2nd Butt, finished too early


 
D

DavidD

TVWBB Super Fan
Last time I used the smoker, which is still new to me, I had 4 small hams from wild hogs. They took forever to reach temps. This time, with only one 8.5 pound bone-in butt, I wanted to make sure it was done on time since it was for a new years party. I put the cold meat on the cooker with cold water in the pan at 10pm. By 9am the next morning (11 hrs), i was at 192 degrees and done. Way ahead of schedule and the party. I wrapped in foil and then three towels in the cooler. With Florida weather at 75 degrees, the temps held up well, dropping to 147 by 3pm, 6 hours later. However, from this site, I remember reading something about 145 being the break point, so i removed from the cooler and pulled the pork, then refrigerating it. It was extremely juicy and fell right off the bone, though some of the moisture was lost when i had to re-heat the meat. Other than miscalculating the amt of time to cook, did i do anything wrong? Could the meat have stayed in the cooler till dinner? What would have been the best way to reheat without losing moisture? thx, dave
 
Hi Davidd,

6 hours is about as long as I attempt to keep a butt warm in a cooler. I usually take my butts up to 200* but 192* is fine if you're happy with the way they come out.

If I'm looking at having to take them much past 6 hours, I'll pull them and put them in foodsaver bags. The reason I use the foodsaver is because reheating by boiling in foodsaver bags is the best way I've found to preserve the "just-off-the-pit" flavor and aroma. No worry about drying out at all.

You could put the foiled butts in an oven with temps about 180 or so. But if you do this, take the time to put an extra layer of foil on them. If they aren't sealed real good, they can dry out.

Don't worry about the butt finishing early. Sometimes it just happens, no matter how well we plan. As I'm sure you've heard many times around here, each piece of meat is different.

Hope this helps.
 
Davidd,

Any idea what temp you were cooking at? The rule of thumb seems to be at 225 or so grate temmp, butts take somewhere between 1 1/2 to 2 hours per pound. Higher temps, obviously will get them done sooner. Based on what you posted, I'd be willing to bet you were more like 250 degrees at the grate.

But then again, like Tom said, "each piece of meat is different."

JimT
 
between 225 and 250, it varied, though i did not monitor it all night. As the water level went down to a very low level, temps were higher.
 
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