It took 14 hours for me to smoke an 8lb Pork Butt this past weekend. Is that normal?

[dmarkj22]

So I smoked my first Pork Butt his past weekend and it came out really good. I was able to achieve a nice bark and the meat was moist and tender and had a rich smokey flavor. I used a mixture of apple, pecan and hickory woods for the smoke. Now I've heard that pork butts can be a bit unpredictable sometimes which means that cooking one requires a lot of patience. I put it on friday night at midnight, cooked it at 225-250 and pulled it at 185 degrees at 2pm the next day. Have any of you ever heard of pork butts taking so long to cook? That's 14 hours for a 8lb piece of meat!!

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• dmarkj22
• Jul 27, 2015

 

[Rafter H BBQ]

Pulled off smoker at 185* IT ? Did you do pulled pork ? Just curious as PP is taken to IT of round 200-205* !

 

[trueteam]

I have had them take longer and some in less time. Each piece of meat is different. i don't think your time is unusual.

 

[Rafter H BBQ]

For what it's worth, I done a couple a few months ago & had a 10 lb'er that took 19 hrs at 250* chamber temp ! But that was an IT of 205* ! I don't think your time is really off.... But the IT unless you were slicing possibly ? All meat has a mind of its own ! Then when ya think ya have it figured out, the next one will be done 3 hrs earlier than the last !

 

[dmarkj22]

Pulled off smoker at 185* IT ? Did you do pulled pork ? Just curious as PP is taken to IT of round 200-205* !

Well at least it was supposed to be. We had to take off the the in laws and I ran out of time for cooking. The meat was fork tender but probably could have been a little more tender. 

 

[Rafter H BBQ]

Pulled off smoker at 185* IT ? Did you do pulled pork ? Just curious as PP is taken to IT of round 200-205* !

Well at least it was supposed to be. We had to take off the the in laws and I ran out of time for cooking. The meat was fork tender but probably could have been a little more tender. 

Yea, pull round 200-205* generally (when the bones wiggly to the point ya can almost pull it out) for some real tender PP, I totally get folks being ready to eat & it not being done ! Ask me how I know that ? :biggrin: Don't forget the rest as well, a real important part of great PP ! Also, just a suggestion.... But I now do my PP a day or two ahead of time & warm up in the crock pot with a little apple juice or finishing sauce ! It seems tastier after sitting for a day or two anyway !

 

[mike5051]

I did a 7 pounder on Saturday, it took 14 hours to reach 205°, smoker between 225 and 250.  I didn't wrap it until after I took it off the smoker.  Wrapped in foil and a towel for 1.5 hours.  Super tender and juicy!  I would say butts average about 2hrs per pound at these temps.

Mike

 

[cal1956]

it probably came from an old tough hog , I think everyone that does pulled pork get's one once in a while that seems to take forever to get tender .  just consider it a learning experience ,

who knows the next one might only take 5 hours . pulled pork cooking time is always a crap shoot

 

[mummel]

I did a 5.5lb butt this weekend that took 12 hours.  I average 2.25 hours / lb if I dont foil.

 

[stickyfingers]

Yes, give or take...that's about right. Higher temp less time.

 

[oldschoolbbq]

Yep

 Time was about right . Here's a cook of 6 I did and they all came off in17hrs.

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• oldschoolbbq
• May 14, 2015

Have fun and . . .