Help...

[utvolfan]

O.K. folks...My 1st try at brisket and pork butt. I put them on at 5am (est)..Butts are 8lbs and brisket is 8lbs..Everything is stuck at 160 degrees and dinner is at 6:30..Temp in smoker is at 228..Any suggestions ?

 

[congosmoker]

you've hit the plateau. Entirely normal, keep your heat steady and it will break after while and then you will be on your way.

 

[mossymo]

UTvolfan
I have never been able to plan an accurate time to eat when smoking larger peices of meat. All peices of meat seem to plateau differently and only the meat thermometer can tell you when it is done. I find it is best to smoke brisket and pulled pork well in advance of eating time and adjust its time spent in the cooler after it has reached temp in the smoker, to go with the actual eating time.

 

[davenh]

Sounds like they have seen plenty of smoke by now and the bark should be good. You could get the oven pre-heated to 250, wrap them in foil (add a little liquid in the foil with them, like apple juice) and finish them in the oven.

 

[bhille42]

Be patient, your meat will reward you!

 

[funh2o]

Yep, what Mossy said. I found out you have to smoke by temp and not time. Especially on the larger cuts of meat. And you also have to allow for cooler time to let the juices distribute back into the meat. I usually wrap in foil and blankets and set in cooler for about 2 Hrs.

When I smoke Brisket or Butts, I usually try and do them the day before and then reheat the next day for the planned meal.

Hope this helps a little.

Steve

 

[danbury]

Here's what I do when I want to plan on eating at a certain time. I'll use butts as an example. Let's say I want to eat at 6:00 P.M. on a certain day. I'll subtract from that time the following.

3 hours for resting (you can go shorter, but I do 3)
16 - 17 hours smoking (I cook at 225 degrees, know my pit and I'm pretty much on the money each time. But I do cook by temperature)
1 hour to "knock off the chill"
8 hours for my rub.

Toss in more time if you need to, but I just add those hours up, and that's how many hours before my planed eats that I get started with preparation.

As others have said, butts always stick at around 160, sometimes 170 and you'll almost think your thermometer is broke or your fire is not doing its job. Just be patient and when it jumps, it usually moves up fast after that.