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Butts finishing too fast on XL

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BamaEGG
BamaEGG Posts: 170
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
My neighbor just got his XL a few weeks ago. I have had my large since October. I have done a good number of Butts since I got mine and all have run pretty close to the 2 hour rule and even longer.

My neighbor has done 3 butts so far. 5lb, 8 lb, 12lb. All have finished in record time. And I mean quick. we're taking 8 hours or so. He tells me that the temp has been kept between 225 and 275. When his polder has been registering 190+ he pulls. After letting them sit he pulls the meat only to find they don't quite fall apart like they should.

Since I dont have a XL I don't have the experience to know it's ins and outs. Does the XL typically cook things quicker than a large?

I suppose it could be the meat he has bought so far, but there is no way that as 12lb butt should finish in 8 hours even at 300 degrees let alone 225 to 275.

He swears that there haven't been any temp spikes while he has been cooking. He hasn't calibrated his dome thermometer yet so we are going to do that tonight. But, could that make such a drastic difference?
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  • usc1321
    usc1321 Posts: 627
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    I am not sure on how much difference it makes, but my thermometer was way off when I took the egg out of the box. The first few cooks i did seemed to be done in record time. When i calibrated my thermometer, i found out it was about 35 degrees off. I would think the difference between 275 and 310 is pretty important when doing a long cook.
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  • The Naked Whiz
    The Naked Whiz Posts: 7,777
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    I 'spose the first thing he should do is check his dome thermometer in boiling water, and check his polder thermometer in boiling water. It sounds like if the meat don't pull, it isn't really to 190+ degrees. Have you seen where he puts the probe? Is it touching bone?
    The Naked Whiz
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  • KC
    KC Posts: 91
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    It's possible if his dome temp gauge is off. Mine was off by 15 degrees. I have read posts on the forum of temp gauges that were off by 50 degrees - which could happen if it was twisted during egg assembly which could rotate the gauge and throw of its accuracy.
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  • BamaEGG
    BamaEGG Posts: 170
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    Well, I calibrated his dome thermometer. Sure enough it was reading more than 40 degrees low. I am sure that has to be the problem. I'll tell him to check his polder as well.
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  • Hammer
    Hammer Posts: 1,001
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    Sounds like you have found the problem. I've experienced some shorter lo & slo's on the XL, but not enough to determine a big difference.
    Hammer
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