Stall question

Dawgtired

Cooking a 9.5# butt since 10pm last night. At 9:30 am it was 163 and now at 6:15 it’s stuck at 170. I know there are ways to beat the stall, but I’d rather not. Does that seem like an excessive amount of time? At what temperature does the stall usually end?

mahenryak

What temperature are you cooking at?  Stall times can and will vary but at first glance that does seem like a long time to me.

pgprescott

Something’s wrong. Either cooking too low of temp or the thermometer is off. 24 hour pork butt cook? Raise your temps to 250-275. 

Dawgtired

225

Dawgtired

I was going along with the directions in the Meathead book

mahenryak

Dawgtired said:

225

Okay.  That might very well explain it.  250+ is my rule of thumb for butts (and many others).  Even 240 for an overnight cook can make a big difference.  You can up your temperature with out any worries at this point.  I might suggest 275.  If you wrap in foil, which you have said you don't want to do, this will move things along even faster.  Just really depends on how patient you are willing to be at this point, and if you are worried about potentially losing your bark by wrapping.

Edit: You can go higher than 275, even, if you like.  300 will not hurt anything.  Just watch for any big swings.  Also, you may need to peek at your lump depending upon how much you loaded to begin with.

Dawgtired

Just raised it to 275

pgprescott

Stall is done 165-175. Depends. If you enjoy the cooks taking so long, by all means carry on as you have been. If not, you can easily get away with cooking butts at 275. The moist, low air flow environment on the egg will allow this with absolutely no repercussions. 

mahenryak

Dawgtired said:

Just raised it to 275

Great.  Good decision.

dmourati

Raise it to 325. This super low temp thing is more a hindrance than a help. I went through it as well b/c I thought lower and slower was somehow better. It isn't. Stay below 350. That's when you'll start to notice some sugars burning in your rubs.

pgprescott

dmourati said:

Raise it to 325. This super low temp thing is more a hindrance than a help. I went through it as well b/c I thought lower and slower was somehow better. It isn't. Stay below 350. That's when you'll start to notice some sugars burning in your rubs.

I agree for the most part. I think it’s just old fashioned thinking passed down to people which has long been disproven. Kinda like soaking wood chips and fat cap up to “baste” the meat. You really actually dry out the meat a little by cooking at such low temps IMO. Like over rendering. 

Dawgtired

So question....the 10# butt came out pretty dry. I had the butcher trim the fat cap down to 1/8”. I also cooked it at 225 for 14-15 hrs until y’all advised me to crank it up to 275 which still took another 6-7 hours to finish at 203. So my question is this...did the really low temperature and long cook dry the meat out or should I have left a bigger fat cap on? Or both? Also I’m guessing no, but is there a way to not make the meat so dry, other than adding more sauce?

pgprescott

Your low temps are just drying the butt out. Leave a 1/4” fat cap and bump your cook temp to 275 and wrap in two layers of foil when it reaches 160 degrees to finish. If you have a foil pan, just put it in the foil pan and cover with two layers of foil. Once done, save the juices and run them through a fat separator and reintroduce them to your pulled product for added moisture and flavor. 

mahenryak

You could have bumped the temp up a little more as I suggested in my Edit: remark and others that followed, did as well, to try to get it to finish sooner.  Also, wrapping speeds things up, as well.  No matter.  What's done is done. 

In terms of the dryness issue, adding more sauce is definitely not the answer.  How was it probing at 203?  Temperature is only a guideline. If you probe with a thermometer or toothpick in several areas the probe should be met with very little resistance.  This is the sign that the connective tissue has been melted and you're ticket to a moist final product.   I also think before your next cook you might be well-advised to calibrate your thermometer.  Search the forum and you will find steps to do so.  It's not hard to do and amounts to boiling some water and checking your gauge.  I actually invested in a tel-true thermometer eventually, but I'm not suggesting you do so.  I also agree with what pgprescott has suggested above.

