How did i mess up this pulled pork?

[smokindeadstuff]

Can't say I messed it up but here's the story.

I've been using a GOSM for about 8 years now and it's been turning out some amazing product.

Been wanting to do the local level competitions and they don't allow gasser so after lots of research I decided on Kamado. Went with the Chargriller King Cooker Kamado. Only had done chicken on it so far and it cooks amazing. Cooks extremely fast. Chicken used to take about 2.5 hours on my gasser. Only took 50 mins on the kamado.

Yesterday decided to do 4 pork butts on the kamado. Used lump charcoal with the minion method along with 4 large chunks of hickory. Added a lower Weber grate with a pizza stone on it and a water pan. Got temp to 225 and stuck them on.

Had a real nice TBS.

I used my Maverick dual probe to watch temps and kept a constant 225ish. Give or take 5 degrees where I made minor adjustments.

Anyway after 6 hours instead of my normal 17 I was sitting 192 degrees. Blew my my mind. So I removed and wrapped in foil and put in.cooler for an hour.

It as really tough. Hard to pull. Used a finishing sauce and it was tasty just tough.

Is the Kamado just not good for a long smoke?

Where did I go wrong?

Forgot to mention I pulled 2 at 165 and foiled and put into oven that were better for tenderness.

Used my same recipe as I do.in my gasser.


Thanks!

 

[thsmormonsmokes]

I'm just a hack, so take this with a grain of salt.

As to the butt taken to 192, I have no idea.  I find I get my best results when I take it above 200 IT, but 192 should be enough to pull just fine.

I wonder about the accuracy of your thermos.  I've never had butts heat up that quickly, and if your cooking temps were about 225 the whole time there is no reason for them to come up so fast.  So it leaves me wondering if you're getting bad data from one source or another.  Have you checked thermo readings in boiling water to make sure they're giving you good info?

 

[smokindeadstuff]

I thought the same deal. I.checked them last weekend and the maverick is only 3 weeks old. Hmmmm. I'll check them both tonight

 

[coronaca92879]

Sometimes when my maverick is in a fat pocket it goes a bit crazy as the fat renders. What usually works to me is to probe another spot on butt, this also tells u how tender the meat is. To pull u want that probe to go in like a hot knife in warm butter.

 

[s2k9k]

Sometimes when my maverick is in a fat pocket it goes a bit crazy as the fat renders. What usually works to me is to probe another spot on butt, this also tells u how tender the meat is. To pull u want that probe to go in like a hot knife in warm butter.

 I never trust my Mav just stuck in one place, when the meat starts getting done I will probe in numerous places with an instant read therm. I will always see big temp differences in different parts of the meat so I just average them and go by tenderness.

 

[austinl]

As an added bonus using a hand-held instant read you get a feel for how tender the meat is as you check different spots.

 

[s2k9k]

Thanks Austin! That's what I do by probing numerous places. Your words are better than mine!

 

[jwbtulsa]

Had similar problem with my maverick today. One minute my brisket is sitting at 167 then in an instant it read 300! (yes I moved very fast!) the cooking chamber was accurate but no matter I continued to get these crazy temps. Upon inspection, the black seal at the base of probe had disintegrated and the wire pulled back about an inch. I removed the thermistor from the probe and got an accurate reading of ambient temp. I never knew my actual final temp but based my decision to rest the meat on touch and appearance. Definitely shows the fragility of the probes as I have only had my ET732 for two months. I plan on getting replacement probes and an additional backup instant read. I really rely on my thermometers as I am not ready to depend solely on my experience.
Perhaps you had something similar happen where your actual IT was lower than the data. This is off subject but here is the packer after the rest

Still learning

 

[kc jayhawk 78]

Ive read several good and bad reviews on these Maverick thermometers. Seems some get ones that work great for years, and others get duds that work for days. Really deters a guy from goin out and buyin one.

 

[smokindeadstuff]

Never got time to check them today but I'm wondering if maybe my smoker temp probe is bad or if maybe it was touching meat inside? I know my built in thermo that sucks said about 300. I know it's off showing about 50 too hot ish.

Sooooo I hear these kamados cook fast but I'm hoping this was only the problem.

What's a good name brand built in I could buy and install?

 

[manman]

Sometimes when my maverick is in a fat pocket it goes a bit crazy as the fat renders. What usually works to me is to probe another spot on butt, this also tells u how tender the meat is. To pull u want that probe to go in like a hot knife in warm butter.

 I never trust my Mav just stuck in one place, when the meat starts getting done I will probe in numerous places with an instant read therm. I will always see big temp differences in different parts of the meat so I just average them and go by tenderness.

+1

On my last smoke I was seeing the temp go up and then drop by a few degrees sometimes, i'm guessing it had something to do with the fat breaking down.  But when it reached 194, I put some beans on the smoker and stuck the probe in a different spot, it was reading 181... seems like a pretty big difference.  Took another 3 hours to get up to temp.  I wouldn't have known what to believe if I didn't have my thermapen, that definitely was my best guide, and that PP ended up being the best I've done so far (still a noob though).

The grate probe has given me real problems before in the past as well.  I think it's been performing solid lately, but the only way I really know is from experience of the temp difference between the mav and the lid therm.  It always reads about 15-25 degrees lower for me (id' think it should be higher since heat rises right?...idk that's always the way it's been).  Definitely have a love hate relationship with the mav, but it's too convenient to give up.

 

[thsmormonsmokes]

So how much should I be worried about losing juices if I start poking around the meat when it gets close to done?

Good thread. It's got me almost convinced I need to buy one if these:

http://www.thermoworks.com/products/thermapen/

My buddy has one and it gives you an accurate reading in about 1.5 seconds. Kind of spendy, but a really cool piece of equipment.

 

[woodcutter]

One of my probes died this weekend when I had pork butts ready to go on and I ended up using the instant read on the meat. I probed them when it was time to foil at 165 and probed later waiting for 195. When they were done and rested the foil was full of juice like I never had before. They were not dried out but that juice would have been in the butt if I hadn't of probed it.
 

 

[manman]

The juiciest butt I've done so far was probed in more places than the others I've done, so while I'm sure you might drip some extra juice like woodcutter said, I don't think it's all that big of a deal.  Not like poking a bratwurst or something where all your critical juices go flying out.  

 

[smokinhusker]

I probe a couple of different places with an insta read therm and have never had a dry butt.

 

[austinl]

One of my probes died this weekend when I had pork butts ready to go on and I ended up using the instant read on the meat. I probed them when it was time to foil at 165 and probed later waiting for 195. When they were done and rested the foil was full of juice like I never had before. They were not dried out but that juice would have been in the butt if I hadn't of probed it.
 

I save that foiling juice and toss it with the meat once its pulled.

 

[dragonmaster194]

I usually change probe spots 3-4 times during a smoke.  Not a problem in juice, it goes into the drip pan to be added to meat when pulled.  Steve