24 hour pork butts?


 
R

Randy Pereda

New member
Hello all!,

This past weekend I put a couple of bone in pork picnic shoulders in the 18.5 wsm controlled by the guru for a family meal.. They were 10 and 11 lb before removing the thick skin and fat.. Farmer John all natural brand.. The ones with the shoulder bones in then.. Kind of looked like a ham.. Anyways.. I started the first one at 7:45 pm and the other one at 9 pm Friday night.. By 7pm the next day the first one reached 190 so I pulled it as I got tired waiting as I had angus beef ribs to also smoke.. The other one I moved to the top grate at that time and it reached 190 (wanted to pull at 200 originally) but temps started to go down on it.. It got to 187 and I just said forget it and pulled it.. With both the bones slid off clean and pulled easily with just the tongs... Any one what happened?? I'm perplexed..22 and 24 hour smokes with temps consistent and controlled by the guru dx2... First time using btw and wish I would have gotten it sooner!!! No more sleepless nights!!
 
Hey Randy,
Sounds like you hit the stall on your cuts and they just wouldn't move like a stubborn donkey.

I get this all the time - must be karmic balance for something I did in a previous life, but any time I do butts or shoulders, I get to the stall and then the clock just ticks and ticks while the family gives me pained looks of hunger as evening turns to nights.

I've gone to wrapping after getting to 170-180F to push thru the stall.

If I'm doing a backyard bbq for the family, I just plan on loading my WSM for about 4-5 hrs of smoke, then I pull, wrap and put in the oven until tender (shooting for an internal temp of about 200-203F).

One of these days, I'll budget time to do a butt start to finish on my WSM, but man that stall just kills my plans everytime.
 
Lol.. I totally know those looks by the family.. Sister inlaw and family stayed till 1:30am waiting for the ribs.. They had them before and waited as they know the prize for waiting lol.. They came straight from a weeks vacation in Palm Springs before going home, tired, sleep deprived and all. Lol.. They loved the pulled pork sandwiches with some sweet baby rays..
Yeah I think I'm going to try wrapping them next time to help get over the stall.. Those were some stubborn meats!
 
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You didn't mention what temp you were running your WSM at, but if it was at 225ish that could take 2 or 2 1/2 hrs per pound roughly and since you're largest one was 11# that makes total sense.

Tim
 
Hello Timothy,
Yes I started at 225 controlled by a guru.. Then bumped it up to 230 towards the latter end of the cook.
Ok so I was going off 1 to 1.5 hours per lb.. Your estamate is more spot on.
 
Erik, you can do the same thing you are doing by foiling and putting it in the oven. Instead, once you foil at the stall, put it back in the WSM and proceed as normal. Shouldn't take any extra time in my opinion. As a side note, one of the things Harry Soo told us in has class last weekend was to foil when the bark is set and then put it back in the WSM. If that works for a champion pitmaster, it should work for us. This is also the approach that I have been doing for the last 3 years. Good luck in trying this method.

Erik Tracy said:
Hey Randy,
If I'm doing a backyard bbq for the family, I just plan on loading my WSM for about 4-5 hrs of smoke, then I pull, wrap and put in the oven until tender (shooting for an internal temp of about 200-203F).

One of these days, I'll budget time to do a butt start to finish on my WSM, but man that stall just kills my plans everytime.
Click to expand...
 
Bob Ivey said:
Erik, you can do the same thing you are doing by foiling and putting it in the oven. Instead, once you foil at the stall, put it back in the WSM and proceed as normal. Shouldn't take any extra time in my opinion. As a side note, one of the things Harry Soo told us in has class last weekend was to foil when the bark is set and then put it back in the WSM. If that works for a champion pitmaster, it should work for us. This is also the approach that I have been doing for the last 3 years. Good luck in trying this method.
Click to expand...

Bob,
Thanks for the tip!

If Harry Soo is giving advice it is best to listen to it.

The only reason I go to the oven is that I can load my WSM for 4-5 hours for the smoke and bark and save on some fuel. Once wrapped it is all about temp but no smoke. Plus, I don't have to babysit the vents or worry about adding fuel if the stall goes long.

Now, if I were at a cook-off/competition, then Harry's advice is what I would do.
 
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Bob, going off of Harry's advise then the time to wrap is when the bark sets.. How would you check the temps on it after the wrap without poking holes they it? Or is ok to poke holes they the wrap?
 
Great! That was the only thing preventing me from wrapping.. I was thinking to myself that I would have to unwrap it to check temps.. Thanks Bob!
 
Yea, but once foiled butts temps rise quickly but that's not a true test for tenderness at whatever temp you think is pullable. Don't probe for temp when foiled IMO, go by feel and when it feels soft and forgiving with a gloved hand, unwrap a corner and go with the probe test for tenderness.

Tim
 
Randy Pereda said:
Hello Timothy,
Yes I started at 225 controlled by a guru.. Then bumped it up to 230 towards the latter end of the cook.
Ok so I was going off 1 to 1.5 hours per lb.. Your estamate is more spot on.
Click to expand...

I have the PartyQ and found that it (or maybe my WSM) seems to do better when it's set to 250 for most things (butts, ribs & brisket). The only thing I've ever cooked at a steady 225 were some baby back ribs once. They were OK, but took way too long and I'm just not that patient. I think most here will agree it's better to have most long-cooking items finish early - they're usually easy to keep warm - than to face the ire of hungry family or guests.
 
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