Boston Butt Issue/Problem


 
RDOwens

RDOwens

TVWBB Super Fan
Today I smoked a ~7# butt. I rubbed this using the Mr. Brown rub. I have done this many times. It was a single butt and nothing else was in the WSM.

About seven hours in I was just under 200°. I used an instant read thermometer and probed the butt in several places. I did wiggle the bone and it did it didn't move much. I was afraid of overcooking so I foiled it and let it rest about three hours.

When I went to pull it, it did not pull well. I had to work to get the bone out. I decided to fire up the oven at 250° and cook this more. I went two more hours.

It still is not pulling well. There is some of the fat cap that still has not rendered.

I am not certain what to do at this point. I have sampled it. It tastes fine, but is not cooperating on pulling.

Any suggestions?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by RDOwens:
I did wiggle the bone and it did it didn't move much.
Any suggestions? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

If you try to slide the bone out and it doesn't want to move, forget the temps, you aren't done. The bone is still very much attached to the meat. I can't help with the thermos, but a non-moving bone is a tell tale sign that the butt's not ready for pulling
 
Thanks. I should have left it. The butt is back in the oven. We'll see if this loosens up at all. If not, the ladies at work will be disappointed. They are addicted to this.
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Must be a butt thang. I cooked 3 - 5 lb butts today. I figured them for about 8 - 9 hours. At 10 hours, they still weren't ready. Just some strange butt I guess!

Pat
 
Hey guys, the meat is done when it's done. Time is not the absolute when it comes to BBQ. On pork butt, when you can insert a probe easily into all areas of the butt it's ready. Time is ONLY a guideline. Same thing with brisket,of course the window when it's done is a lot smaller. I've had butts get done in nine hours and I've had some take sixteen.Each piece of meat is different. Ah,grasshopper, just be patient.
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I agree - when the bone will pull loose - you're done and not until. Without a bone - see how easily the whole but will break in half. If it falls apart easily - good to go. Some resistance- not done - at least in my opinion.
 
What was the temperature in the WSM while you were smoking? If your WSM cooking temp was high or spiked towards the end it could have brought the internal temp on the pb up to 200 without all of the fat and connective tissue having the time to render down. I know from some of my past cooks that if I try to push through a plateau too soon by increasing the WSM temp, the pb may get to the target internal temp but unfortunately the meat may not be quite as tender. Like others have said, some pbs finish up in 12 hours, others have taken me 16 hours or more, and those really really long cooks always result in some of my best pulled pork. Unfortunately I may be worn out when they are finally done. Good luck.

Tom
 
RD, what was your pit/grate temp when cooking the butt on the WSM? I ask because 7 hrs for a 7lb. bone in butt (1 hr a lb.) seems really fast unless you were high heating it. I did 2) 9 lb. butts and 2) 8.5 lb. picnics on Sunday, high heat @ 325-350º and it took 6 hrs for the picnics, and 7 hrs for the butts. I foiled them all after 4 hrs. If you were cooking in the 250º range, you're looking at about an 12-14 hr cook for a 7lb. butt. HTH
 
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