Wow- a 9-1/2# butt, warmed to room temp and put in the smoker at 5:00p
last night, 220f hood temp. I got up early this AM to check it and the
internal was just 155f, so I was patient. By NOON, the internal was
185f and the hood temp had dropped to 195f. I use a Pittboss electric
differential thermostat, so the meat temp can't exceed the setpoint, so
I waited. By 2:00p, the internal was finally 190f, so I pulled it out,
finally, and let it set/cool an hour before pulling. The bone was
actually hanging loose out the side and I literally brushed it aside.
The meat had a very nice crust to it, but the interior was almost too
tender for my preference. It was almost mush-like. That isn't bragging-
IMHO the meat needs a little string or texture to be good pulled pork.

I went back and checked my setting and my notes, and nothing was amiss.
What theories do you all have about what took the blasted thing so
long to cook, and was this the reason the meat was virtually
"dissolved?" I thought I was getting pretty good at this stuff after
50+ years of doing it, but this was an humbling experience.
--
Nonny

Nonnymus
A penny saved is obviously a
government oversight.

Nonnymus wrote:

I went back and checked my setting and my notes, and nothing was
amiss. What theories do you all have about what took the blasted
thing so long to cook, and was this the reason the meat was virtually
"dissolved?" I thought I was getting pretty good at this stuff after
50+ years of doing it, but this was an humbling experience.

Did the butt have manufacturer 'water added'?

--
Dave
www.davebbq.com

Dave Bugg wrote:
Nonnymus wrote:

I went back and checked my setting and my notes, and nothing was
amiss. What theories do you all have about what took the blasted
thing so long to cook, and was this the reason the meat was virtually
"dissolved?" I thought I was getting pretty good at this stuff after
50+ years of doing it, but this was an humbling experience.

Did the butt have manufacturer 'water added'?

It was store repackaged and I didn't look at the label. I've bought at
Smith's (Kroger) many times before with good results.

--
Nonny

Nonnymus
A penny saved is obviously a
government oversight.

"Nonnymus" wrote in message
...
Wow- a 9-1/2# butt, warmed to room temp and put in the smoker at 5:00p
last night, 220f hood temp. I got up early this AM to check it and the
internal was just 155f, so I was patient. By NOON, the internal was 185f
and the hood temp had dropped to 195f. I use a Pittboss electric
differential thermostat, so the meat temp can't exceed the setpoint, so I
waited. By 2:00p, the internal was finally 190f, so I pulled it out,
finally, and let it set/cool an hour before pulling.

Could having let the butt rest an hour allowed it to continue cooking?
Perhaps the butt reached a higher IT than you intended.

I don't rest butts when I am going to pull them. I only wait till it has
cooled enough to handle before pulling. I'll rest a cut like a brisket
after pulling from the pit, but I don't do that with butts.

I know that when I pull a brisket out and let it rest for an hour or three,
the IT will continue to rise a few degrees even after pulling it from the
heat. I'm guessing thats what happened to your butt. If you're going to
rest it like that, maybe pull it out at an IT of 187 or so instead of taking
it all the way to 190.

just a guess...

Matt

"Nonnymus" wrote in message
...
Wow- a 9-1/2# butt, warmed to room temp and put in the smoker at 5:00p
last night, 220f hood temp. I got up early this AM to check it and the
internal was just 155f, so I was patient. By NOON, the internal was 185f
and the hood temp had dropped to 195f. I use a Pittboss electric
differential thermostat, so the meat temp can't exceed the setpoint, so I
waited. By 2:00p, the internal was finally 190f, so I pulled it out,
finally, and let it set/cool an hour before pulling. The bone was
actually hanging loose out the side and I literally brushed it aside. The
meat had a very nice crust to it, but the interior was almost too tender
for my preference. It was almost mush-like. That isn't bragging- IMHO the
meat needs a little string or texture to be good pulled pork.

I went back and checked my setting and my notes, and nothing was amiss.
What theories do you all have about what took the blasted thing so long to
cook, and was this the reason the meat was virtually "dissolved?" I
thought I was getting pretty good at this stuff after 50+ years of doing
it, but this was an humbling experience.
--
Nonny

Nonnymus
A penny saved is obviously a
government oversight.

