Stall won't stop stalling?

Mosca

Hello, and thanks for looking!

First pork butt. 8lbs. Started last night at 10:30PM. At 8AM it was @ 145*. At 9:45AM it was @ 156*. Now, at 2:30PM, after 16 hours, it is @ 170.

I have no problem waiting; it's not like we're eating at 3. But man, this is slow. I paid attention to instructions to use lots of big pieces for my fire, and I made a BIG pile, so I'm not worried about running out of fuel... but about when should I expect the temp to start accelerating? When should I thing about pumping up the dome temp, or putting the roast in the oven?

Thanks,

Tom

lousubcap

Missing a key metric-what is your calibrated (key word) dome temperature?

Mosca

225 on the calibrated Maverick.It has varied from 225 to 230, but has mostly been 226.

lousubcap

If you are running around 225*F on the grid (Maverick location assumption) then it will take quite a while to get the butt to somewhere north of 200*F +/-.  At that temp you can expect 2+ hrs/# easily.  You can crank the dome up to around 300*F to punch it home-and it will be just fine. 

Welcome and enjoy the journey!

Mosca

Thanks, Lou! Since we're not eating until around 5, I'm going to wait another half hour and then start punching!

lousubcap

Good call if time is not an issue-enjoy!

RV10Flyer

I had the same thing happen a couple weeks ago. Bumped the temp up 30 to 40 degrees and the internal temp started climbing again.

Mosca

Here we are now @ 5:40. Egg's been puffing away at around 300 for about an hour. Internal is 192 on the Maverick, and an instant-read (cheap Taylor, but still) says 192.7. The bone pulled out. I'm giving this sucker another 20 minutes MAX, then calling it done at 6PM after 20 hours.

I think I have some learning to do, about my Egg and what the temperature is around different parts of the dome. My hypothesis is that my instruments were reading accurately, but were not placed at the optimal points. I probably could have used higher temps at the points the probes were placed.

lousubcap

@Mosca-I'm a big believer in "believing your indications".  That said, you can have too many indications and get " axle-wrapped around temperatures" that only confuse you and the process.  I would doubt that you wire your kitcehn oven to determine any thermo gradients-I would suggest not to do the same with the BGE. Pick a temperature location (dome or grid) and sort out how the BGE cooks with that as a point of reference and go from there-Just an opinion and we all know what those are worth....YMMV-

nolaegghead

If you had your Maverick probe out of the shadow (direct line of sight with the fire) of the plate setter or whatever you used to make it indirect, you'd have a high bias on the reading, and the meat would cook extremely slow.

Mosca

Thanks, all. It was really good.



Here's the thing, though: the effort was all out of proportion to the result. I'm used to using my Egg as a grill substitute: burgers, ribs, chicken, and sometimes more complicated stuff, but always meals that start with, "Whaddya want for dinner?" at around 3PM. This was pretty straightforward from one perspective, in that it was trim, oil, rub, and roast. But 20+ hours? That is a lot of time in advance to start a meal!

Tjcoley

If you go turbo at 350, wrap in foil at 165, you can be done in about 6 hours. Just need to decide 'what do we want for dinner' just before lunch time.

Parallel

Mosca said:

Thanks, all. It was really good.



Here's the thing, though: the effort was all out of proportion to the result. I'm used to using my Egg as a grill substitute: burgers, ribs, chicken, and sometimes more complicated stuff, but always meals that start with, "Whaddya want for dinner?" at around 3PM. This was pretty straightforward from one perspective, in that it was trim, oil, rub, and roast. But 20+ hours? That is a lot of time in advance to start a meal!

I do mine at 250° to 260° and at that temp (dome) it takes about 12-14 hours for an 8 lb butt. I would just bump up your temp a bit.

lousubcap

Great result-congrats.

shadowcaster

I haven't tried turbo butts yet but it is always an option for you. I prefer to do low n slow, not for any reason other than I enjoy doing it. There is nothing like waking up in the morning, walking out back and smelling that Egg that has been going all night long! Kind of makes me want to start one right now! haha

Egghead_Daron

I agree with @shadowcaster that it all depends on how you like doing it. I have done turbos a few times. They turn out great. You sacrifice a little bark but the end result is outstanding. You can have one done in about 5 hours. I still prefer a low and slow. There is something that I really enjoy about getting the temp down as close to 200 as I can and letting go for as long as I possibly can. So bottom line is, get the end result however you want to get it but either way, the Egg will give you a great product.

Griffin

ON low and slow, I don't check the dome thermometer, just the temp at grate level, which I keep at 250. Seems like when I did stabilize the Egg, it was usually 250 grate and 275 dome in the beginning. I'd at least bump your grate temp up to 250 and it won't take you as long. Still haven't done a turbo, but I'm ok with overnighters.

Mosca

Thanks again, everyone. I shared the leftovers in our small shop the next day, and I was congratulated as a BBQ Pitmaster! I'm encouraged by the praise, and intrigued by the advice. The next one will be smaller. I'll bump the temp and start it in the morning, 8AM to serve at 6PM.