2.3 Pound Pork Butt Taking Too Long?

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MilwaukeeBBQGuy

Fire Starter
Original poster
Sep 12, 2020
30
11
So I have a Smoke Vault 24" propane smoker, and one thing I've noticed is that whenever I smoke meat, it always take way longer than what I see online. For instance, started smoking a 2.3 pound pork butt this morning at around 10AM. It is now almost 5PM and i'm still sitting around 160. I wrapped in butcher paper, so just letting it go.

Point is, I know you "can't smoke to a time" and "meat is done when its done", but is it normal for most meat smoking times to not match what i see online?

I'm smoking the pork butt around 225-250F, and yes, I have a ThermPro wireless meat thermometer to also measure the ambient temp inside the smoker.

I did try injecting the pork butt this time, thinking that might be slowing things down also.

Anyways, considering they say 90-120 minutes per pound for pork butt.... is it normal that I never even get close to that short of a time?

Sincerely - Frustrated Smoker (:emoji_laughing:)
 
It will stall at 160 I did one yesterday 9am to 12PM at 250⁰ 12pm to 3PM 275⁰ 3PM to 6PM 325⁰ this was for an 8 pound shoulder. I stalled from 3 to 4 pm. I think you could safely bump the temp up.
 
Could it be that the Smoke Vault is leaking more than other smokers? Prolonging time? I know Smoke vault's are fairly well regarded for an amateur smoker, but just not understanding why a 2 pound pork butt is now going on 10 hours. (I'm at 164 now! :-) )
 
Or maybe a bad temp sensor
I was thinking about that, but i have an analog oven thermometer inside, the built in smoke vault on the door, and my thermpro. they all average out to around the temp i'm aiming for. I did test the thermpro in the oven and with the ice water test, and all seems to be good.
 
Something don't sound right. Are you sure it's only 2.3lbs? Never seen a pork butt that small.
 
Something don't sound right. Are you sure it's only 2.3lbs? Never seen a pork butt that small.
Yeah, it's probably a part of one, or a half. We grabbed it at Aldi to make some Cuban Sandwiches, and at the last minute decided to smoke it instead.
 
I've done some really small boneless butts (3-5lbs) and if I didn't wrap I'd have some that took over 14hrs.These were done in a well insulated MES.The end result was great but the time and electricity invested got me to start wrapping once I hit the stall.

I also started smoking at higher temp also,I've found many folks get stuck on 225 as being the be all-end all when comes to smoking temp and I used to be one of those.With butts these days I generally will maintain a temp at 250-260.
 
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