Pork Butt Stall


 
I don't think it could hurt anything. A lot of people foil at around 160-170° it won't be a problem to foil it later then that too.
 
Not too late at all. The "stall" is the result of evaporative cooling. Basically, the butt sweats and the meat cools down, just like we do when we sweat. Wrapping in foil retains the heat and will help you to power through the stall faster. Ideally, you'd wrap just before the stall, but it doesn't hurt to do it part way through.
 
I rode it out and the butt finished in 9.5 hours. This seems to long for a 6 pound butt. Funny thing is I went out to check the probe at around 10 pm and the probe read 186IT. My next check at around 10:45 the probe read 230 IT. I can't imagine the temp rose that quickly, could it? I let the meat rest for 30 minutes and pulled the meat. The meat had a great bark but seemed a bit dry. Not much fat at all left on the meat. How moist is pulled pork supposed to be?
 
KenB;
The highest temperature I have allowed my butt's to go is 205. However, I start checking for TENDERNESS, at about 190 and pull from the grill when it is tender. That has ranged from 190-205. I remove it as soon as it is tender. The dryness you experienced is almost certainly from over cooking.

Keep on smokin',
Dale53:wsm:
 
I rode it out and the butt finished in 9.5 hours. This seems to long for a 6 pound butt. Funny thing is I went out to check the probe at around 10 pm and the probe read 186IT. My next check at around 10:45 the probe read 230 IT. I can't imagine the temp rose that quickly, could it? I let the meat rest for 30 minutes and pulled the meat. The meat had a great bark but seemed a bit dry. Not much fat at all left on the meat. How moist is pulled pork supposed to be?

Once the fat renders out, the meat can get really hot really fast. If you don't have a remote probe thermometer, you should get/ask Santa for one. At about $60, they're not "cheap", but definitely worth it. Think of it this way, at $2/lb, a Maverick will set you back the cost of 3 10-lb. butts that might overcook without it. At a minimum, check the temp more frequently. Before I had my remote, I'd check every 10-15 minutes once it hit 180.
 
I rode it out and the butt finished in 9.5 hours. This seems to long for a 6 pound butt. Funny thing is I went out to check the probe at around 10 pm and the probe read 186IT. My next check at around 10:45 the probe read 230 IT. I can't imagine the temp rose that quickly, could it? I let the meat rest for 30 minutes and pulled the meat. The meat had a great bark but seemed a bit dry. Not much fat at all left on the meat. How moist is pulled pork supposed to be?
9.5 hours for 6LBS does seem a bit long and hitting 230 IT supports it was a tad too long. I would bet had you caught it around 200-205 it would have been quite moist. But hey, you successfully cooked it and it was good, right?
 
I actually like to let the butt sit in the stall range for a few hours and develop a nice bark. In your case 230 IT is way overdone, shoot for 195-205 and you will have nice and moist meat. I have seen the IT go from 170 to 195 in an hours time after wrapping and cooking at 225-250 smoker temp. What was the lid temp of your cook?
 
9 hours is not too long for a butt. I've had some 6 pounders take 12 hours for whatever reason. Usually now I smoke at least 250 sometimes 275. I don't have 12 hours of time.
 

 

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