Plateau duration? Going on 5 hours

Topo Gigio

Hi All, My first attempt at a butt (5-6lb) is cooking right now.
Here is the breakdown.
I had the dome at 220-240 from 11:00PM-9:30AM.
At 9:30AM the meat temp reached 168.
From noon till 2:25PM the dome temp was 200-210.
At noon the meat reached 170.
From 2:00 to 2:25 the meat is back down to 168.[p]Is this normal. How long can a plateau last? Should I raise the dome temp to 240-250?[p]

jwitheld

Topo Gigio,
not yet
when the meat temp goes up and continues to rise, say 185 its done. you can continue to 200.
ive seen large butts go 12 hrs in the plateau

Unknown

Topo Gigio,
Every time I have done a butt, I start out and keep the temp at 240. The last ones I did hit 195 after 16 hours and 39 minutes. I took them off then and put them into a cooler rapped for another 4 hours. They pulled the best I have ever had. [p]Jerry

Unknown

jwitheld,[p]Large butts 12 hours in hte plateau. Youre funnin right?[p]