Boston Butt Cooking Plateau...?

JK

Elder Ward's Boston Butt recipe (BGE Recipes) says that the temp should plateau around 175-185*. I put 2 butts on yesterday at 4:00 PM and had the Egg stable at 200* all day, and between 210* and 180* during the night. Mine seemed to plateau around 145-150* all through the night... I kicked the dome temp up to 250* and we now have an internal temp of 162* -- after 17 hrs of cooking. My question is, what are common plateaus and what do you do when you have them, if anything? [p]P.S. Thank you Elder for teaching me how to build a fire.

Washog

JK,
You should be fine. I do my low and slow around 200 degrees as well and it takes as long as 24 hours sometimes. Now that you jacked your egg temp to 250, and your meat temp is over 160, I'd say you are about three hours away from it being done.

Nature Boy

JK,
Sounds like things are goin' pretty slow. The plateau for me is usually in the 160s, often around 165. Sounds like you are just entering it now. Sometimes I will even get a second stall in the 170s.[p]I suspect the problem lies in your cooking temps. Since the temp at your cooking level is usually at least 10 degrees lower than your dome temp, and up to 80 degrees lower with certain setups, you were likely cooking your butt at 180 or less all night long.[p]I have found 250 dome to work much better and it is also easier to maintain that temp. At this point in your cook, even 275 dome would not be out of the question.[p]Just some sunday mornin idears. Hope it helps.
You are in for some good eats....even though maybe later than expected!
Chris

QBabe

JK,[p]I usually do mine at around 250° dome and have often seen the same range of stall as you are now...in the 150's. You'll have some really good eats later on today! Just kick back and let 'er go at the dome temps you're in now and you should be fine. Pull the butt off when you get to 200° internal, wrap in HD aluminum foil then put in a cooler filled with crumpled newspaper (or after the foil you can wrap in towels and put in cooler, but make sure they're old ones...first time I did this, grease dripped from the butt and got my towels all icky, so if you want to please your spouse, don't use good ones!). Then let is sit for an hour or so. It'll be way too hot to handle right out of the cooker. When the time comes, take it out and pull and serve...![p]Enjoy!
Tonia
:~)[p]

JK

Washog....,[p]Thanks all! I raised the dome temp to 275* and it's currently at 190* internal. Should be another hour or so. Thanks for the advice!

JK

QBabe,[p]Why wrap in foil and put in the cooler? I've never heard of that. I usually let a butt sit for 20-30 minutes, then pull it. Always open to a better way, however...

QBabe

JK,[p]My understanding is it's just too darn hot right away. Also, the foil and towels or newspaper will keep it hot for hours, so if it turns out to be 2PM when it comes off the cooker and you were wanting it for dinner at 5PM, you can just wrap, put in cooler, and a couple hours later, serve it up.[p]Tonia
:~)

jwitheld

JK,
ive noticed the plateu around mid 160's and can last for 8 hrs or more if your grill temp is 200