Pork butt not climbing fast enough

[Dsmith1651]

I put six pork butts in my smoker at 1 AM and at 9 my bottom two were only 119 my upper four were at 133 to 135. The smoker internal temp was 225 I have since pulled out my drip pan and raised my temperature to 265 and they are climbing nicely. They were not injected. the question Is are they still good or not?

Thank you so much for the answer. I’m sure it’s been discussed a lot, but I wasn’t able to find anything definite.

 

[DougE]

On whole muscle, you only need to get the surface temp to 140° in 4 hours. The only time you need to get the IT there in 4 hours is if the meat was injected or deboned. Unadulterated solid muscle will only have bacteria on the outside surface.

 

[WaterRat]

They are fine, get the IT up past 165, make sure the bark is set then wrap em and raise the temp to 300 and get em done! (Im assuming they’re for today).

 

[jaxgatorz]

You are good to go.. I learned a long time ago ( from here) that pork butts don't care what temp you cook at.. Cook at 275 or higher , it makes no difference . When I used to use 225 , butts took forever. Oh and welcome to the forum.

 

[schlotz]

Welcome to the forum from Indiana. Total agree with jaxgatorz bump that smoker up 275-300º. Butts are the most forgiving chunk of protein you can smoke. Usually I go 1 hour or so at 200º to soak up some extra smoke then run the rest of the time at 275º.

 

[DougE]

You are good to go.. I learned a long time ago ( from here) that pork butts don't care what temp you cook at.. Cook at 275 or higher , it makes no difference . When I used to use 225 , butts took forever. Oh and welcome to the forum.

Same here. No real difference in the finished product whether you run at 225 or 275~300.

 

[Dsmith1651]

Thank you so much guys I have lurked on here for years and you guys always seem very helpful.
I’ve just never had this many On my smoker at once, and I guess my lower rack does not cook as fast as my upper two racks I will continue to cook as normal and just raise temperature thank you guys

 

[civilsmoker]

Yup what jax and Doug said. Pork butt @ 265 for me….ready for din din and I get to sleep in!

 

[HalfSmoked]

Welcome to the forum you are already using its wealth of information.

Warren

 

[801driver]

DSmith 1651 By what you have said I would think most likely you have not necessary "overloaded" your smoker, but yes, you loaded it heavier than usual and changed the dynamics of the same amount of heat it is producing which is getting sucked up by the extra cooler meats. No different than if you put 6 thawed PBs in your freezer to freeze or a pan on the stove to boil a cup of water or change and put in a quart of water. Yep It will take longer. I always do a smoke for others to eat at a specific time least the day before. I have found it is much easier to be ready and only have to only reheat 2-3 hours in foil pans, ovens, or even a single in a crock pot even with one PB or brisket than if you have to face a hungry tribe with forks in their hands while saying, it will be just a couple more hours. Let us know how it all worked out for you.

 

[sandyut]

You are good to go.. I learned a long time ago ( from here) that pork butts don't care what temp you cook at.. Cook at 275 or higher , it makes no difference . When I used to use 225 , butts took forever. Oh and welcome to the forum.

This!!!

there is no magic to 225. For big meat (butts and briskets) run them at 275 and save yourself from eternal cook times. The end product will taste exactly the same.

 

[sandyut]

Yup what jax and Doug said. Pork butt @ 265 for me….ready for din din and I get to sleep in!

Same! I can start them when i get up and eat them for supper the same day.

 

[JLeonard]

Like others have said, I let the smoker settle in where it wants anywhere from 225-300 degrees when doing whole muscle.

Jim

 

[Dsmith1651]

Everything ended up good and the butts tasted awesome. I will run them at 270 next time though