Cooking too fast - what am I doing wrong?

bge-in-ar

I'm pretty new to Egg Smoking. Recipe on biggreenegg.com for a 6-9 lb pork butt calls for temp in egg at 230 with plate setter. Says to try to cook it for 18 hours until internal temp reaches 200 degrees. My egg is at 210 degrees, and the internal temp has gone from 40 to 110 in just over an hour.

It seems every time I try to smoke something, it's done in a fraction of the time the recipe calls for. What am I doing wrong?

BajaTom

Are you sure your themometer is correct? Do you have a second themometer to check it? 18 hours is too long. I generally go about 14/15 hours. I do mine at 250 temp on the BGE themometer. It does seem yours is moving to fast. By rule the butt should get above 140 within 4 hours. It will plateau at around 160/165 for many hours while the colligen breaks down. My suggestion is to check your temp to insure it is correct. All butts are different and will cook differently so don't panic. Tom

Big'un

You are doing fine, and are on target! 1st, I would raise the temp to about 260 once it restabilizes. 40F to 110F isn't that uncommon. Your egg fire is probley putting out much more than 210. The thermal mass from the cold meat is what is holding the temp down at this point. That's why it is so important to stablize your temp before putting on food.

I just got done cooking 3 picnics. Using a stoker and graphing my cook, the first hour the temp barely got above 230F, Then after that, it stabilized at 250F. That's with a fan forcing air to "stoke" the flame.

Also, keep in mind that each piece of meat will cook different. Last week the two butts I cooked, came out of the same package and weighed the same. One cooked 6 hours faster than the other when I pulled them at 192F. The recipe is only a guideline. You are on target. Email me offline with a phone number if you need some personal pointers. You are doing great!

Semolina Pilchard

Check your dome thermometer in a pot of boiling water, it should read 212. It sounds like your egg is hotter than your thermo is showing.

BajaTom

Give complete details on how your cook is set up. That will help you get the advice you need. Good luck, Tom

bge-in-ar

Ok. Here's what I do know. I'm using a large egg with the platesetter. I filled it almost to the top with lump charcoal. I checked the accuracy of the BGE thermometer before I started the fire to ensure that the temp it was reading was pretty much in line with the outdoor temperature. the roast is about 7.5 lbs. Temp on the BGE thermometer was about 250 when I put the butt on. I closed down the top air vent until the wheel was about 1/3 open, and I closed the bottom vent completely until the temp dropped to 200. I then opened the bottom vent about 1/2" and the temp has stabilized around 210 - 215. I'm trying to keep it here rather than the 230 - 250 that most recipes call for to make sure I get a long cook time.

Maybe I'm panicking a little too early. If the internal butt temp stabilizes for quite a while around the 160 range, then i've got a while to go before we get to 200.

Thanks for all the previous and future help.

danny285

I think you are right on target, i have had one on for 2 hrs now at 250 indirect, will check temp later with a thermapen. rule of thumb is 1.5-2hrs per lb.

We will learn together
Good Luck

stike

it takes very little time for the butt to hit 100 or so. it will takes HOURS for it to go from 160-175

every now and then we each have a turbo-butt. could be "enhanced" pork, maybe it's much less fatty than other butts, who knows. every now and then we have one that takes maybe two thirds the time we expect.

you can drop temp to 220 if you want. that will take a while too.

Unknown

I'm more and more convinced that most of the meats we buy today are 'enhanced'. You have to look very close to find the 'enhanced' message on the meat label. It's always in very small print usually off where you'd least expect it.

civil eggineer

Your butt will hit the plateau around 130 to 150 meat temp. Once it does it can sit there for up to 5 hours without increasing temp and can even drop slightly. Take a breather, drink a 12 pack...all is well!