Pork butt stuck

hopmonster · January 2015

I am at hour 15 on an 8#, bone in butt. At 225 for 12 hours I was at 137!?! I bumped it up to 300 and wrapped. 3.5 hours later I am at 161. The fuel burned the core and left a rim, which I knocked down to get some even temp. I would say I was at about 10-15% fuel left. Any idea why? I know there are break points, but I have never had this much trouble.

theyolksonyou · January 2015

How cold was it going on? When was the last time you calibrated the thermo?

Jeepster47 · January 2015

Did you calibrate your dome thermometer and IT probe? A dome temp of 225 means a lower grill temp and could explain why the first 12 hours only yielded a 100 degree IT temp increase. If your dome thermometer is reading 10 or 20 degrees high, the grill was even cooler.

The 3.5 hours to an IT of 161 could be a little slow 'cuz maybe you've spent the last hour or so in the first stall.

How much lump did you start with ... filled to the bottom of the plate setter? Mine egg is a large. With a fill to the bottom of the plate setter and a 15 hour 250 degree cook, there's enough lump left for a spatchcock chicken the next day.

Good luck ... keep us posted.

hopmonster · January 2015

- I am using a flame boss, and when things stretched I backed it up with a second thermometer which a green both on grid temp and meat temp. - The pork sat out for 2 hours before going on. - It was a about 60 degrees when it went on. With your prompting, I agree it should have had more time on the counter. - Fuel on the large egg was full to the place setter. Normally I have plenty of lump left for other cooking. Of a whole chicken and some side. Maybe after 50-60 butts I got lazy somewhere. Very mysterious.

Jeepster47 · January 2015

Hmmm ... I'm out of possibilities ... agree that it's mysterious.

I bring protein from the fridge to the egg without a warm up on the counter. That's why I mentioned a 100 degree temp rise (37 to 137 degrees) during the first period.

henapple · January 2015

Why brand of lump? I've never set mine out.

hopmonster · January 2015

BGE lump. Took 20 hours to get to 195, then an hour rest. It was good, just frustrating.

lousubcap · January 2015

No need to warm the pig or cow before tossing on the BGE-really doesn't impact cook times and if looking for the smoke ring-a cold start gives you more time for the ring to develop. Many have taken a frozen butt right the BGE-a bit of a challenge to get the rub to adhere but nothing more than add a hour or so increase in the cook-times. And that is certainly subject to all the other variables at play. FWIW-

mitch2264 · January 2015

Interesting--the last butt I did busted my freaking chops. I am in the 203 degree camp and this thing sat on the egg for 14 +--want to say closer to 18, hours and never hit that temp. She finally hit 195 and I decided close enough! It was a Christmas present--tasted good and was tender, but wow! This was a situation where having a second egg was great because I used most of the fuel after 12-13 hours and just moved it to the other egg.

Weird, for sure!

Froman · January 2015

Seems odd. I did one Friday night, similar size. It was 15 hours to about 200 IT. Egg was down to 180 for a bit in the middle of the night.

QDude · January 2015

I think you were cooking it at too low of a temperature. There is nothing wrong with cooking it at 275 to 300°.

ktpbighead · January 2015

I just got done with a 17lb 17 hour cook. Mine stalled twice. I cooked it at 225. But mine was from Costco.

RedSkip · January 2015

Cooked one Saturday, 9 lbs with bone, used the Flame Boss.

Grid: 255
Dome: 310

Took roughly 11 hours, put on at midnight straight from fridge.

Not sure this helps, but it was still moist and greatly reduced the cook time.

StillSmoken · January 2015

I agree with Qdude, I think 225 my be the problem.

Zmokin · January 2015

Ignoring the phenomena of the stall which is caused by evaporation, fundamentally, everything heats up and cools down at a negative exponential rate. so the closer your final internal temp is to the ambient cooking temp, the longer it will take. I routinely start my low 'n' slows at 225, but over the course of the cook periodically increase my cooking temp to decrease my cooking time.
It's common for me to finish in the 300 to 350 range.

Chubbs · January 2015

Cooking too low of a temp. That is the problem. 225 dome was likely 195-200 grate temp. Bump up the dome to 275 or so. Also how do you light your lump?

MaskedMarvel · January 2015

Flame Boss?

Pork butt stuck

Comments

Categories