Pork Butt Temperature Help?!?

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cayenne

Newbie
Original poster
Oct 26, 2013
13
10
Hi All,

First post on here, I found the forum by searching all about the 40-140F in 4 hours rule and it seems this forum is very active regarding that topic. I understand the rule, and know it has been revised in '09 to 41-135F, but I ran into a situation last night that I've never had before.

I've got a 9 lb. pork butt on my Green Egg right now, put it on at midnight after defrosting it since Tuesday in my refrigerator. This was a fresh butcher cut, that I had to freeze because I wasn't able to cook it the weekend I ordered it for. I did one ice bath in the sink while it was still sealed up in wrap and freezer bags to help defrost it a bit more, but I suspect the core near the bone was still closer to frozen when I put it on.

Regardless, here's where I screwed up. I put my Maverick temp probe in the meat before putting it on the smoker, which I now know is a no-no, but I didn't know that until I started researching the topic further. About 3:45AM which was 3 hours and 45 minutes after I put it on, my grate temp alarm started going off on a temp minimum, the BGE had dropped to 200F. The temp outside had dropped to 20F and the wind had shifted heavily so I had to adjust my air intake, no big deal, but my IT was only 130F @ 4 hours because of the smoker temperature drop... I got everything situated back to 235-240F, but the IT didn't clear 140F until the 5 hour mark.

I know this wouldn't have been a problem if I hadn't pierced the meat with my temp probe, but I had never researched enough to realize this was stupid to do incase your IT never cleared in 4 hours. Under the 2009 revision I was only 5 degrees short, but I'm still concerned.

I've got a house full of people coming over later, and I certainly don't want to make anyone sick! Any thoughts on this? I definitely want to learn from my mistake.
 
You will be fine. It takes a while after you put it on before it gets up to 40° if you had it in the fridge.

I will see if I can get JJ to jump in here.

I see this is your first post. When you get a chance will you drop by roll call so everyone can give you a proper SMF welcome.

Happy smoken.

David
 
I imagine the surface was 140*F in 4 hrs. The only questionable concern is that probe. I think you're Ok.

Just to be safe I would re freeze, pack in a thick styro foam cooler, and send it to me for further examination. :)
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the feedback, it's one of those gray areas for sure... If it hadn't been probed, I would have been golden.

It's hanging at 162F IT right now, so I've still go a ways to go!
 
You will be fine. Are u gunna foil?
Probably not, unless the stall is going to ruin the party time. I've done both in the past, and lately have stopped foiling unless necessary. Will probably cook all the way up to 195F IT and then check the bone to see if it will pull cleanly.
 
Probably not, unless the stall is going to ruin the party time. I've done both in the past, and lately have stopped foiling unless necessary. Will probably cook all the way up to 195F IT and then check the bone to see if it will pull cleanly.

Love it! I no longer foil, I just don't like the end result. I don't use an it thermo, I just don't start checking with a meat thermo until about 7 hours in so I have nothing for you there, I just get excited when I see others that choose not to foil ;)
 
drool.gif
Looks GREAT! Nice bark. I sure do like the way a BGE cooks.

Happy smoken.

David
 
 
drool.gif
Looks GREAT! Nice bark. I sure do like the way a BGE cooks.

Happy smoken.

David
Thanks, the bark tasted fantastic when I tried it. It cooked really well, the stall was pretty calm, and it walked right through it in about 2 hours. Had one little weird bit where it took over 90 minutes to get from 189 to 195 but that was it.
 
I noticed you had applied a rub. The Salt would give some extra protection. While it is a good idea to wait on probing the possibility of getting sick from the probe is extremely small on a normal cook. If the Egg temp crashed for 8 hours, I would be nervous but you had no such issues and it came up an hour later. No issues...JJ
 
So why don't you like to foil and let stand, or do you mean you don't foil in the smoker? I do not foil in the smoker but when I take it out of the smoker, I foil it, wrap it in a towel and put it in a small cooler for two hours to let the juices set.
 
Love it! I no longer foil, I just don't like the end result. I don't use an it thermo, I just don't start checking with a meat thermo until about 7 hours in so I have nothing for you there, I just get excited when I see others that choose not to foil ;)
Agreed. NO foil.  AND, no foil during the rest.  I love the crunchy bark!
 
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