Question on my pork butt

wtipton

Smoke Blower

Original poster

Aug 25, 2012

76

22

Salem, Oregon

• Oct 6, 2012

• #1

Hello fellow smoke-a-holics,

I currently have 2 10# pork butts on the smoker, they have been on for 3 hours and have had a avg temp of 275. I just put a temp gauge in them and the IT is 160. It seems awful fast for these large butts to get that hot so fast. I added apple juice to the pans and foiled them.  and am going to let them get to about 200 IT before pulling them.

Have I done something wrong? I have read that meat this big should take 8-9 hours to be done. what am I missing?

Thank in advance

William

PS I did inject them with apple juice and rub could this have something to do with it?

 

schaydu

Meat Mopper

Jan 13, 2010

239

17

Tuscaloosa, Alabama

• Oct 6, 2012

• #2

You should be figuring 1.5-2 hrs per pound. Something sounds like it is off. Sounds like you may have a bad reading. Do you have another thermometer you can use to double check it?

 

schaydu

Meat Mopper

Jan 13, 2010

239

17

Tuscaloosa, Alabama

• Oct 6, 2012

• #3

But then again the higher temp could have brought them to temp quicker; still i would double check with another thermometer.

 

JckDanls 07

Legendary Pitmaster

OTBS Member

SMF Premier Member

Sep 10, 2011

8,148

2,889

Tampa area, Florida.

• Oct 6, 2012

• #4

did you double check by putting probe in different spots to make sure you weren't in a pocket of fat..?. or next to a bone... ? did you check your therm in boiling water ? just a few thoughts... but then again you are running a little bit higher on the heat then the norm... so, yea, they could be at 160` already... now you might get a 3 hr stall... that will put ya back on track...

 

wtipton

Smoke Blower

Original poster

Thread starter

Aug 25, 2012

76

22

Salem, Oregon

• Oct 6, 2012

• #5

I only have my digital meat probe but will be leaving for walmart in a few min to get another thermometer will post with any changes

 

venture

Smoking Guru

OTBS Member

Aug 1, 2008

6,948

73

Central California

• Oct 6, 2012

• #6

How are you measuring the 275 pit temp?  Stock smoker therms can be very unreliable.

Sounds like you will be double checking the meat temp.

You should be about at the stall which can last a long time.

My guess is you will be fine.

Good luck and good smoking.

 

rdknb

Master of the Pit

OTBS Member

SMF Premier Member

Jan 23, 2010

3,981

159

Chester (Kent Island), Md

• Oct 6, 2012

• #7

Yes a 10 lb butt should be a min of 15 hours and maybe even 20+. 

 

cliffcarter

Master of the Pit

OTBS Member

Feb 28, 2010

2,277

258

Old Town, Maine

• Oct 6, 2012

• #8

In my experince cooking a 10 lb. butt at 275° will take 10-11 hrs, IMHO you should wait until at least 5-6 hrs into the cook before probing for temp. Relax and don't peek again for at least another 3-4 hrs.

 

Last edited: Oct 6, 2012

wtipton

Smoke Blower

Original poster

Thread starter

Aug 25, 2012

76

22

Salem, Oregon

• Oct 6, 2012

• #9

Ok checked the meat again and it is stalled at 165 so it is foiled and ignored. I am measuring my pit with a old maverick temp probe and it tested fine in boiling water. Right.now pit is at 275 and letting the charcoal run out.

 

wtipton

Smoke Blower

Original poster

Thread starter

Aug 25, 2012

76

22

Salem, Oregon

• Oct 7, 2012

• #10

OK folks so it is the day after and I realized something. Apparently when I am sleep deprived and had a few beers I can not count... I put the butts on the smoker at 8am with a target of 6pm dinner, It was a 1pm that I checked the IT and found it at 160 well my realization is that is 5hrs not 3 hrs like I though so I was on target and did not even know it. Anyway the butts turned out beyond words and people said it was the best they ever had. Thanks for all you feed back.

William

 

smokininidaho

Smoking Fanatic

Nov 11, 2011

395

130

N. Idaho

• Oct 7, 2012

• #11

How long did they take, only 10 hours? I've had 4 pounders take that long.

 

wtipton

Smoke Blower

Original poster

Thread starter

Aug 25, 2012

76

22

Salem, Oregon

• Oct 7, 2012

• #12

Yea 10hrs at 280 avg temp

 

smokininidaho

Smoking Fanatic

Nov 11, 2011

395

130

N. Idaho

• Oct 7, 2012

• #13

Very nice! I usually smoke shoulders at 225 degrees so they take longer. Next time you may want to try a little lower temp and a bit longer on the smoker, see if you notice a difference. So long as you enjoyed them that's all that counts, good job!

 

cliffcarter

Master of the Pit

OTBS Member

Feb 28, 2010

2,277

258

Old Town, Maine

• Oct 7, 2012

• #14

smokininidaho said:

Very nice! I usually smoke shoulders at 225 degrees so they take longer. Next time you may want to try a little lower temp and a bit longer on the smoker, see if you notice a difference. So long as you enjoyed them that's all that counts, good job!

Click to expand...

Why would you want to if they can be done in a reasonable amount of time. I, for one, will never pull an all nighter when cooking a pork butt again.