Burnt by the long cook


 
K

Kevin Stephens

New member
I guess I got too comfortable cooking butts, after the last dozen or so cooks with no surprises. I decided to have family over for lunch today, so I picked up a small 6 lb. trimmed butt. This has turned out to be a difficult one - or it is going longer than expected. I put it on at 10:00 last night. Temps have stayed solid around 230-235 all night, and it is still holding at 163 after 10 hours. I just put the probe in an hour ago, so hopefully it has already stalled. I was all planning on being done around 9:00 and foiling it in a cooler so I can get sides going and take a shower.

I guess I'll stick to larger butts - they seem to cook faster.
 
Often I will wrap a butt in foil once the temps are over 160* to speed things up. Within a couple hours you will be over the hump and I will normally pull between 195-210*. HTH Vince
 
I have found that each piece of meat cooks differently. Some are very solid and seem to take longer. I always leave myself plenty of time to avoid not having it done. You could foil it at this point to speed the process some. It has probably picked up all the smoke it is going to.

Mike
 
If everyone is carrying forks and giving you the hairy eyeball you could wrap it in hd foil and stick her in the oven at 325-350 to finish her up. Just make sure to let her rest a bit before pulling or slicing.
 
I'm curious when you say a trimmed butt do you mean without the bone? Maybe that's why it's taking longer?
 
As easy as it is to get good bark without it, you still gotta give credit to foiling for predictable and consistent cooks.
 
Originally posted by Dave Russell:
As easy as it is to get good bark without it, you still gotta give credit to foiling for predictable and consistent cooks.
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Roger that, Dave. Foil gives you the confidence that it'll be done when you want it done. It also gives you some flexibility to accommodate a change of plans. I did a 9-1/2# butt yesterday and foiled it at 170 degrees. It was ready way before the guests arrived, so I dialed the DigiQ down to 200 degrees and held it for 2 hours at that temp. It was virtually liquid at that point, but the foil kept it from turning into jerky. I took it off and put it in a cooler for another hour and a half. I couldn't have made that big of a time adjustment just leaving it "naked" in the smoker.
 
You have to take into consideration the thickness of the butt as well as the weight when cooking. A 6lber trussed up so it's nice and thick may take longer to cook than an 8lber that's loosely trussed and is thinner.

It was ready way before the guests arrived, so I dialed the DigiQ down to 200 degrees and held it for 2 hours at that temp. It was virtually liquid at that point, but the foil kept it from turning into jerky. I took it off and put it in a cooler for another hour and a half. I couldn't have made that big of a time adjustment just leaving it "naked" in the smoker.
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You could of taken it off and held it warm for at least 4 hours wrapped in foil and towels and placed in the warm cooler. This will stop the cooking process and you don't have to worry about it turning mushy or dry.
 
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