How long is too long?


 
M

Mark Dietrich

TVWBB Member
I have six butts in the 18.5" Started them at 4:30 yesterday afternoon. It's ten to three (pm) here right now, and I'm sitting at 176. It did get down to 18 here last night, and the lid temp was only 170 when I woke up (at 4:30am).

At what point do I panic? They look beautiful and smell ridiculously good, but I can't seem to get them over the hump.

Cheers,
 
Mark,

Don't rely on temp to tell you when they are done. Tender is done. If they are bone in, and the bone will pull free and clean of the meat with little effort, they are done. If they are boneless, a probe should go in with little/no resistence.

But doneness is a function of time and temp, not just temp. They could theoretically overcook without ever hitting 180. They could be undercooked at 195.

But it's not time to panic. Butts are very forgiving, and give you a pretty wide doneness window before they seriously overcook.
 
They're all between 7 and 8 lbs. Just checked on them. Probe still meeting resistance. Another chimney of Kingsford prepping. I'm having a hard time keeping the temp up near 250 and stable. Maybe it's the weather? I don't know. Hard to stay patient at this point.
 
If youre havin a hard time bumping or holding the temps, than nothin wrong with finishing them in the oven.
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That's quite the Marathon cook you have going!
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Tim
 
Holy cow that's more than 24 hours!!!!
Talk about low and slow. I really hope they turn out.

What's the current status?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">They could theoretically overcook without ever hitting 180. They could be undercooked at 195. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Very true. I wish more would realize this.

Temp at 170 early this morning and who knows for how long the temp was dropping nor how long the temp was at 170 before discovery. This obvious;y will prolong the cook. (I've had similar things happen on numerous occasions. Yes, the butts went well over 24 hours to get to tender as a result.)

One can leave alone, crank the heat of the cooker, foil and leave alone, foil and crank the heat of the cooker, foil and oven finish, etc. I don't finish butts in the oven myself (I have better uses for the oven); I just bump the heat of the WSM to the upper 200s and let the butts finish on their own.

Many options.
 
We just crossed 24 hours. They look, feel, and smell just wonderful- just not quite there. I'll keep at it. I'm NOT surrendering these to the oven. Not after all this work. Thanks for the encouragement. I need it.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Mark Dietrich:
We just crossed 24 hours. They look, feel, and smell just wonderful- just not quite there. I'll keep at it. I'm NOT surrendering these to the oven. Not after all this work. Thanks for the encouragement. I need it. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Check for a sense of moisture, especially from any area toward the bottom of one of the butts. If you are okay there you're okay. Still, you might want to start the butts flipped, when ready to rest. You can flip back halfway along if you wish - but gravity can help in the event there was excessive moisture loss during the longer cook. So can a finishing sauce.
 
Daddy's little meteor...
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And here's what happened when the strings were cut...

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First three butts came out at 8:30. The last (and biggest) came out at 10:30, exactly 30 hours after I started.

Kevin, you were right on about the temp. The last one never got higher than 184, but when I checked it, the probe went through like warm butter. Good thing, too, because I was at my wits' end trying to keep that fire going.

Nothing was dried out. They pulled beautifully, and I don't need to tell any of you how they tasted.

Thanks everyone, for helping to talk me through. That was one big learning experience for me.
 
Looks fantastic Mark! I'm glad they turned out after all your hard work. I am now terrified to smoke some butts and only eating 30 hours later.
 
Glad they came out OK. I smoked four butts over the weekend and had to deal with a thunderstorm and 30+ mph winds about 1:30 AM on Saturday morning and temps dropped during the whole cook from the low 50's to the upper 30's. Once I got my temp restabilized after the storm passed, I went to bed for three hours to get some rest. When I woke up, the temp in my WSM was right @ 205°, down from the solid 250°-260° that I was able to maintain for more than three hours. I didn't check the butt temps, choosing instead to pull them and finish in the oven where our meeting was taking place. They ended up probe tender in just over 12 hours and I didn't have time to rest them in foil for more than 20 minutes, but they still pulled very easily. Two of the four I cooked were not as tender as I wanted them to be, but they still were well received.

The old adage that "it's done when it is done" is especially true for pork shoulder. Next time I will start mine a little earlier, as I would rather hold them after they are done rather than stressing because they aren't done on time.
 
That meat looks fantastic. I have, like someone above said, finished butts in the oven. This gives you an exact temp that you want if it is cold OUTSIDE. You can foil them and putem in a 350 degree oven and they will finish fine. I have done this numerous times. With brisket too!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Mark Dietrich:
They're all between 7 and 8 lbs. Just checked on them. Probe still meeting resistance. Another chimney of Kingsford prepping. I'm having a hard time keeping the temp up near 250 and stable. Maybe it's the weather? I don't know. Hard to stay patient at this point. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Was it windy? Also, 42-48 lbs in an 18.5" is a good bit of meat, you probably burned more charcial getting up to your cooking temp and then ran low overnight.
 
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