How long before boston butt reaches room temp from fridge?

[Wesley S]

How long do you sit your butts out of the fridge before going on the coals? They all say room temp but how long do you guys normally allow?

 

[Chris Allingham]

In the interest of food safety, not more than 2 hours at room temperature. However, many folks are now putting the meat directly from the fridge into the cooker, for convenience, food safety, and enhanced smoke ring in the meat.

Regards,
Chris

 

[Wesley S]

Thanks Chris,

I thought I had read that you get a better smoke ring if it goes on cold. Welp I'm off to fire up my kettle /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

 

[Wesley S]

Well I'm almost 5 hours into my cook and so far it's not too bad. I'm adjusting vents about every 30 minutes. I did stay at 250 for about an hour and a half but has been either high or low ever since. My father came by to check it out and while talking to him it shot up to about 350. Took me about 30 min to get it back down. Then a friend called and I was helping him with some stuff over the phone then afterwards I checked and it was down to 140 (only about 20-30 min). I opened all the vents and waited till it got back to about 270 and closed the bottom vent to about 25% and top to 25%.

I'm using Stogie's rub. Mainly since I already had all the ingredients.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Kevi's South-of-the-Butt Rub

4 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons cumin
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons pepper
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

Mix together. Use liberally! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>I do have one guestion though. About how far into the cook will the outside get that really dark color. I'm 5 hours in and it's a deep red. Also once the pork is actually done will the outside of the meat be firm or will it also have that falling apart texture?

 

[Doug D]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Wesley S:
[qb] Well I'm almost 5 hours into my cook and so far it's not too bad. I'm adjusting vents about every 30 minutes. I did stay at 250 for about an hour and a half but has been either high or low ever since. My father came by to check it out and while talking to him it shot up to about 350. Took me about 30 min to get it back down. Then a friend called and I was helping him with some stuff over the phone then afterwards I checked and it was down to 140 (only about 20-30 min). I opened all the vents and waited till it got back to about 270 and closed the bottom vent to about 25% and top to 25%.[/qb] <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Small moves, small moves. If you're making adjustments that often and with such wide swings, you're over-doing it. First, don't sweat being 10-15 degrees off your target temperature. Second, unless something has gotten way out of hand, only open or close your vents in small increments-- 20-25% at a time-- allowing 20-30 minutes to observe the desired effect. On a long cook, like a butt, cooking 10 or 15 degress either side of your target temp for a fraction of the total time will not mess up the final result.

 

[Wesley S]

Thanks Doug,

Ever since my last post I must have hit the sweet spot. It's been sitting rock solid at 250 for almost 2 hours now. I check the temp around 1:00pm and it was 150. I guess I'll check again about 4:00.

This was a small butt. 3.69lb before trimming and bone in.

 

[Paul G.]

Wesley S.

Are you using your kettle or a WSM? One of your earlier posts made me think kettle, and I wasn't surprised at the difficulty maintaining steady temps. I've tried on a kettle but it's a challenge.

Paul

 

[Wesley S]

Yep it's a kettle. I kind of turned my original question which Chris answered into whats progressed throughout the day.

Meat still registers at 155-157F in various spots. Going on 7.5 hours.

 

[Doug D]

Today's pork butt in progress. 7.17 lb, 250* at the grate, MM, 4.5 hours in, 150* internal. Pic

 

[Wesley S]

Looks fabulous Doug!

I need to invest in a wireless polder. I bet I've walked outside 50 times today /infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

Not that I care. I'm just dying to try some of this BBQ. Pulled pork is probably my favorite BBQ.


Question: About what temp will the meat become real tender. Just checked and it's about 165. It much more tender than it was at 150 but no where near what it is when I purchase from local BBQ place. I know it has to get to 195 but I'm hoping it'll start rising before I have to add more fuel. If thats the case I'll probably wrap in foil and put it in the oven to finish.

 

[Wesley S]

Well I pulled the meat off the grill at 5:20 at 180. Finished to 198 for an hour at 300F oven. It's wrapped in foil now and resting for an hour. Then it's dinnertime! I can't wait.