Butt questions

[Frank S.]

I put a 6lb butt on the WSM last night. 10 hrs later (this AM), it registered 189 deg. One hour after that it rose to 190 deg. Is this one of those temperature plataus? I want to cook it to 195 - 200.

Also, I have read about people putting the finished product in saran-wrap and aluminum foil for a few hours before serving (I'm not having butt for breakfast...but it does sound good). My question: Does the saran-wrap melt to the butt? Should I let it sit to cool off the surface temp first?

 

[Bryan S]

Frank, the saran-wrap will not melt to the meat. As for the temp question you might want to check the butt in several locations to make sure your getting an accurate reading.Alot of fat and bone in there. /infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif

 

[Kevin Taylor]

Hi Frank!

The plateau is usually found at slightly lower temps, but every butt will be different. I usually see the plateau around 165-170?.

Bryan is correct, I will change the location of my thermo if it seems "stuck" on that high of a temp.

There are 7 muscles inside that butt and each one may give a slightly different temp.

 

[Frank S.]

Thanks for the quick replies guys. I left the butt on, and checked it an hour later... it was still holding at 190 (2 hours with no change in temp). I checked it with another thermometer in a few places and it was correct. So, I left it on another hour, and it finally hit 198. Wrapped it and put it in a small cooler at 10 AM. At 5:30 PM, it was still over 100 deg. It basically shredded itself, -unbelievably tender. From now on, it's Minion Method all the way. The overnight Butt is the way to go. No worries about timing it for dinner or guests.

P.S. I kept the WSM going after taking the Butt off, just to see how long the coals would last. It stayed around 250 deg for a total of 16 hours, then at 215 for another 2 hours.