butt question

[codymcgee]

butt has been on for almost 4 hours at 250 and just hit 128..what the hell is goin on here? will it be ok being below 140 for that long?.

 

[smoking gun]

How big is your Butt? I'd reinsert the probe in a different spot and recheck the temp.

 

[codymcgee]

little over 8lbs..i tried that and the highest temp I've got was 130..it's is starting to rise a little now tho.

 

[bman62526]

#1 - make sure your temp gauges are all accurate.

#2 - crank the heat a little bit - it will NOT hurt a pork butt like it will other cuts, as long as you don't cook at 300 plus for the whole time. You said it's been on "almost" 4 hours...if you crank it up to 280°, you should hit 140 very soon.

#3 - you are going to get plenty of responses that tell you to throw the meat away because of the 40 - 140 rule. Some of these folks are a lot closer to "expert" status that I am - and I don't want to offend anyone.
However, if it takes you say 4 hours and 23 minutes to hit 140 degrees, I would press on and finish it. I do not endorse this for anyone but me... Never been sick a day in my life from food poisoning.

Once again - I'm not telling YOU to disregard the 40-140 rule, I'm only saying that i have before - and it's never hurt me. If you think about it....you are cooking the center of that pork butt to almost 200° - if it takes a TAD over 4 hours to hit 140, I don't run scared.

My disclaimer is...if I was trying to cook a pork butt 200° and after 7 hours I was only at 128°, I wouldn't press my luck THAT much...but 20 - 25 minutes, no big deal, IMO. These FDA guidelines are created to error on the side of caution - so there is a little wiggle room, IMO.

Once again - that's how I think of it, but I would never tell anyone else to do it my way either.

 

[smoking gun]

How are you measuring the grate temp? Something seems out of wack. I usually cook butts at 220 and have no problems with the 40-140. It wasn't partially frozen was it? I'd do like Bman said and bump it to 300 for a bit.

 

[fatback joe]

Don't sweat it, keep the door shut and let the thing cook.

If you want to up the heat, go ahead, it won't hurt anything.

IMO you are fine.......don't throw it out, just quit jabbing it and let it cook. LOL

 

[codymcgee]

I got my thermo on the grate with a tater..and another thermo in the meat. the smoker has been holding steady at 245-250. it's up to 133 now. I put the butt on a little after 10am and it's now 2:35pm. the butt was thawed when i got it and sat in the fridge overnight with the rub on.

I also tested the therms in boiling water and both were dead on

 

[codymcgee]

also it's an electric ECB so i can't adjust the heat

 

[the dude abides]

My best guess is that your thermometers are way off OR the temperature of your cooker is low.

Are you using calibrated thermometers?

 

[chefrob]

what bman said.......including the disclamers!

 

[tasunkawitko]

yes, it is fine. the 40-140 rule is for meat that is sitting. your meat is cooking and will be cooked up to a temperature that is way, way past 140 degrees.

i'd recommend not probing it until you are about 3/4 of the way through the cooking process and the meat is "starting to look done."

it's cooking - let it cook.

 

[codymcgee]

thanks for easing my mind guys

the butt hit the stall at 155..it's gettin late and almost time to get the kiddo to bed so I went ahead and foiled it. I moved it to the bottom rack of the ECB above the now almost empty water pan. I'm thinking maybe I'll get a little more heat and speed things up a little this way.

goin on 10 hours of cooking now..oh well i had nothin else to do today