Pork butts take so long

[TimTheViking]

I've got a Camp Chef DLX and it seems to be working fine after the control board was replaced due to wild temp swings. I have it on Hi-Smoke and it maintains 225 degrees pretty well. The temp outside is in the 60s with a little breeze. Not what I would call windy. Here's my problem/question. I put two 8 lb. butts in last night at 9:00 PM. They were salted and dry rubbed. No foil. I have blue tooth temp probes with graphing so I know how the internal temp is rising. It took 9.5 hours to get to the stall. I know the stall can take several hours and that's not my question. My question is why is it taking so long to get there? From what I've read, it should only take a few hours and 9.5 seems a bit long. This has been my experience with several pork butts. Admittedly, I'm a novice with not a lot of experience under my belt. Is that normal for it to take almost 10 hours to get to the stall?
Thanks!
Tim

 

[Geebs]

For 2 butts on at the same time that doesnt sound that far off, but then again every piece of meat is going to be different. I usually do my pork butts around 250, 225 is going to be low and slow for big pieces of pork. You could try keeping it at the high smoke for a few hours to get that smoke and then turn it up to 250.

 

[phatbac]

Seems a bit long to me.. but i usually cook at around 275 for pork butts. are you starting from 40 degree F? or do you let them warm up a bit before you smoke them? i usually start around 40 Deg F myself and smoke 275 for around 8 hours total. the meat don't care what you smoke it at, so smoke at a higher temp and get some sleep.

Happy Smoking
phatbac (Aaron)

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

I just did two over the weekend as well at 225. One was 8.5 pounds and the other was 9.5 pounds. It took a total of 18 hours to hit the magic 204.

Mine stalled at 155 around the 9 hour mark. This was at 4am when my TP-20 was beeping in my ear. I double wrapped in foil bumped the temp up to 250 and they came off at 9 am and into a cooler full of old blankets.

The result was extremely moist and flavorful smoky pork!

 

[TimTheViking]

I'm at 18.5 hours and the temps are at 183 and 178. I bumped it to 250 for awhile but then cut it back to 225. The added time now is wanted as I can now have them done very close to when we'll want to eat them. Thanks for the updates and your experiences. It helps to know that others are taking 18+ hours. I know wrapping them will reduce the time and I've done that once before but this time I calculated the timing for them to be done at 3 PM with a couple hours of wiggle room there. They sure look good though!

 

[TimTheViking]

Seems a bit long to me.. but i usually cook at around 275 for pork butts. are you starting from 40 degree F? or do you let them warm up a bit before you smoke them? i usually start around 40 Deg F myself and smoke 275 for around 8 hours total. the meat don't care what you smoke it at, so smoke at a higher temp and get some sleep.

Happy Smoking
phatbac (Aaron)

I started the butts pretty much right from the fridge after they sat with the dry rub on them for six hours.

 

[SmokinAl]

I put mine on straight from the fridge & run my smoker around 270-280.
At that temp they take about 1+ hour per pound with very little if any stall.
Al