DoubleEgger

pgprescott said:

Your low temps are just drying the butt out. Leave a 1/4” fat cap and bump your cook temp to 275 and wrap in two layers of foil when it reaches 160 degrees to finish. If you have a foil pan, just put it in the foil pan and cover with two layers of foil. Once done, save the juices and run them through a fat separator and reintroduce them to your pulled product for added moisture and flavor. 

+1. This right here will get you where you you need to be. 

225 is a worthless temp in the egg. 

Dawgtired

Thanks for all the advice. I assumed a well known guru like Meathead would be a good source of information. As far as the temperature, I was using two probes. One from the Flameboss and a Thermoworks Chefalarm so I assume it was actually correct at 203. Do y’all pull earlier than 203? Maybe I had that wrong as well

DoubleEgger

Dawgtired said:

Thanks for all the advice. I assumed a well known guru like Meathead would be a good source of information. As far as the temperature, I was using two probes. One from the Flameboss and a Thermoworks Chefalarm so I assume it was actually correct at 203. Do y’all pull earlier than 203? Maybe I had that wrong as well

I don’t know who Meathead is so I can’t comment on his/her methods or the cooker used. . Various cookers cook in different ways. Some like offsets can move more air in a dryer environment versus a well insulated egg than has a smoldering fire at 225F. The egg tends to cook better at higher temps as it is a moist environment compared to other cookers. 

Dawgtired

DoubleEgger... makes sense. When do you pull your butts?

mahenryak

Dawgtired said:

... Do y’all pull earlier than 203? Maybe I had that wrong as well

Your 203 is a good benchmark.   I can't remember the last time I pulled earlier than 203 but I know some start probing as soon as 195.  On your next cook you might start probing at about 195 just to make sure you catch it before it's done and then maybe again at 201 but don't remove until the probe is met with very little resistance in most spots (don't just probe one spot).   205-206 seems to be the typical sweet spot for my particular setup, but it can and does vary. Another sign that the connective tissues have released (melted) is that it will tend to jiggle if when you nudge it.

pgprescott

Dawgtired said:

DoubleEgger... makes sense. When do you pull your butts?

I have pull around that temp. I pay close attention to the feel as well. It’s not uncommon for some muscles to be done and others a bit tight. Some comp guys pull at 195. 
 BTW, Meathead is a great general source of scientific bbq information. The egg is a bit different than almost all other cookers 

DoubleEgger

When to pull depends on when you need to eat. If you are going to FTC for several hours, you need to pull a few degrees sooner to account for the FTC or you’ll overshoot and have mushy pork. 

mahenryak

I think the proverbial dead horse has been well flogged on this thread, now...

lousubcap

Love me some dead horse-two things:

Regardless of the make/model of your thermo give it the one point cal check in boiling water.  Altitude dependent it should be around 212*F.  If close enough no worries, if not use the nut on the back to adjust out the off-set and cal-check again.

Second-the best indicator I have found for the pork butt finish-line is when the bone pulls easily/clean out of the protein.  The temp will likely be in the above mentioned area but nothing like the pull test.  FWIW-

Off dead horse

BGEChicago

DoubleEgger said:

Dawgtired said:

Thanks for all the advice. I assumed a well known guru like Meathead would be a good source of information. As far as the temperature, I was using two probes. One from the Flameboss and a Thermoworks Chefalarm so I assume it was actually correct at 203. Do y’all pull earlier than 203? Maybe I had that wrong as well

I don’t know who Meathead is so I can’t comment on his/her methods or the cooker used. . Various cookers cook in different ways. Some like offsets can move more air in a dryer environment versus a well insulated egg than has a smoldering fire at 225F. The egg tends to cook better at higher temps as it is a moist environment compared to other cookers. 

https://amazingribs.com/home

sabretooth04

Just do turbo butts all the time at 350 degrees.  Done in about 6 hours and taste great.