My butts didnt get above 175 degrees.

Unknown · February 2007

I cooked 2 boston butts today and the internal temp didnt get above 175 degrees.
I cooked them @ 250 degrees dome temp for a little more than 2 hours per pound. They cooked a total of about 12 hrs. They were 5.25 lbs. each.
They were a little too done.
I think that I need to increase the dome temp to about 275-280 for 2 hrs per pound.
The butts just did not pull off the bone at all,its like they cooked too slow.
Any Thoughts??
Thanks,
Dale

mad max beyond eggdome · February 2007

Dale Benton,
first thing i'd do is check my thermometers, both the dome temp therm. and the one you used to check the meat. .. did you check the butts in numerous places? .. .at true 250 dome temp, those butts had to top 175 eventually. ..

Unknown · February 2007

mad max beyond egg dome,
Max,
Should i get dome temp up to aprox. 275-280 so that grill temp is @ 250?
Both thermometers r fine.
Dale

mad max beyond eggdome · February 2007

Dale Benton,
not necessarily ...i don't do a whole lot of butts, but when i do, i go for 225 at the grid level. . .i'm thinking that your meat thermo was hitting something that was keeping that temp lower. . .did you check temps in other parts of the butts? ...[p]hopefully one of the better butt experts will chime in with some thoughts ...

Basscat · February 2007

Dale Benton,
Actually, they weren't too done, they were still underdone for pulling. Need to get to (usually) at least 190 for pulling, I shoot for 200. Each cook is different, some of them get done faster than others, and I've had butts (usually 7-8 lbs.) take anywhere from 14 to 22 hours to get there at 250ish temps. I think it's pretty much agreed anymore that butts are forgiving enough to give fine results in less time at temps of 275-300, like you mentioned, though I haven't tried it myself. Main thing I've learned about low and slows is it's done when it's done, and it's better to start early and allow for a long resting time foiled and towelled if it gets done early than to count on the 2 hours per pound rule. And Max's suggestion about checking the therm.'s is spot on as well.
JMHO
Basscat

egret · February 2007

Dale Benton,
It sounds to me like you "undercooked" them. They were probably in the "plateau" where the collagen and connective tissue need time to break down. This can take quite a while, sometimes up to two hours or more. The internal temp. can even go down during this period......

Unknown · February 2007

Basscat,
Thanks Basscat.
Btw--
What does JMHO mean
Dale

Unknown · February 2007

Dale Benton,
JMHO
Just my humble opinion

SouthOfI10 · February 2007

Dale Benton,
Yeah, Basscat is probably right, they weren't done. I know that it's really tough to twiddle your thumbs for 20+ hours, but that's what it usually takes with butts. I'm still a newbie at ~3 yrs on my egg, but I have transformed into a MUCH better cook since I left my watch in the house and cooked to meat temperature. 12 hours probably wasn't even through the plateau yet. I've had 5lb butts go over 15hrs.

This 8lber and 7lber were 199-203F at 15hrs, 50mins and 17hrs, 10mins. Yes, the little one took longer to cook for some reason. They're just done when they're done, I reckon....

DannyV · February 2007

Dale Benton,[p] I agree with basscat. I'm far from an expert myself but the one thing I love to cook on my large is butts. I've done about 15 so far and I've had one that came out like yours. I was basically out of time and had to pull it off for serving, internal temp was 180 and I kenw I was in for trouble. It wouldn't pull and I had to basically rip it appart ;-([p] If I had more time I could have left it on and it would have eventually plateaued at 200 and been ripe for pulling. A butt's gonna wiggle at it's own pace, it don't like to be told how to shake![p][p]

Sandbagger · February 2007

Dale Benton, give the bone a tug. If it feels like you can pull it out clean, then the butt is done. If it resists coming out, then the butt needs more time...

wobin · February 2007

Dale Benton,
The others are right. I usually plan for an 18-20 hour cook for butts if not longer. They may seem dry when you pull them but the couple of hours in the cooler makes all the difference. Patience grasshopper.[p]Cheers, Glenn

icemncmth · February 2007

Dale Benton,[p]My last two butts took 26.5 hours to reach 200...and the last couple of hours I raised the temp to 300 deg..

EddieMac · February 2007

You've received some good advice here.....Remember....All BUTTS are not created equally....and they're done when they're done....But I will say that when you get into a situation like....Get out the aluminum foil....and wrap the nearly done butts up....and the temps will head north quickly for you and you'll be happy....[p]Foil...a handy secret weapon of sorts....[p]Ed McLean....eddiemac
Ft. Pierce, FL

Metalhead · February 2007

egret,
my plateau on my 16 hour cook was at around 170 for about 3 hours

Wise One · February 2007

Dale Benton, I once cooked a 4 lb butt for 8 hours and found it was still at 175. I went ahead and sliced it and it was not bad but wasn't what i normally got. The next morning I looked at the thermometer and it wa still registering 140. I figured I cooked those for 8 hours at 190 (hard to maintain at 190 - explained why I could not get it to hold at 225 on my thermometer (which would have been about 160)). I always checked my thermometer before cooking. Now I double check.

My butts didnt get above 175 degrees.

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