early butts?


 
G

Gary Donaldson

New member
put a 6.8 pounder on at midnight, planning for about a 14 hour cook (2 hrs per pound). I'm at 11 hours and the lowest reading I'm getting after probing multiple areas is 190. Other areas are mid to high 190's. This seems a bit fast to me... anyone have any thoughts? My cooker temp was running mostly around 250, but did spike overnight to 275 for a few hours until I got up at 4am and choked the vents down and added more water. The cooker then came back to the 250 to 260 range and has stayed there.
 
Bone-in butt? Wiggle the bone. If it pulls out easily it's done. Boneless? Stick a fork in it and give it a little twist. If it feels tender it's done.

Cook times can vary due to a number of factors: cooktemp, size of the meat, amount of internal fat/tissue, etc.

If done, wrap in a couple layers of foil and stick in a cooler packed with towels to rest (or, alternatively, foil as noted, wrap in towels and stick it in your microwave). It'll rest then stay hot for several hours.

Enjoy your dinner!
 
Your fine, they don't all take the same amount of time. MIne only took 10 hrs yesterday.

Sounds like it will be good!
 
thanks guys. I have it in the cooler now. It is a boneless butt, just under 7lb. I know that Kevin talks alot about higher temps for doing butts, and I thought that the 250 to 260 range with a spike to 275 for a few hours may have contributed to a little quicker time...
 
Yup. I often do them at 265-275 at the grate (no foiling) unless an overnight will be more convenient. Then, I do them lower/slower.

Spikes and even somewhat higher cooktemps can shorten cooktime, as you note.
 
thanks, Kevin. My temps were at the lid (I should've noted that in my earlier message), but this was the first time that I cooked at that level. Usually I keep it 225 to 235 for butts. I wanted to migrate to your high temp version, but felt I would inch my way there =) I'll let you know how they turned out... Thanks again for the great input.
 
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