Hi Nonny,

Assuming;

-Rig behaved normally
-Size of cut was normal for past experiences
-Handling was normal (Letting come to room temp, rub, etc.)
-Pit Temps and Ambient temps were normal compared to past experiences)
-The Internal Temp you removed the cut at was normal

I would take a hard look at the temp probes. My thinking is, if all else
being equal and it took a long time to cook and came out overcooked, then I
would look at the temp probe in the meat. Check it against a thermocouple
or boiling water, or another probe. Also if battery powered I would swap
those out as well.

Just some thoughts off the top of my head.


HTH,

Tom

TomD wrote:


-Rig behaved normally
-Size of cut was normal for past experiences
-Handling was normal (Letting come to room temp, rub, etc.)
-Pit Temps and Ambient temps were normal compared to past experiences)
-The Internal Temp you removed the cut at was normal

I would take a hard look at the temp probes. My thinking is, if all
else being equal and it took a long time to cook and came out
overcooked, then I would look at the temp probe in the meat. Check it
against a thermocouple or boiling water, or another probe. Also if
battery powered I would swap those out as well.

Just some thoughts off the top of my head.

Thanks to all for the comments. I'll check the probes and will let you
know if they were off.

--
Nonny

Nonnymus
A penny saved is obviously a
government oversight.

"Nonnymus" wrote in message
...
TomD wrote:


-Rig behaved normally
-Size of cut was normal for past experiences
-Handling was normal (Letting come to room temp, rub, etc.)
-Pit Temps and Ambient temps were normal compared to past experiences)
-The Internal Temp you removed the cut at was normal

I would take a hard look at the temp probes. My thinking is, if all
else being equal and it took a long time to cook and came out
overcooked, then I would look at the temp probe in the meat. Check it
against a thermocouple or boiling water, or another probe. Also if
battery powered I would swap those out as well.

Just some thoughts off the top of my head.

Thanks to all for the comments. I'll check the probes and will let you
know if they were off.

And all the other stuff considered, here's something I saved from a recent
post here although apologies that I only saved the text and can't recall who
did it, so it was one of you who gets credit, ok? ...... We'll just say
whoever wrote it is a genius and if you wrote it you're a pretty fart
smeller indeed.
=======================

One other question: when the temperature stabilized (and actually
dropped for a bit) I'm guessing that some tissue is breaking down and
that the chemical reaction requires energy (in the form of heat), thus
explaining why the internal temperature actually dropped and would not
increase for a time. Is that correct?

That is usually the case. As the collagen breaks down into liquid around the
probe, it produces a temperature drop until the liquid reaches the same
temperature as the meat.
About that temperature "PLATEAU". That's what we call it when a
piece of meat hangs at one temperature for a period of time. With
pork it generally occurs between 160° and 170° and is usually quite
pronounced. A two hour hang is not unusual, especially when cooking
at the lower end 200° of the BBQ temperature range. It is caused by
a standard law of physics. That is "huge amounts of energy are consumed
or released in the conversion of matter from one state to another." We're
talking about solid to liquid or liquid to gas or vice versa. Solid to
liquid
absorbs huge amounts of heat. Liquid to solid releases huge amounts of
heat. It's the basis for every refrigerator and air conditioner on the
planet.
=======================

So on that basis if your temperature seems to plateau or drop suspiciously
for any length of time perhaps its a good idea to reposition the probe. Also
if I have hit 185 and gotten stuck or dropped, I won't let it run too much
longer after that no matter what the probe says. That way it doesn't get
overcooked and I can usually pull part or all of the butt regardless.

MartyB in KC

Nunya Bidnits wrote:
===================

One other question: when the temperature stabilized (and actually
dropped for a bit) I'm guessing that some tissue is breaking down and
that the chemical reaction requires energy (in the form of heat), thus
explaining why the internal temperature actually dropped and would not
increase for a time. Is that correct?

