I could use a little wisdom...Shoulder @159 16 hours later.

[jasonrmcc]

Hey Guys and Gals,

Experience: I've been smoking for a little over a year and have done 7-8 shoulders/butts in that time, along with every other cut of meat known to man :) So not a total newbie, but lacking the experience of many of you "experts" that I rely on so often.

Details:
Smoker: MES 30 w/ MES Cold Smoker attachment
Thermo: Smoke Thermometer monitoring box temp and IT of Pork (thermo was mounted on the rack towards the back of the smoker on the same rack as the shoulder)
Meat: 9lb shoulder, fat side down
Outside Temperature: 15F at start dropped close to 0F overnight
Smoker Temp: Held 220-230 all night
Time: Pork went into the smoker @ 5:30pm w/ temp back up to 228 in the box

When I checked the IT temp @9:30am (16 hours) It was only at 159. I foiled and put it in the oven at 265 @10am as I need it to be ready for around 3pm today (for travel). In the past hour the temp has climbed to 167.

Problem/Question: What is your best guess as to why the shoulder was only at 156 @ 16 hours? Any tips or suggestions? Was it just a REAALLLLY long stall overnight?

Thanks in advance for your input!

 

[jasonrmcc]

I just read a post that mentioned "lower humidity, the more evaporative cooling effect on the meat". Humidity is currently at 41%. I wonder if this is the culprit...

 

[griz400]

What I would do is .. wrap it, cause you have enough smoke .. and finish like you say in oven or bump up temp in smoker ... what you are doing, should be 205 internal with a 3 hr cook in oven ..

 

[jasonrmcc]

Thanks Griz! Temperature is flying now :)

 

[wild west]

With a butt that size i would smoke at 270. Or i would cut it into 2 pieces if i want to do low and slow. It takes a long time to get a solid piece of meat to within 20* of your set temp and at 220 the stall on a large piece will last forever.(at least it will feel like forever)

 

[Rings Я Us]

Sounds like a bummer waiting for that thing..
300° oven works pretty good..
It will still be a hit!

 

[forkin pork]

Yes sounds like a longggg stall, seeing that it's 9lbs, that a big boy, that probably why.
Oh pull at 190F, that's what I do in competitions

 

[SmokinAl]

How did it turn out?
I think I would have let it go to at least 200-205.
Al

 

[jasonrmcc]

Oven worked like a charm! I pulled it at 205 and it came out GREAT!

Thanks for everyone’s advice!

 

[noboundaries]

You might have had a piece of meat that stalled at a low temp. I've seen first stalls in the high 130s that lasted for hours. I've also seen 5-7 degree drops during that long first stall.

I like to overnight at 225F chamber, then crank up to 275F+ in the morning. Meat needs a decent temp differential to keep absorbing heat once it heats up and stalls until the end of the cook/smoke. That's basically what you did by moving it to the oven at 265F.

 

[levithan9]

I smoked a butt a few months ago. It was 12Lbs. I usually get 8-10 Lbs butts. But this was on sale for .94 cents a pound, so i grabbed it.

This bastard took 23 hours to finish at 225 in my Masterbuild 40". I was certain..CERTAIN..that i was doing something wrong. It must have stalled for about 5 hours, maybe longer. I also had a water pan under it, because i like a moist butt.
I finally thought something must be wrong. I probed it with my Instant read therma-pen in 6-8 different places. And sure enough, it wasn't ready, and my meat probes were reading correctly.

Knowing enough to not panic, I just let it continue to cook. Sometimes, the meat just wants to be stubborn.

 

[daveomak]

FWIW... When I smoke a butt, after the smoke is applied, I close down the exhaust to about 5% open and crank up the heat... With the exhaust closed, there is no evaporative cooling effect....

 

[jokensmoken]

I've had +0+ pounders take 16+ hours on too.many occasions so unless I'm getting a killer deal in price I avoid them. I'd rather do two 6-7 pounders and have more leftovers or cut a BIG one in half. I like bark anyway so smaller pieces means more surface which means more bark and more smoke flavor.

 

[forkin pork]

I agree with jokens, I like to stick with those 6-7lbers, they seem to give me the best results, and I can relay on that stall time being pretty much the same.
I cook at 225*f from start to finish and never mess with the temps or the draft, straight forward.
In competitions, I'm no champ, but never scored above the top ten out of 50 to 60.
Leave that exhaust open! :D

 

[daveomak]

I should have made clear, I'm using an electric MES 30.. and when the exhaust is closed, I've quit applying smoke.. Soooooo, I'm using my smoker like an electric oven in the kitchen..