Seems like everyone cooks butt to 190 - 195. Before I got a remote
thermometer, I would judge doneness by shrinkage along the bone. The
other night I put two 8lb butts in the WSM at 9:00 pm, mingon method. I
checked them for the first time at 6:00 am and the lid temp was a
perfect 250. The meat had shrunk about a half inch down the bone and
the internal temp was 178. Normally I would have considered them done
but I wanted to try getting them to 190. The lid temp dropped to 225
and it took about an hour to get it back up after opening the vents all
the way. At 11:00 am I checked the internal temp again. One was 167
and the other 175 and they looked like they were drying out so I decided
to take them out. With rubber gloves I tried to pick one up and it
fell apart in my hands, the other did the same. The crust was a little
to crusty and the smoke ring area meat was dry, and I didn't need a fork
to pull it because it fell apart in my fingers. IMO they were delicious
but over cooked, and taking them to 190 would have ruined them. I have
two remotes, a Taylor and a funky one I got at Graveyardmall.com. So my
question is do you really take them to 190 or do I need a new remote
thermometer? -RP

"Randy" > wrote in message
...
> Seems like everyone cooks butt to 190 - 195. Before I got a remote
> thermometer, I would judge doneness by shrinkage along the bone. The
> other night I put two 8lb butts in the WSM at 9:00 pm, mingon method. I
> checked them for the first time at 6:00 am and the lid temp was a
> perfect 250. The meat had shrunk about a half inch down the bone and
> the internal temp was 178. Normally I would have considered them done
> but I wanted to try getting them to 190. The lid temp dropped to 225
> and it took about an hour to get it back up after opening the vents all
> the way. At 11:00 am I checked the internal temp again. One was 167
> and the other 175 and they looked like they were drying out so I decided
> to take them out. With rubber gloves I tried to pick one up and it
> fell apart in my hands, the other did the same. The crust was a little
> to crusty and the smoke ring area meat was dry, and I didn't need a fork
> to pull it because it fell apart in my fingers. IMO they were delicious
> but over cooked, and taking them to 190 would have ruined them. I have
> two remotes, a Taylor and a funky one I got at Graveyardmall.com. So my
> question is do you really take them to 190 or do I need a new remote
> thermometer? -RP
Sounds like a probe problem to me.
Jack

Randy wrote:
> IMO they were delicious but over cooked, and taking them to 190 would
> have ruined them. I have two remotes, a Taylor and a funky one I got
> at Graveyardmall.com. So my question is do you really take them to
> 190 or do I need a new remote thermometer? -RP

Put it in boiling water and let us know!


--

In article >, "Jack Sloan"
> wrote:

> "Randy" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Seems like everyone cooks butt to 190 - 195. Before I got a remote
> > thermometer, I would judge doneness by shrinkage along the bone. The
> > other night I put two 8lb butts in the WSM at 9:00 pm, mingon method. I
> > checked them for the first time at 6:00 am and the lid temp was a
> > perfect 250. The meat had shrunk about a half inch down the bone and
> > the internal temp was 178. Normally I would have considered them done
> > but I wanted to try getting them to 190. The lid temp dropped to 225
> > and it took about an hour to get it back up after opening the vents all
> > the way. At 11:00 am I checked the internal temp again. One was 167
> > and the other 175 and they looked like they were drying out so I decided
> > to take them out. With rubber gloves I tried to pick one up and it
> > fell apart in my hands, the other did the same. The crust was a little
> > to crusty and the smoke ring area meat was dry, and I didn't need a fork
> > to pull it because it fell apart in my fingers. IMO they were delicious
> > but over cooked, and taking them to 190 would have ruined them. I have
> > two remotes, a Taylor and a funky one I got at Graveyardmall.com. So my
> > question is do you really take them to 190 or do I need a new remote
> > thermometer? -RP
> Sounds like a probe problem to me.

When probes start to fail they sloooow dooooooowwwnnn to a crawl. Your
butts may have been at 200F and the thermo hadn't caught up yet. I
had a polderclone that only went up to 185 after 30 minutes of
boiling....

monroe(boil it and see)

On 15-Jun-2004, Randy > wrote:

> Seems like everyone cooks butt to 190 - 195. Before I got a remote
> thermometer, I would judge doneness by shrinkage along the bone. The
> other night I put two 8lb butts in the WSM at 9:00 pm, mingon method. I
> checked them for the first time at 6:00 am and the lid temp was a
> perfect 250. The meat had shrunk about a half inch down the bone and
> the internal temp was 178. Normally I would have considered them done
> but I wanted to try getting them to 190. The lid temp dropped to 225
> and it took about an hour to get it back up after opening the vents all
> the way. At 11:00 am I checked the internal temp again. One was 167
> and the other 175 and they looked like they were drying out so I decided
> to take them out. With rubber gloves I tried to pick one up and it
> fell apart in my hands, the other did the same. The crust was a little
> to crusty and the smoke ring area meat was dry, and I didn't need a fork
> to pull it because it fell apart in my fingers. IMO they were delicious
> but over cooked, and taking them to 190 would have ruined them. I have
> two remotes, a Taylor and a funky one I got at Graveyardmall.com. So my
> question is do you really take them to 190 or do I need a new remote
> thermometer? -RP

