Cook Time for Pulled Pork


 
C

Chris Stevz

New member
Bought my Weber 22 in April but was out of country for a few weeks and never got to cook a pulled pork on it. I had some success with Baby Backs and Beef Short ribs in my first two attempts and was eager to try a pulled pork. Of course the supermarkets around by me don't have a lot to choose from so Ill either have to go to Costco or a local butcher shop. That being said i didn't have a lot of time available yesterday so I picked up, what looked like to be a small picnic, bone in with the skin on. I had the butcher in the supermarket remove the bone and the skin and it came out to 3.5 pounds. I figured this would cook quick - 5 maybe six hours at 225 - 235, but no luck. In fact i noticed this in my other two cooks that it took a lot longer than desired.

I put the pork on at 10:45am and it hit 203 deg at about 6:15pm - does that seem right, 7.5 hours? Of course it stalled for a long time at around the 150 mark and once it hit 165 it was done in under two hours -that's when i wrapped it. Anyway, my goal was to keep it around 235 and it hovered between 220 and 240--i was actually impressed how steady it held with just a few "kicks of the legs" to remove some ash.

So regardless of the weber being new, temperature is temperature isn't it? In all 3 cooks it took longer than i anticipated but this pork shoulder, was this just too long long for a 3.5 pound piece of meat. That being said it was good though i really need to use something larger in the future. At this point I am a little intimidated to try something larger, say 8-10lbs - Thoughts? Nice to be home so i can cook again!
 
7.5 hours for 3.5 LBS butt does seem long
The target range for cooking a butt is between 225 & 275 and you have to determine what works best for you (this can vary)
I probably would have left the bone in myself
As far as being new or used, that won't have any affect on end results, timewise (although a seasoned smoker might add flavor)

Don't be intimidate, have fun. The cook is what it's all about
 
I like to cook lower for my pork butt and that means it takes longer. No worries BBQ is done when it's done. Important thing is how did it taste?
 
I have a new WSM 18.5", and I did a 6 pound Boston Butt (bone in) last weekend. I put it on at 8:00 am, it reached 165 degrees around noon where I took it off to wrap in foil and placed back on the smoker to continue cooking. It reached 205 degrees around 3:00 pm where I took it off and put it in a Styrofoam cooler until we were ready to eat at 5:00 pm. My smoker temps were running a little high as I am still learning its characteristics which kind of threw off my timing. I had planned on 1.5 hours per pound, and it was closer to 1 hour per pound.
 
Ill have to give it another go and see how it works out but so far in the three cooks it has taken longer than i expected and this pork took considerably longer, but ill keep at it. Im just worried about having people over, sitting around for hours waiting for the pork to come off, i guess I should always have some burgers ready to go in case of emergency. I do think that I should cook it a little higher perhaps, so many different schools of thought out there - got to find one I'm comfortable with.

Comparing my times to the poster above (JBorders) I am way off. I was only using 3.5 lbs opposed to his 6 and it took me 6 hours to get to 165 degrees opposed to his 4. As for the taste it was pretty good for my first go, though I was a lot more pleased with my ribs and short ribs. good thing the meat is cheap to keep experimenting
 
Small, partial butts OR briskets will boggle your mind on how long they can go since they stall so hard. (If they were passing 'em out for free at the grocery store, I'd cook faster and foil during the cook.)

Try to find whole, unenhanced, bone-in boston butts, as you say, around 8 to 10 lbs. If you use water in the pan and don't want to foil during the cook, you need to either get up really, really early or cook overnight. There's certainly nothing wrong with just foiling the pan over the top and cooking by day at a little faster temp, though. If you think you're behind in the cook, FOIL and open the vents. If you find it's already tender sooner than anticipated, let it lose it's steam, then FTC (foil, towel, cooler) to keep hot for a few hours till it's time to pull.
 
If cooking at temps conducive with water in the pan, 235-250, I find that 8-9 pound butts usually take 14-16hrs. You'll also want to tent it with foil and let it sit at least half an hour or so before pulling, so add an hr or so on for that.
 
Notwithstanding external factors such as outside air temps and wind, 1.5 hours per pound is a rough guideline but I really never count on time because sh#t happens. I always cook to "doneness" temp using my Maverick and then verified with my Thermapen. I usually add a few extra hours to that 1.5/lb. After all, it's OK to be done several hours early and wrap that butt in foil/towels and into the cooler. I'd rather be done early and let it rest longer than have a table full of guests and be stalled at 190 with the wife giving me the stink eye.
 
I'll be the odd ball and say everything in the original post seems normal to me. I typically start my butt cooks around midnight and plan on 12 hour cooks. Granted, I'm cooking 8-10 pounders but still. Each hunk of meat is different and "it's done when it's done." I've only done a small 3ish pounder once before and that was in the mini. Don't recall how long it took, but I'm certain it took a handful of hours.

3.5 pounds of meat on a 22.5" WSM? That had to look almost comical.
 
That is my big concern is having a large crowd of people sitting waiting to eat and the wife getting ****ed at me (and my smoker)--she's skeptical already but I'm quickly winning her over. As for the 3.5 lbs of meat on the large smoker, yes, it was very funny.
 
The great thing about pork butt --- they'll hold for hours wrapped in foil/towels/placed in a cooker. I've gone 6 hours like that and couldn't believe how hot it was when I went to pull it. In your case, I'd start earlier than you're thinking and hold it until it's ready. Or... pulled pork reheats amazingly well. I've got 2 large butts on the 22" as I type which I'm bringing to work on Wed. Pulling/placing in a crock pot which I'll turn on "keep warm" Wed morning. Done it before with great results.
 
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