hour 28 on first Butt

greatzaa

I got a DigiQ for father's day so I decided to do my first Boston Butt this weekend. Something is not right!

-BGE set up for indirect with pan of apple juice/water in a drip pan on the placesetter

-set DigiQ for 225...has worked flawlessly....for 28 hours now. Butt just got to 190.

-kicked up the temp to 250 this am because it still wasn't done

-From midnight last night until 7 this am the temp of the butt only went from 170 to 180 degrees.

-The temp probe for the DigiQ is clipped to the thermo on the Egg and they both read the same temp.

What the heck? I think the DigiQ is fine, but why did this take so long?

AZRP

You should have had the dome temp at 250 from the start. -RP

Chubby

I don;t know how big that butt is...but unless it about 15 lbs...she's doooooone!!!

First, I'd try moving the probe! It could be in a void between two muscles... or in a fat pocket.

Maybe check the Butt with an instant read in another area.

fishlessman

put your probe down on the cooking grid over your drip pan. i bet it reads alot lower there where your butt is cooking. next cook get the temps higher and maybe even skip adding cold liquid to the pan, that liquid isnt needed in the pan in an egg

Celtic Wolf

Tough to get a piece of meat to 195 when it's cooking right at that.

Do what the others said bump that dome up to 250 degrees.

If you were or will be using a recipe that was not Egg specific and you are cooking indirect bump the suggested cooking temp up 25-30 degrees.

BigGreenDon

I think you need to be careful using water pans on the BGE. When you put a pan on the plate-setter, or on spacers on top of the plate-setter, the water pan is VERY close to the food. In a bullet, WSM, or UDS, there is more space between the food and the water. Hot gas from the charcoal in these smokers has space to go around the water pan and combine with the steam from the water.

On the BGE, the situation is different... there is insignificant space between the water pan and the food.

Water boils at 212F. This means that until the water boils off, the surrounding area (that food above the water) cannot get much above 212F. Your food is cooking at a lower temperature than you think.

I used a water pan with my first brisket, and it took 22 hours.

Does this mean you should not put water in your drip pan? No, it does not. If you want to collect juices from a brisket or turkey, the first juices to hit the pan will burn (even if you use spacers) and fowl up the au jus. I generally put a small amount of water in the pan. The idea is to put just enough in so that it has pretty much evaporated away shortly after the first drippings have started to go into the pan.

Don

greatzaa

Thanks everybody....took it off at 193...ran out of charcoal. I figured it was a sign that I was done. It is really good. I guess I have the low and slooooow part figured out. Will avoid liquid in the drip pan next time.

thirdeye

The dome thermometer reads higher than the actual cooking temp at the grate. Early in the cook, there can be a 30° difference, but the readings get closer together as time goes by. So....when you have your pit probe clipped to the dome thermometer and it says 225°, you are only cooking around 195°. 195°-200° is your finish temp, so it took a long time to get there.

See my pit probe in the picture above? It's about 2" above the butts, and measures a more actual cooking level temp. (too close to the meat will give a false reading)

NC-CDN

Looks mighty tasty. I use liquid in the drip pan for EVERY butt I do. Never has it had any issues like you've experienced. It was mentioned once, but it is bang on. If you have your guru set to 225 and have your probe clipped to your thermometer on the top of the dome, then the temp at your grate (where the food is) is likely lower. Some have said 25 degrees. When I use my guru I have it clipped on the grate right next to my butt. Then the temp where my food is, is what is being used to tell the guru to ramp up or down.

I've never experienced the liquid having any affect on getting my temps up using the Guru or not. Also bump your temp up to 250. 225 isn't needed. I doubt this will happen next time.