Randy, I'm hesitant to blindly answer your question, but here's my 2 c.
There's no way a butt should fall apart at 175° internal unless it had
reached
190° or so and then cooled back down. I'd take both of those therms and
check them for a reading of 212° in boiling water. My cheapo from Graveyard
Mall reads 213° in boiling water. My Timex reads 210°. Both plenty close
enough for 'Q' cooking. Your observation of the final product clearly
indicates
the butts were overcooked. That appears to be a fact. What remains to be
discovered is how they got overcooked without your knowing about it. Any-
time you're in doubt, the fork test is the best indicator.
--
M&M ("When You're Over The Hill You Pick Up Speed")

"Randy" > wrote in message
...
> The other night I put two 8lb butts in the WSM at 9:00 pm, mingon method.
I
> checked them for the first time at 6:00 am and the lid temp was a
> perfect 250.

With a dome at 250 in a WSM your cooking grate area is running about 235-240
assuming you have water in the pan. While opinions and methods vary with
BBQ, that's quite a bit hotter than many of us cook.

With my WSM during one cook I put a probe 2" above the cooking grate in the
middle and cooked for a while, then adjusted my bi-metallic dome thermometer
to read exactly the same as the probe. This resulted in me adjusting the
dome thermometer down about 12*F from it's true reading. Now I just glance
at the dome thermometer and I know at what temp I'm cooking without having
to do the conversion in my head.

The probes were in from 6o am until 11:00. -RP

I agree, I'll boil them tonight and let you know. -RP

M&M wrote:

> On 15-Jun-2004, Randy > wrote:
>
>
>>Seems like everyone cooks butt to 190 - 195. Before I got a remote
>>thermometer, I would judge doneness by shrinkage along the bone. The
>>other night I put two 8lb butts in the WSM at 9:00 pm, mingon method. I
>>checked them for the first time at 6:00 am and the lid temp was a
>>perfect 250. The meat had shrunk about a half inch down the bone and
>>the internal temp was 178. Normally I would have considered them done
>>but I wanted to try getting them to 190. The lid temp dropped to 225
>>and it took about an hour to get it back up after opening the vents all
>>the way. At 11:00 am I checked the internal temp again. One was 167
>>and the other 175 and they looked like they were drying out so I decided
>> to take them out. With rubber gloves I tried to pick one up and it
>>fell apart in my hands, the other did the same. The crust was a little
>>to crusty and the smoke ring area meat was dry, and I didn't need a fork
>>to pull it because it fell apart in my fingers. IMO they were delicious
>>but over cooked, and taking them to 190 would have ruined them. I have
>>two remotes, a Taylor and a funky one I got at Graveyardmall.com. So my
>>question is do you really take them to 190 or do I need a new remote
>>thermometer? -RP
>
>
> Randy, I'm hesitant to blindly answer your question, but here's my 2 c.
> There's no way a butt should fall apart at 175° internal unless it had
> reached
> 190° or so and then cooled back down. I'd take both of those therms and
> check them for a reading of 212° in boiling water. My cheapo from Graveyard
> Mall reads 213° in boiling water. My Timex reads 210°. Both plenty close
> enough for 'Q' cooking. Your observation of the final product clearly
> indicates
> the butts were overcooked. That appears to be a fact. What remains to be
> discovered is how they got overcooked without your knowing about it. Any-
> time you're in doubt, the fork test is the best indicator.

Here are the boil results, Taylor = 204, Graveyardmall 205, lid thermometer =
200. I am at 3000 foot altitude but I can't remember the formula for boiling
temps at various altitudes. -RP

Randy Price wrote:

> Here are the boil results, Taylor = 204, Graveyardmall 205, lid
> thermometer = 200. I am at 3000 foot altitude but I can't remember
> the formula for boiling temps at various altitudes. -RP

Do the ice water method, Randy. Place ice in a glass of water, wait 15
minutes, then measure the temp. It should register 32F. This is the method
I prefer, and I believe it to be a more accurate determination.
Dave

"Randy Price" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> Here are the boil results, Taylor = 204, Graveyardmall 205, lid
thermometer =
> 200. I am at 3000 foot altitude but I can't remember the formula for
boiling
> temps at various altitudes. -RP

Water boils at 207 at 3000 feet. I live at 3000 feet.

Kathy

K. Reece wrote:
>>Here are the boil results, Taylor = 204, Graveyardmall 205, lid
>
> thermometer =
>
>>200. I am at 3000 foot altitude but I can't remember the formula for
>
> boiling
>
>>temps at various altitudes. -RP
>
>
> Water boils at 207 at 3000 feet. I live at 3000 feet.
>
> Kathy

That's all ya need to know right there. The freeze temp is not going to
add a meaningful amount of information in answer to the question whether
or not these thermometers are accurately reading internal meat temps
between 150 and 200.

Douglas Barber wrote:

> That's all ya need to know right there. The freeze temp is not going
> to add a meaningful amount of information in answer to the question
> whether or not these thermometers are accurately reading internal
> meat temps between 150 and 200.

So true. A variation of a few degrees for bbq isn't a big deal.

Calibration using the ice water method is less finicky, IMO. Checking the
thermometer using boilng water can also be affected by other variants such
as barometric pressure. We always recommended folks get away from boiling
water calibration, and stick to the ice water method when I was with the
health district.