Polder

Jeff

I'm new to cooking on the BGE and came up with a question. I noticed while cooking a butt that after 8 hours or so, the temperature on my Polder seemed to stop rising. I didn't notice an increase in temperature for an hour or two. I pulled the Polder part way out and slid it back in and the temperature immediately rose 10 degrees. I reinserted it in a different place, again avoiding any bones, and the temperature registered again at the higher temperature. I took off the butt and it was definitely done. Any ideas why I'm getting different readings?
Thanks,
Jeff

Carl T

Jeff,[p]Keep in mind that you will see a plateau while cooking the butt. It usually occurs around the 155-165 mark and could last for quite a long time. However, my guess about the different temp readings is that you may have had to tip of the probe in a fat pocket or touching the blade bone.[p]Carl T

JJ

Jeff,
You did NOT give us the temps you observed and without that I can't give you any help. You say the butt was done.
Was it pullable or cooked ok and sliceable? What was the weight of the butt? 8 hrs way too short a time to complete to a pullable state. Sounds like you inserted the probe at different depths. Give more details so some of us old timers can give you information and help.

Tim M

<p />Jeff,[p]Here is a graph showing the Polder internal meat temp and the dome temp vs time. It took 20 hrs to do the butt and at the end I raised the dome temps to speed it up a little. You can see the plateau between 160-180 deg for 2.5 hrs. This is where the meat is breaking down and it's becoming tender. Reinserting the probe is normally only done when the temps rise too quickly and it's normally caused by the probe touching a bone. The meat can be safely eaten at any temp over 150 but the best pulled pork comes from meat in the 190-200 deg range.[p]Tim
[ul][li]Tim's BGE Cookbook etc[/ul]