My "High Stall" Pork Shoulder Experience

[Maberham]

Hi All,

Sorry for the novel here, but I was really surprised on my most recent cook. I hit the stall at 170, which was much higher internal temp than I had seen before. Maybe because it was a smaller pork shoulder?
Because I wasn’t experienced with stall at that temp, I panicked a bit. I think I should have been more patient and left it alone, instead I intervened and the results were a less moist pulled pork than I had hoped for.
Anyway, here are the details, any advice you can think of it’d be grateful for!


Pork Shoulder, 2.45 pounds

Trager 575 Pro
Prep: Dry Brine 12 hours
Rub: Meat Church Honey Hog Hot + Dez Nuts
Pellets: Mix of Pecan and Apple

Rubbed at 5:40 AM
Fat side Up, On at 6:30 AM Grill Temp: 220° Internal Temperature 49°

Left alone for 3 hours.

9:30 AM Internal Temperature 149°
Spritzed with apple cider vinegar/water mix

10:30 AM Internal Temperature 164°
Spritzed with apple cider vinegar/water mix

11:30 AM Internal Temperature 173°,
Wrapped in Butcher paper, spritzed with apple cider vinegar/water mix and Grill temp raised to 250°

12:30 PM Internal Temperature 168°

1:30 PM Internal Temperature 171°

2:30 PM Internal Temperature 174°

3:30 PM Internal Temperature 174°

4:30 PM Internal Temperature 168°!!!
Removed Wrap and raised Grill Temperature to 275°, Spritzed with apple cider vinegar/water mix

5:00 PM Internal Temperature 178°, Spritzed with apple cider vinegar/water mix

6:00 PM Internal Temperature 203° pulled from grill

Rested for 1 hour, Pulled the pork at 7PM. Best smoke ring I’ve had on my Traeger and while it pulled easily I found it drier than I had hoped.


Things to maybe do different next time:

More Moisture in the wrap mixture? (I only spritzed)

Add a water pan during unwrapped cook or all the way?

Less butcher paper (I had it wrapped 3-4 times)

Don’t raise temp to 275°, leave it at 250°

Start at 250° vs 220°?

 

[zwiller]

"If you are looking, it ain't cooking". IMO spritzing is a fool's errand. That said, stalls happen. I've seen all sorts: low, high, both on same smoke. They happen but keeping it closed and not adding something that is causing evaporative cooling (spritz) will certainly help.

 

[chopsaw]

Yup . What Sam said . Cool air introduced by opening the door will do it too .

 

[Maberham]

"If you are looking, it ain't cooking". IMO spritzing is a fool's errand. That said, stalls happen. I've seen all sorts: low, high, both on same smoke. They happen but keeping it closed and not adding something that is causing evaporative cooling (spritz) will certainly help.

You are right for sure. AND I think as you can see from the time/ temperatures the wrap certainly did not help either... should have left it out of the bag and let it do it's thing.

 

[TNJAKE]

Even if dryer than you were expecting it sure does look tasty. You can save the drippings and add them back into the pulled pork after shredded to add additional flavor and moisture

 

[Fueling Around]

Another option is to remove from the grill at around 150° and finish in a wrapped pan in your oven.

That was a long cook for a small piece of meat.
I did a 7.7# last week in 9 hours that started at 34° IT. My grill varied from 220-245° for 5 hours and 260-285° for the last

 

[SmokinAl]

Cook hot & fast 270-280, no stall & just as juicy!
Al

 

[Chasdev]

I'm doing brisket at 350 for three hours and 300 for around 3 hours and having great results.
The internal moisture leaving the meat l lowers the internal temp so adding liquid, panning or spraying can delay or prolong the moisture leaving and stretch out the temp rise time.
Sometimes very strange things happen internal temp rise wise and external influences that effect the rate moisture leaves the meat are my guess as to why.
You have to be careful to avoid over cooking the meat trying to get the internal temp you think you need.
I've had brisket that tested at 180 drop to 160 in a 300 degree cooker and after thinking about it pulled the meat and let it rest.
Came out completely cooked.

 

[Maberham]

Another option is to remove from the grill at around 150° and finish in a wrapped pan in your oven.

That was a long cook for a small piece of meat.
I did a 7.7# last week in 9 hours that started at 34° IT. My grill varied from 220-245° for 5 hours and 260-285° for the last

Yeah, the smaller (boneless) shoulders are easier to get here in Luxembourg, but I agree it's a big investment of pellets to go that long for 2 Pounds of pork! Looking back and with all the learnings, I am pretty sure it would have been done a lot sooner if I hadn't wrapped. That set me back 2-3 hours for sure.