HELP: Want to save butts!


 
JeffB

JeffB

TVWBB Pro
Did my first butts last night. Put them on at 2:30 (4 hours ago) and just woke up to the WSM at 318 degrees and the meat at 185.

Am I cooked? Is it ruined?

What should I do???
 
Jeff, Im new to my WSM and best I would do given that you are this close is to finish it and hopefully its tender. You probably have sveral hours til you want to eat, and if it is too long to hold then plan to pull it and serve reheated. Ive cooked pork roasts in my oven at 325 that have been tender and moist...not cooked to pull but that were sliced but still very good. Check for tenderness, and watch that it doesnt cook too long.
 
Just relax with a nice cup of coffee. Gradually lower the temp a bit, I like something around 275 deg. Butts are hard to ruin, so just monitor for doneness and enjoy the PP.
 
Monitor for doneness--how do I do that? I thought 185 meant done?

Should I remove the lid and poke on them?

Sorry--newbie trying not to ruin first butts.
 
Put the probe in several places in the but and looks for minimal resitance. A but can be done from 185-205.

Lower the temp and poke em every 5f.
 
You can take butts all the way to 200-205 w/out any issue. You just might want to slow the process down to get some more smoke on them. Don't worry too much about internal temp. It's a good tool, but it's all about tenderness. When the bone is loose and seems like it'll slip right out, or when you put it a fork and twist and the meat just comes apart, you know you're there.

Like others have said, pork butts are extremely forgiving and really hard to ruin.
 
I'm going to remove the lid and check if they are tender with a fork. BRB.

Thanks for all the help!

I need a nap.
 
LOL. Sorry for my drama--I'm working on very little sleep and I got a bit hyped up.

The meat is still cooking. It's at 198 and the WSM is down to 232. I closed all the vents except 1 which is at 1/4 open.

The meat is getting there but it's not tender yet.

I'm afraid that it will get to 205 before it's tender and if it's not tender, I think I'll let it keep cooking and hope for the best.

Down to 230 now.
 
The other butt is at 201. They weigh about 6 lbs each----not the biggest butts on the block.

They've been on the WSM since 2:30 which means it's just over 7.5 hours cooking time.

When a butt is done, will a knife slip through it entirely?

I just put a knife into the meat. It went about 3/4 through and then was a bit tough. I'm thinking another hour or so and recheck.
 
when tender, remove, foil and store in a dry cooler wrapped in towels for at least an hour before pulling.
They keep well in the cooler for as many as five hours, perhaps longer.
Good Luck
icon_smile.gif
 
Pulled them at 199 degrees internal. Bark looks AMAZING. Taste test was a huge success. Tender all the way through.

Cooked from 2:30am to 11:15am.

Pics to follow!

Yay!!!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jeff Bryson:
Pulled them at 199 degrees internal. Bark looks AMAZING. Taste test was a huge success. Tender all the way through.

Cooked from 2:30am to 11:15am.

Pics to follow!

Yay!!! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Wrapped 2x in heavy foil, wrapped in towels and put in cooler. Hoping to eat around 5pm.
 
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