Welcome to the EGGhead Forum - a great place to visit and packed with tips and EGGspert advice! You can also join the conversation and get more information and amazing kamado recipes by following Big Green Egg to Experience our World of Flavor™ at:
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Pinterest  |  Youtube  |  Vimeo
Share your photos by tagging us and using the hashtag #BigGreenEgg.

Want to see how the EGG is made? Click to Watch

2.5# Pork Butt - loooong cook

Options
Smokin' Domer
Smokin' Domer Posts: 16
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Thought I'd do a 2.5 pound boneless pork butt for dinner (Monday night) for wife and I. Been running the dome temp mostly 250, as low as 230, it snuck up to 300 briefly. It's been on for 8.5 hours!

Dome temp has been steady around 250 over last 4 hours, remote temp has gone from 167-158-174 and now back down to 168. The fire is not out. I checked with a Polder which confirms the Maverick remote. Besides eggin' too small of a butt what else have I done wrong? This is ridiculous!
· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • Rascal
    Rascal Posts: 3,923
    Options
    I'd bump the temp. up to 300°.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    Options
    the "two hours per pound" thing is just a guide, based on the fact that everyone is cooking butts within a typical range of 6 to 8 pounds or so.

    in the end, the collagen still needs to undergo the breakdown, and it's pretty much a fixed thing i'd guess, time-wise. you might get to the plateau quicker with a smaller piece of meat, and maybe after the plateau it gets to 195/200 pretty quick, but it isn't going to go faster thru the plateau necessarily.

    it's not a linear relationship. 2 hours per pound is a good guide for normal sized butts, but it isn't logical to think a half pound butt would be pullable in an hour, for example
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Smokin' Domer
    Smokin' Domer Posts: 16
    Options
    Thanks Rascal, I bumped it up to 300. Finally done at 10 hours. Smells great! May be pulling it for an after midnight snack.

    I agree Stike, I think 1.5 to 2 hours a pound works for 6-8 pound butts but when they get smaller than that it is still going to take a couple hours just to get through the plateau. That seems to be what happened tonight.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Celtic Wolf
    Celtic Wolf Posts: 9,773
    Options
    I find myself once again agreeing with stike (GASP!!)

    It is done when it's done!! That is a fact..
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Egglicious
    Egglicious Posts: 150
    Options
    Seems like you did nothing wrong, the meat is just trying to push through the plateau. Does seem like a long time for a small hunk of pit. Hope it turned out for you. The worst would be having to listen to the wife complain that dinner wasnt ready.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Smokin' Domer
    Smokin' Domer Posts: 16
    Options
    Egglicious wrote:
    Seems like you did nothing wrong, the meat is just trying to push through the plateau. Does seem like a long time for a small hunk of pit. Hope it turned out for you. The worst would be having to listen to the wife complain that dinner wasnt ready.

    The only thing I can figure is that the widely varying temp changes as it tried to push through the plateau was caused by it being a small butt thus more affected by egg temp.

    It turned out okay. No complaints from my wife as I took her out for dinner while the butt cooked a couple more hours. She enjoyed the midnight snack. Her only remotely negative comment was that if it is going to take that long to cook (10 hours) you may as well do a bigger butt. Yeah!

    She is loving the egg as she doesn't have to figure out what to have for dinner and I cook. Had she known it was going to be that good for her she would have had me buy one a long time ago!
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Categories