Newbie here

[Stevieboy]

Hi all,

I got a small Landmann Electric Smoker for Christmas and a bunch of the pellets to use for smoke. So far I have tried pork butts (x3), Chicken drumsticks and St. Louis Ribs (on Superbowl Sunday). The Chicken and ribs came out great, as did the butts, but it takes forever for the butts to finish. My current 3.5lb but is still cooking and has been for over 12 hrs and is just at 160 degrees. i have been cooking at between 200-225. Any idea what I am doing wrong? All 3 butts have been about the same size and behaved the same way.

 

[SmokinLogs]

First of all welcome to SMF. 160 is about where pork butts hit the “stall”. The stall is the point where most of the collagen and fat and connective tissues start breaking down. All that breaking down and rendering is what makes the meat so moist and juicy and tender. On bigger pork butts it can take many hours to pull through the stall. It’s not uncommon to even see the temperature of the meat drop a few degrees. I wouldn’t smoke any lower than 225. To help with the stall you can do the Texas crutch and wrap it in foil or butcher paper the rest of the cook, or even just until the temperature starts climbing steadily again. I prefer to cook butts unwrapped the whole way, but bump the temp up around 250. That will help push through the stall as well. 12 hours seems like a pretty long time for a 3.5 pound butt. It never hurts to double check the temp in the meat with another thermometer and don’t hit the bone. Double checking the smoker thermometer is always a good idea too. If in doubt you can always finish in the oven. Hope this helps. Take some pics and let us know how it turns out! Thanks for joining!

 

[weedeater]

Welcome Stevieboy to SMF. You have come to a happy place! If you are cooking a butt that’s 3& 1/2 Lbs and it’s taking 12 plus hours I would question what temp you are smoking at. Are you trusting a therm from the manufacturer on your smoker. They are almost never right. Get yourself a good remote therm and compare the temp on it versus the smoker therm. I would also suggest you raise your temps to the 225 to 250 range. Are you wrapping your butts at some point to help thru the stall? Sorry I have more questions than I have answers.

Weedeater

 

[Stevieboy]

I had read about the Stall, but as you said that seems excessively long for a small boneless butt. I have it double wrapped in foil now and will let it cool, then refrigerate overnight. The last 2 I did I reheated covered in the oven for 4 hrs or so to get to 190 and it was still awesomely tender and fall-apart. I will look into getting some back up thermometers and see if some of the readings are wrong. Thanks for the advice.

 

[old sarge]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[kruizer]

Welcome to SMF from Minnesota.

 

[Stevieboy]

Welcome Stevieboy to SMF. You have come to a happy place! If you are cooking a butt that’s 3& 1/2 Lbs and it’s taking 12 plus hours I would question what temp you are smoking at. Are you trusting a therm from the manufacturer on your smoker. They are almost never right. Get yourself a good remote therm and compare the temp on it versus the smoker therm. I would also suggest you raise your temps to the 225 to 250 range. Are you wrapping your butts at some point to help thru the stall? Sorry I have more questions than I have answers.

Weedeater

Will look into a separate thermometer for both the smoker and the meat - any recommendations? I didn't wrap the butts at all during the normal cooking process, so I will also try that next time

 

[banderson7474]

This is my fav one and it's not crazy expensive

 

[Stevieboy]

This is my fav one and it's not crazy expensive

That was actually one that looked like a top contender when I looked last night. I just pulled the trigger on it. Thx

 

[banderson7474]

They are pretty cool about replacement parts too. I left my bbq probe out and the rain killed it and they replaced at no cost. Don't leave the main parts in the rain either. I did that and it got water logged, I paid for a replacement since I was stupid.

 

[TomKnollRFV]

Welcome from WI !

As for your butts taking a while..the Stall..as they said. I've had a brisket take 30 hours! Talk about hangry! ;)

 

[banderson7474]

Brisket is a heck of a lot bigger than a 3.5lb butt though. My guess is he's cooking at a very low temp or at least on the low range most of the time and/or he's not using a bbq probe for a more accurate reading.

I cooked a 8+lb butt and it took less time. Though I was cooking in the 275 range.

 

[SunnyDC]

Welcome from another newbie! Prepare for a very addictive habit! And you have definitely come to the right place to learn and feed that addiction!

 

[HalfSmoked]

Welcome as you have seen the replies are here and they will differ because a lot of what goes into the replies here are personal preferences. So read and learn search and find what will work best for you. What may work may take some trial and error to find.

Warren

 

[gary s]

Good evening and welcome from a not to bad a day here in East Texas

Gary

 

[RRR]

Welcome from the Philippines to SMF lots of great information here!