That is usually the case. As the collagen breaks down into liquid around the
probe, it produces a temperature drop until the liquid reaches the same
temperature as the meat.
About that temperature "PLATEAU". That's what we call it when a
piece of meat hangs at one temperature for a period of time. With
pork it generally occurs between 160° and 170° and is usually quite
pronounced. A two hour hang is not unusual, especially when cooking
at the lower end 200° of the BBQ temperature range. It is caused by
a standard law of physics. That is "huge amounts of energy are consumed
or released in the conversion of matter from one state to another." We're
talking about solid to liquid or liquid to gas or vice versa. Solid to
liquid
absorbs huge amounts of heat. Liquid to solid releases huge amounts of
heat. It's the basis for every refrigerator and air conditioner on the
planet.
=======================

So on that basis if your temperature seems to plateau or drop suspiciously
for any length of time perhaps its a good idea to reposition the probe. Also
if I have hit 185 and gotten stuck or dropped, I won't let it run too much
longer after that no matter what the probe says. That way it doesn't get
overcooked and I can usually pull part or all of the butt regardless.

MartyB in KC


The plateau was reached sometime during the night, and when I got up in
the AM, the meat was above the collagen liquification stage, IMHO. In
the past, I've seen the plateau typically at 160f, and agree with the
2-3 hour time for a pretty decent-sized butt. This one was a bit
bigger than I normally cook, but I cannot say that it was any fatter or
otherwise different than others. Still- almost 21 hours is a LONG time
IMHO.

FWIW, I took some time this afternoon with the probes and they're
spot-on, according to my pocket digital thermometer, so that's not the
problem. In the future, I might work a little bit more at being sure
the probe tips are more in the center of the meat, and not in a fatty area.

In the meantime. we've been nibbling on the pan of pulled pork and while
softer than normal, the flavor is OK.

--
Nonny

Nonnymus
A penny saved is obviously a
government oversight.

On 14-Mar-2008, "TomD" wrote:

"Nonnymus" wrote in message
...
Wow- a 9-1/2# butt, warmed to room temp and put in the smoker at 5:00p
last night, 220f hood temp. I got up early this AM to check it and the
internal was just 155f, so I was patient. By NOON, the internal was
185f
and the hood temp had dropped to 195f. I use a Pittboss electric
differential thermostat, so the meat temp can't exceed the setpoint, so
I
waited. By 2:00p, the internal was finally 190f, so I pulled it out,
finally, and let it set/cool an hour before pulling. The bone was
actually hanging loose out the side and I literally brushed it aside.
The
meat had a very nice crust to it, but the interior was almost too tender

for my preference. It was almost mush-like. That isn't bragging- IMHO
the
meat needs a little string or texture to be good pulled pork.

I went back and checked my setting and my notes, and nothing was amiss.
What theories do you all have about what took the blasted thing so long
to
cook, and was this the reason the meat was virtually "dissolved?" I
thought I was getting pretty good at this stuff after 50+ years of doing

it, but this was an humbling experience.
--
Nonny

Nonnymus
A penny saved is obviously a
government oversight.

Hi Nonny,

Assuming;

-Rig behaved normally
-Size of cut was normal for past experiences
-Handling was normal (Letting come to room temp, rub, etc.)
-Pit Temps and Ambient temps were normal compared to past experiences)
-The Internal Temp you removed the cut at was normal

I would take a hard look at the temp probes. My thinking is, if all else
being equal and it took a long time to cook and came out overcooked, then
I
would look at the temp probe in the meat. Check it against a thermocouple

or boiling water, or another probe. Also if battery powered I would swap
those out as well.

Just some thoughts off the top of my head.


HTH,

Tom

I can't even imagine cooking a pork butt for 21 hours. Mine are always done
at about seven hours. And they don't need to be any better. Of course I've
only been at it for about five years. I was a late starter.

--
Brick(Youth is wasted on young people)

Brick wrote:

I can't even imagine cooking a pork butt for 21 hours. Mine are
always done at about seven hours. And they don't need to be any
better. Of course I've only been at it for about five years. I was a
late starter.

YOU were a late starter? I'm only beginning season #2! (well, my seasons are
year long, so I'm not quite to season #2 yet seein' as how I bought my
smoker last year).

How long before we get to ones and zeros?




--Brett
Who was going to do 50# or so of pork today, but it didn't thaw in time.