help on my butt cook, temps fell what now?

Unknown · February 2006

I started the 2 pork shoulders (The Naked Wizz way)last night at 7pm and had a hell of a time maintaining a temp of 250, would jump from 250 t0 300 then want to fall, at one time I had to take off everything and blowtorch the lump which We used wicked good NEVR AGAIN! I will stick with Royal Oak.
Anyway, My awsome wife checked on it this morning at 2.30 am and it had dropped to 195 and went to 185 before she got it back up to 250
and the meat temp was 141 at the time.
I got up this morning at 7.00 and the temp was at 300 and I heard the drippings sizzling so I got a container of hot water and filled the pan and got the temp down to 250 again.
My question is we went to bed at 11:30 The temp fell below the 190 mark, dont know for how long, but the meat temp this morning when I got up to check at 7 was 174 then fell to 172 and is stable now with the temp at 230 and the meat is at 172 still, what caused the meat to drop in temp and is it still ok to continue, should I bump it up to 300, I cant get a constant reading of 250 for nothing, what do I do. Thanks
DISH

BigT · February 2006

DISH,[p]If the butt has more than 4 hrs between the temps of 40 and 140F, they say throw it out. Can't tell from your info if that is the case or not.[p]If not, you are now in the "plateau" where the collagen in the pork butt is being rendered away. This is normal / desirable. Once the collagen is "consumed" your meat temps will start to climb and at that point some bump the temp up .[p]WG is harder to light- i use a charcoal chimney. Happy with it otherwise.[p]hth
Big T

Unknown · February 2006

Big T,
Thanks, Now the meat temp has dropped to 170 but the dome temp is the same 250 - 275
It is the norm for the meat to drop in temp like that and then does it start to spike back up on its own how long should I let it goe before up the temp?
David

Brobear · February 2006

DISH,[p]It could be in its "plateu" stage. The meat safety, I don't know. I did 2 7.5lb butts this weekend. I started around 250 degrees and went to bed 3 hours into the cook. This is the first time I did not wake up in the middle of the night. When I did awaken at 5:30 am, the grid temp was 195 and meet temp was 170. I bumped it up to 250-275. Before I hit 195 meet temp, the fire gradually went out and the meet temp dropped to 182 or so. I refueled, and finished out at 275 dome, 240 grid temp. It took around 18 hrs. This is the first time I have had to refeul. On the wicked good, I like to mix it with the royal oak. Also, I really think with the pork to err on the higher temp side.

Unknown · February 2006

Brobear,
Thanks, I know this wg is hard to light I used a chimney to start mine but still had trouble all night, I can hope for the best
I really like the Royal Oak stuff has very little ash and burns great and not too fast either, maybe I will mix next time like you did. Thanks for the advise. I dont know what the grid temp is how do you get that?
David

Brobear · February 2006

DISH,[p]I have a Maverick remote with two probes. I put one probe in the meat and the other on the grid. The other nice thing about the Maverick is that it has a wireless transmitter and you can take the remote unit in the house and see what the temp is. I put mine beside the bed and look at it without having to get up. Pretty lazy, right:).

Unknown · February 2006

Brobear,
Now that is a great idea! I will have to go out and get one

EddieMac · February 2006

DISH,[p]Sorry to hear about your difficulties! I'm not one old wise sages that sit on this forum but I've done a boatload of butts this past year and have them down-pat.[p]The first thing I would tell you is that it sounds like you went for the "set it and forget it" routine and that's NOT the way these things work. On a long cook you need to check your temps every two hours. As you gain experience and gadgetry that will change. But for now, check those temps every two hours. And don't worry about grid temps just yet....concentrate on dome temps for now.[p]And finally, what's the matter with using BGE Lump? It's excellent and really performs. I too like Wicked Good but I didn't even consider messing with that until I had more than a few butts under the belt! In my opinion Wicked Good Competition isn't for newbies....especially those that aren't regularly checking dome temps![p]Would strongly recommend you check out the nakedwhiz.com site and look at amounts of lump charcoal used and how to best stack it. The Whiz has done the homework....so we don't have to![p]Stay at it![p]Ed McLean
Ft. Pierce, FL

Jake · February 2006

DISH,
If you want something really cool, look into investing in a BBQ Guru. Try their website maybe bbqguru.com can't remember. This thing will monitor meat temps, grid temps and has a fan that goes onto your slider door so when your temp drops below your preset level it kicks on and brings temp back to desired level. And you can monitor this from bed.[p]Jake

Unknown · February 2006

eddiemac,
Wheres your pictures at? Yes I have used His site for about three years now and did his way last might with the butts. I love BGE lump never said I did'nt.
anyway I stacked the lump just like whiz stated and did not set it and forget it, we checkeded it from 7 pm till almost midnight more like every 30 minutes and was doing fine, and got checked on at 2.30. and then again at 7am today. which The whiz even says if the temp is goingfine after a few hours then you can pretty much count on it not going out on you.I have used wicked good a few times and I dont care for it, its still burnning though now and its already been 17 1/2 hours and the butts are at 170 still [p]

Unknown · February 2006

Jake,
You bet that is on my to get list very soon! Thanks Mang.
Temps are still at 170 and the butts been on now for 17 1.2 hrs
David

EddieMac · February 2006

DISH, Sorry I have no pics for you! I'm not one of those high-tech, redneck types (LOL!) but I'm a workin'on it! Reckon I'll have to get my Misses to gimme a hand with that. Pretty much still stuck in Bedrock when it comes E-Lectronic devices! But those baby backs I cooked up before The 500 woulda made nice picture though. Company deeee-stroyed 'em all! Thanks Dr. BBQ for the 3-1-1 Method![p]Best o'luck to you ya! [p]Ed McLean
Ft. Pierce, FL

Unknown · February 2006

eddiemac,
Thanks again for help advise! back atcha hope to see ya at the Florida fest.
cheers

help on my butt cook, temps fell what now?

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