Newbie temperature question.

[ngiovas]

I'm making pulled pork for the first time today. I bought two butts that are just over 7 lbs each at Costco. I heated the smoker to 225 degrees and put both butts in the center racks of my MES at 5:00am this morning. The temp probe for the meat is in the lower butt. When I first put the meat in, the internal temp was 40 degrees. At almost 8:00am (3 hours) the internal temp is already 121 degrees. Is the temp going up too fast? Is this normal? Will the temperature increase slow down as the pork continues to cook?

Just want to make sure everything is progressing as it should. I don't want it to cook too quickly.

Thanks in advance,
Nick

 

[waysideranch]

Look to left side of the screen. You can find a temp. table. This table is very helpful. It suggests internal temps for sliced and pulled pork . Check it out. I think your temps are fine. Enjoy and good luck. Foiling the butts is a nice touch. Research around. Every smoke is a learning experience.

 

[mballi3011]

Your temp is about right it will raise prtty fast at first and then it will slow down and the heat is working on the connective tissues and over all tenderrising the meat. It will climb to about 150 and then you should have the dreaded STALL and when that happens just kick back and wait it out cause there is not much you can do about it. Then when you get to 170 or so foil it and out it back in with some of the spritzing liquid and then take it to 200-205 and then wrap with a towel and throw it in a drt cooler and let it rest for atleast an hour. Then pull and enjoy.

 

[ngiovas]

Thanks for the help. It turned out fantastic. I had several neighbors over last night and people were eating 2 and 3 sandwiches. They are already asking me to make it again. SMF is a great resource.

 

[chefrob]

glad it worked out and yes, this is a great place!

 

[raceyb]

Congrats on the excellent turn out. Did you use a finishing sauce?