Rack of Pork and RFX Thermoworks Probe Carry Over Test....

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civilsmoker

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Jan 27, 2015
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Costco had their Rack of pork on sale so scored one for 13 bills! Seasoned up with a sweet hot honey mustard and then rub from Man Crates which was a TD prize...... Smoked it in the RT 1250 @ 265, which is my go to for these ROPs, but I wanted to experiment with the RFX and resting and carry over cooking.

Here is the roast when I pulled it. Note the RFX probes are put in at an angle so the 4 sensors along the probe are at different thickness and depth......
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PS the 265 does make a nice bark for the short 2 hour ish cook!
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The first temp is what the probe will read if you have the advance mode off and just see one temp. The following 4 are each channel reading of the probes which are at different locations along the probe shown below.
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So now look at the different channel readings below......it ranges from 149ish down to 144 (thinner end) and 142 down to 139.8 (the thicker end)....
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The roast was then placed in the 140 degree oven to hold......This reading was taken about 10 mins into the resting..... The outside temp increased by a couple of degrees as did the rest of the roast, ie which is to be expected......
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This next reading was 15 mins after the first so 25 mins of resting in the 140 degree oven..... note how the outer temp has drop but the internal ones all normalized....ie and the thicker end normalized very close to the thinner end
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As part of this test I actually took readings every 3 minutes (too many to post) just to watch the carry over and how the surface temp would "push" into the center as part of the carry over temp. The data backed up why low and slow cooking results in a uniform cook across a roast. IE on a high temp cook a higher temp will always be in the outer section of the roast and this will cause an excessive carry over and differential in the internal temp. This translates to an ideal placement of a single probe or multiple if you have them. Ie if you are looking for a uniform roast temp your probe should be placed off center from the thickest section, ie about 2/3s to the center, then if you pull the roast at the desired them and then allow it to normalize (rest) the center will equalize. Conversely many put the probe to the center then pull in when the INT is 5-8 degrees less than the desired temp. I have really enjoyed using these RFX to monitor my cooks "after" the intial cook just to see what has been happing while it is resting. The same is true with a steak, ie if you are always testing the center (if you probe one) it will always over cook unless you pull it at a much lower temp. In my "playing" I have seen an inch steak carry over cook by 15-20 degrees, ie go from 135 to 155.... I usually don't temp steaks very often, ie I cook them to feel but when I do I make sure I'm test using the 1/3 rule in to pull then rest....That means pulling a 1 inch steak at 115 to 120 (depending on the sear temp) and then resting and it ends up 134-140 which is were we like our steaks...... Just thought I would share my thoughts on this!

Ok here is the before slicing of the roast as this was a cook after all!
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The slices!.....oh man!!!!
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My wife thought a marsala sauce with some wild rice and roots would be a nice touch (the boy did some baby shroom quarters as well)....she was RIGHT!
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The Money Shot!!!!
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If you haven't tried one of these rack of pork, I would encourage you to do so.......The "rib" portion cooked to INT 150 is off the chart unreal in texture af flavor!
 
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Those slices are bomb and a beautiful plate! Very nice and great pics. Nice info on carry over temps. They're gotten me more than once as well. Nice post.
 
Nice write up. I have been playing with carry over cooking on some of the venison steak cooks I have been doing and its amazing how much it raises in 5min. I don't steak out my venison anymore, leave in a bigger chunk (basically a roast) like a 6in section of backstrap, season, sear in case iron pan as I roll to cover all sides. Depending on how things go I might put it in a preheated oven for a few minutes to bump the temp a little, 15 degrees rise in temp resting on the cutting board has been pretty consistent. When all done I just slice thin against the grain and the kids gobble it up.
 
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Man that roast looks killer and so does that plate! I going to have to do one if I can find one.
Thanks Brian! Yea these little roasts are worth a look for and they are an easy smoke with huge flavor!
Those slices are bomb and a beautiful plate! Very nice and great pics. Nice info on carry over temps. They're gotten me more than once as well. Nice post.
Thanks texo! I have always just used the rule of thumb for many years but actually collecting data to put some "rules" together has been fun!
Nice write up. I have been playing with carry over cooking on some of the venison steak cooks I have been doing and its amazing how much it raises in 5min. I don't steak out my venison anymore, leave in a bigger chunk (basically a roast) like a 6in section of backstrap, season, sear in case iron pan as I roll to cover all sides. Depending on how things go I might put it in a preheated oven for a few minutes to bump the temp a little, 15 degrees rise in temp resting on the cutting board has been pretty consistent. When all done I just slice thin against the grain and the kids gobble it up.
Many thanks luv! I studied thermodynamics in school so the whole heat transfer and such is an in depth topic. I have read many studies with Ir camera readings and such but I've been working on getting a repeatable result from a probe placement so anyone can get good results. Venison is very lean so not much insulation from fat so it will carry over much more than a cut with marbling. Marbling is the variable that can greatly affect carry over and the overall cook. From touch a Filet, NY, and Ribeye all have a different feel at mid-rare and all have different rates of heat transfer due to their individual make up.....However, all that said a rack of pork is pretty dang consistent......
 
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A very timely post for me, as I also just received a Thermoworks RFX set as a Throwdown Prize, and I've had a Cosco rack of pork in the freezer with plans to cook it next week when I have relatives in town. Great to have a recipe for inspiration, and it looks like the RFX is even more capable than I thought--didn't know each probe can send 4 distinct temperature readings. I've not yet unboxed mine yet, but I'll post more on it once I use it. I'm also intrigued to see that the unit can also control their Thermoworks Bellows unit, which I'm considering adding to my WSM cooker.

Thanks, ThermoWorks ThermoWorks !!
 
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A very timely post for me, as I also just received a Thermoworks RFX set as a Throwdown Prize, and I've had a Cosco rack of pork in the freezer with plans to cook it next week when I have relatives in town. Great to have a recipe for inspiration, and it looks like the RFX is even more capable than I thought--didn't know each probe can send 4 distinct temperature readings. I've not yet unboxed mine yet, but I'll post more on it once I use it. I'm also intrigued to see that the unit can also control their Thermoworks Bellows unit, which I'm considering adding to my WSM cooker.

Thanks, ThermoWorks ThermoWorks !!
Sweet glad I could share and help out a future cook. And I think you are going to like the RFX unit. The more I use mine (I have 6 probes now!) the more I like them!

Here is another Rack of Pork cook if you like.....it was a winner, LOL
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/throwdown-leftovers-“parts”.324713/#post-2481244
 
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Thanks Brian! Yea these little roasts are worth a look for and they are an easy smoke with huge flavor!

Thanks texo! I have always just used the rule of thumb for many years but actually collecting data to put some "rules" together has been fun!

Many thanks luv! I studied thermodynamics in school so the whole heat transfer and such is an in depth topic. I have read many studies with Ir camera readings and such but I've been working on getting a repeatable result from a probe placement so anyone can get good results. Venison is very lean so not much insulation from fat so it will carry over much more than a cut with marbling. Marbling is the variable that can greatly affect carry over and the overall cook. From touch a Filet, NY, and Ribeye all have a different feel at mid-rare and all have different rates of heat transfer due to their individual make up.....However, all that said a rack of pork is pretty dang consistent......
Interesting. I've mostly been doing it on my deer because I have found where the family has the preference, I really have to screw things up for them to not eat, the girls (10yr and 13yr) always help clean the venison or any steak up usually.
 

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