Boston Butt Exception or rule???

Fireball

The phenomenon of turbo butt maybe becoming the rule not the exception. For those who do not know. ( A turbo butt, a term first used by Nature Boy I believe, is a Boston Butt that is done well before it time. Quicker the the average time of 1.5 to 2.0 hours per pound. ) I just finished the third “TB" out of the last four cooks. This one was a 7.5 Boston Butt, the first boneless butt , with a dome temperature that ranged between 220 and 250 degrees after the cooking set up was in place and the dome temp was restabilized. The butt was pulled out of the egg at an internal temperature of 200 degrees. This butt took 10.5 hours. It will be Breakfast instead of lunch. I will weight it before pulling I want to start collecting statistics about shrinkage. I will be enjoying my breakfast.
Fireball

Tim M

Fireball,[p]
I see in your profile you have a small Egg. Is that what you're cooking these butts on? If so, it will skew the times/temps planned on. If not, tell us your setup. I doubt pigs are more lean than they use to be - the turbo butt is a rare thing, not a norm. There must be other reasons. How long since you dipped mr. thermometer in boiling water?[p]Tim

Fireball

Tim M,
Thank you for the idea. I checked my two thermometers about 10 days ago. I recheck them once a month. After reading your post I rechecked both, the one on the cook was between 2 and 3 degrees low, the other was dead-on. My profile is wrong. I got a deal on a medium egg, when the small was not going to be in for 30 days, and took it. The set up was the four fire bricks in the "standard U", a drip pan, and the cooking grid with the butt.
Firball

Brant

Fireball,[p]If your dome temp was mostly on the upper end of the range you mentioned (near 250 degrees), then I'm not surprised that they are finishing in 10 - 11 hours. I'm still a fan of 20+ hour butts because I prefer eggs and bacon for breakfast, but I have cranked up the temperature for faster finishes on occasion. What I have seen is that the 160 degree "plateau" that can last for hours when Qing at 210 degrees is greatly shortened when the temperature is bumped up to 250 - 270.[p]Brant

Mike Oelrich

Brant,[p] Yep, me too. Ain't it funny -- physics actually works![p]MikeO

Unknown

Fireball, weigh the edible meat after pulling (not before) to get a true yield. You'll lose significant weight when you discard the bone and residual fat.

Bigbawb

Fireball, Doin' pulled pork for breakfast is actually pretty good-just do what I did last weekend when it happened to me !! Slap that stuff between an open croissant and your in heaven!Second thought ,I'LL bring the croissants!! EEEHAAAH!! Bigbawb