Pork butt and the Cyber Q

Deluca

So Ive done a couple of 4 pound pork butts with my new cyber Q. I have a question about the cooking time and temps. I did two today at the same time. I started at 225 and ended up slowly jacking the temp up after 8 hours to get the things done. Total time for these has been about 10 hours with the cyber Q set at 350 with an actual pit temp 290. Everyone liked them and all that but everything I have read says they should take about 2 hours a lb. I'm nowhere close to that. Hell, as I think about this more, the brisket I did took about 5 extra hours as well. I'm wondering why my cooks are taking so long. 

My set up; inverted plate setter, grill, then a V rack with the meat, and the temp probe clipped to the bottom of the V rack.

I'm feeling like the pork was a bit dryer than I have done in the past because it was on so long. My next crack at it will have the temp set around 260 to bring the time down. I'm not sure if this is the solution but any thoughts would be appreciated. 

Corey

SGH

Brother your times are not off at all. First let me say that there are so many variables that can affect time that I want go into them unless you want me to. Now for a few pointers. Do away with either the v rack or the grate. Does not matter which. Sounds to me like you are a little to close to the dome and getting to much reflective heat. This is great for poultry but not subprimals. One more pointer. Try cooking larger butts as I find they do much better. They usually have far more connective tissue and fat than the smaller ones and this certainly produces a better product in my opinion. Hope this helps my friend. Oh one last thing. Dwell time in the smoker has very little to do with moisture content as long as you don't over cook. The number one factor that influences moister is internal temp. The number two factor is meat quality. Hope this helps.

Chris_Wang

Yeah, 225 for a butt is lower than you really need to be. Unless you like the bragging rights that you just smoked the pork for 10 hours, bump the temp to 275. Most of us have switched to turbo (I do 325 straight through, no foil) and the pork comes out the same.

As far as the temp difference, be sure your dome thermometer is calibrated.

Chris_Wang

Oh I just saw your comment about dryness. How long the pork is smoked does not affect it's dryness. Texture, yes, dryness not really. If it dried out big time, you may have started pulling the pork apart too early. A rest time of 15-30 minutes is needed for the meat to re-absorb the liquid it just lost. Some claim this to be a myth, but I still let the meat rest under loosely tented foil for a bit before I start pulling.

FTC (foil, towel, cooler) for an hour is optimal, but not necessary. I imagine you were in a time crunch anyway. But a 15-30 minute wait while the meat rests is really not that long. Folks can go ahead and fix their plates and drinks.

Hope this helps. Others will hopefully chime in as well.

Chris_Wang

Sorry @SGH! Looks like we were posting at the same time. If I would have seen your comment about the dry meat, I would have held off. Have a good Sunday!

SGH

No problem my friend. Always good to have a second opinion. You have a good and blessed Sunday as well my friend.