Pork Butt - something wrong with my smoker ?

[red dog]

 
This is what you should be doing^^^^^^. I've been cooking butts at 300°-325° for about 3 years now and Mdboatbum is correct, the cooks are more predictable(about 45-55 minutes/pound) and

there is no stall. There are also no overnight and nearly sleepless cooks, no foiling, no finishing in the oven and no wife asking sarcastically if it will be done in this lifetime.

There is absolutely no reason for a new BBQer to cook butts low and slow when it so often leads to results like those experienced by rumrunner424.

What they said. My MES goes to 275 and I cook my butts at max it will go. I honestly can't tell the difference between this and one cooked at 225. Smoking should be fun and delicious. Making it frustrating defeats the purpose.  

 

[hookedonq]

Another thing to remember is the temp will normally rise a few degrees during the resting stage.

You will get the hang of things sounds like you already are.

Just don't overstress temps i've heard of butts being done at 190degrees and i've heard of them going all the way to 210-215 before they probed tender it all depends on the meat. Hope you get the problem with your smoker figured out

 

[themule69]

Glad it finally got done. My last brisket went 24.5 hours in my MES 40 I found that the drip pan I was using was a little larger than what I had always used and the temp above the drip pan was a lot lower than the temp below the drip pan. Since I didn't care when it was done I just let it ride.

You need to do a boil and freeze test on you Maverick. Just because it is new means nothing. Then check the temp of your MES. Then when you know what everything is doing it is time for you to take control. Figure out before you start what temp you are going to run the smoker. Decide if you are going to foil. Give your self plenty of time.

Now it is time for the last but most important part. Put your big boy pants on and smoke the butt. You are in control your not along for the ride. Be patient and remember it is done when it is done not when you want it to be.

Happy smoken.

David

 

[rumrunner424]

You bring forth a very interesting point about the drip pan. This time I did use a larger drip pan, almost the size of the rack because of 2 butts. I discounted the thought that it caused lower temperature because my control panel showed internal temperature at 250. I should have put a 3rd probe on the rack to see what temperature I am actually getting. I need to test this out.

I will also test the thermometer so I am certain about the temperature.

Thanks for your suggestions.

 

[Bearcarver]

David brings up a real good point.

I didn't think of it here, but I've said it many times, you can't load up a rack with meat, foil, or foil pans. It will block the heat from rising.

Then your heat sensor being below center of your smoker will get to the set temp & shut the element off, without the heat getting to the upper half. This would be noticed if you have a separate therm in the upper half of the smoker.

If you were only going by your MES digital read-out, this could have been a huge part of your problem.

Bear

 

[rumrunner424]

This is what differentiates a novice and an expert. I live and learn :)

I promise not to make the same mistakes ever again. Just to keep it interesting I will try to make different mistakes next time :D

The final product did taste great even though the picture I posted doesn't really look that good. It was just a quick span from my cell,  I knew there was a light issue, but after tending these babies for almost 36 hours it was the least of my concern :)

Appreciate all the help !!

Dave

 

[Bearcarver]

Just to keep it interesting I will try to make different mistakes next time :D

Appreciate all the help !!

Dave

LOL---Good one----Keep us on our toes!!

Bear

 

[bmaddox]

I am by no means an expert on the inner workings of smoking but from your descriptions some of your problems probably came from the rest period in the oven. There is a lot that happens inside the meat with the connective tissue breaking down, fat rendering, etc that probably got all out of whack when you let it rest before it was done doing its thing. I have had to resort to using the oven before. My technique was to set the oven at 250 and set an alarm on my probe thermo that went off at 205. That way I could get up and pull it out of the oven when it was done (then let it rest in a cooler with towels).

 

[themule69]

I don't think I have made all of my mistakes yet. That is what keeps it fun. If they all turned out the way you had them planned what would be the point of the next round.

Happy smoken.

David

 

[gary s]

A good excuse to smoke another one !!

Gary

 

[timberjet]

Don't feel bad I had my 6 pounder take 16 hours yesterday. Super stall.