the thermo readings I would ride that to the finish-line.  Depending on the temps you may see a fairly good stall in the high 180's-low 190's as well.  A suggestion-once clearing this cook give your dome thermo a calibration check.  Boiling water and it should be around 210 (212*F at sea level)-if not use the nut on the back to dial out the error.  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.
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  • Martello_Penne
    Martello_Penne Posts: 42
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    lousubcap said:
    The key finish indicator for a bone-in  hunk of pork is when the bone pulls clean/no resistance.  Given the thermo readings I would ride that to the finish-line.  Depending on the temps you may see a fairly good stall in the high 180's-low 190's as well.  A suggestion-once clearing this cook give your dome thermo a calibration check.  Boiling water and it should be around 210 (212*F at sea level)-if not use the nut on the back to dial out the error.  FWIW-
    Just pulled a part of the bone clean off and ate the surrounding meat. It was fantastic. I'll be calibrating everything this afternoon. Thanks everyone for the help. Assuming I can get pictures to upload I'll post the finished product (for better or worse) later today. 
    LBGE, CGW Swing Rack, Baking Steel. Mini-Max on the way. 

    Boston MA
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  • Mickey
    Mickey Posts: 19,674
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    THE ONLY easier cook is a hotdog. You have to work to screw up a pulled pork.
    Salado TX & 30A  FL: Egg Family: 3 Large and a very well used Mini, added a Mini Max when they came out (I'm good for now). Plus a couple Pit Boss Pellet Smokers.   

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  • Martello_Penne
    Martello_Penne Posts: 42
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    Here it is as it comes off the egg. Seems to have cooked down quite a bit and lost a bit of its original heft. Perhaps the cryo pack was mislabeled.
    LBGE, CGW Swing Rack, Baking Steel. Mini-Max on the way. 

    Boston MA
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  • Cookinbob
    Cookinbob Posts: 1,691
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    A few months ago I did 4 pork butts,   3 were 9 lbs, one was 11 lbs.  When done, all three weighed about 6-1/2.  They do lose a lot of weight in the cook.

    Looking at yours, I would say it is done - meat is pulling from the bone, it looks great - you will eat well tonight!
    XLBGE, Small BGE, Homebrew and Guitars
    Rochester, NY
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