is this normal when doing butts?


 
C

Cesar

TVWBB Fan
When I open the top to mop or to turn over the meat temp drops a few degrees. This is my second butt and I when I flipped it it dropped 8 degrees in a span of like 30 minutes. The first one did the same thing but I was also mopping when I flipped. I was just wondering if this is normal.

thanks.
 
To begin with I rarely mop or flip a butt. Let me ask a few questions that would help an answer..

1) What temp is dropping? The butt? The Cooker?

If it is the cooker temp I would expect it. When you open it up you are letting out heat. I've been told that every time you open your cooker you are adding 15 minutes to the cook. Some times a cold mop sauce dripping into the water pan will have the effect of adding cold water to your pan lowering the cooker temp.

If it is the butt temp...
2) What is the outside temprature?

In Chicago currently the wind chill is 8 below zero. I don't know the real temp is. The cold temp and wind will have a real affect on the meat when you open the cooker.

3) Did you heat your mop sauce?

A cold mop sauce will "chill" your cooking meat. I don't know if it would make an 8 degree difference.

4) Where is your temp probe in the butt? Is it deep enough?

Sometimes the probe may be stuck in a pocket of fat. When the fat melts it can have a "chilling" effect on the probe. If the probe is not deep enough it could be reading the temp of the mop sauce.

I had a probe stuck in a lump of fat and it drove me crazy. It showed 168 degrees when the rest of the butt was 185

Just my thoughts and ideas.

Steve
 
Cesar, yes, that kind of temp reaction is perfectly normal, in warm OR cold weather. The mop may have had some effect on it, but I see that kind of reaction even without a mop. After the meat reaches 160 or so and gets into the typical temperature stall, the connective tissue in the maet is melting - BBQ magic is happening. That's why you see the temp go up and down a bit for hours at a time in the normal plateau before it starts climbing again. Connective tissue is simultaneously melting and evaporating. When you flip the butt, all that collagen starts flowing a different direction, affecting the temperature of the meat.

Don't worry about it - that's normal. Move your probe around occasionally to check temps in various part of the butt, as there are different muscles that will cook at different rates. When everything's in the general vicinity of the high 190's, though, and ESPECIALLY when the butt looks like it's collapsed in on itself and when you can wiggle the bone and it looks like the meat is immediately releasing from the bone, then proclaim that puppy done, wrap it in a few layers of foil, and start your sides! Robert loves to make a big deal out of sliding the bone out of the butt in front of guests, referring to it as "the pop-up timer for a pork butt".
icon_smile.gif


Don't forget to take pictures! We love food ****...

Keri C, still smokin' on Tulsa Time
 
Ya its my meat temp that dropped. This morning I didn't mop I just flipped it and the temp outside was in the 40's. My probe is all the way in, almost to about were the probe curves.

Ok but its good to know its normal. Its almost time to flip it again and it hasn't even reached the temp it was when I first flipped it.

Thanks for your alls help.
 
If I flip, I only flip once. I also don't even lift the lid for the first time until 6 hours. After that, I check every 2-3 hours.
 
The first time I flipped was after 8 hours. The first butt I did was only 6lbs and took close to 16hours. This one was 9lbs so I figured it would take a little be longer. Especially since i couldn't get the temp any higher then 228* in the wsm. I went to flip again while the meat temp still read 178 and it fell apart on me. I guess my probe was in a fat pocket. I probed different areas and like keri said it was all over the place. From 193 to 202* so got that sucker off.

So you guys don't flip butts? Next time ill just flip it once.

As for food **** my wife left the digital camera at her work. But to give you and idea as for how much it made I was able to filled 4 sandwich ziplock bags as much as I can fit and still close and another about 2/3 full. Then put them in a gallon freezer ziplock bag.(dont have a food saver) And i had a good smoke ring. The smoke flavor is a little weak so next time I'll use more wood.

Thanks all
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> So you guys don't flip butts? </div></BLOCKQUOTE> Many of us don't flip but I can't speak for all. I don't flip anything during cooking. I don't find it needed in a WSM (there are some types of cookers or cooking arrangements where it might be warranted). I don't mop either as I find that unnecessary as well. Once I have the meat in and the temps where I want them I scarcely look at the cooker again till I figure it's time to check the internals for the first time or to foil if I am foiling.
 
I don't foil butts during cooking. I foil brisket, chuck roasts and, usually ribs. Foil can speed a cook but I am not so interested in that. What foil also does is shield the meat from high heat and helps to reduce the evaporative pressure (useful for high heat cooks for thinner and often leaner roasts like brisket) and/or provides a sort of vessel to contain juices, either natural or added liquids, to enable a braising phase.
 
Cesar,

I also don't flip anything. Sometimes I will mop if I feel like it needs it but that is very seldom.

Wrapping in foil will speed up a cook if you are running behind on getting done on time to eat,and that is the only reason I wrap during a cook. Wrapping in foil after your meat is done and up to correct temps does help the meat stabilze and lets the juices flow evenly throughout the meat. While it's cooking it it under stress of the cooking process, letting it rest wrapped up helps it to relax. Any large cut of meat I always wrap in foil and let rest in a cooler with towels for at least 2 hours, they will hold up to 5 - 6 hours if needed. A butt will still be to hot to pull after a 3 - 4 hour rest.

Randy
 
Do you wrap it the same as when you take it off the wsm. Because I always foil when I take meat off except for ribs and chicken. But as for brisket, butts, and turkey when I take then off I wrap in a few layers of foil as tight as i can.

Ill have to try it then... I was just asked last night if i would make a brisket for a party next month. Ive only done 2 briskets the first one must have been beginners luck because it came out pretty good. The second wasn't as tender and juicy. Ill foil it and see how it comes out. I read your supposed to foil after it gets to 175. Is that about right? And how how tight and how many layers?
 
Cesar,
The wrapping is done to let the meat rest and relax more than anything.

I only wrap in one layer fairly tight then wrap that in a old towel and place in a cooler to rest. Putting in a cooler is what keeps it so warm and not letting it cool off to quick.

Brisket is hit or miss for me. I can do 10 the same way and some will be nice and good and some will be dry and tough????? Haven't figured this one out yet.

Randy
 
I've gotten the temp drop many times and it is a good thing. It means that you are entering the phase where the collagen breaks down and makes really tender barbecue. If you don't foil it could last several hours but it is worth it in the end, once the conversion has taken place your temps will rise pretty fast.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">The wrapping is done to let the meat rest and relax more than anything. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>True--if you are only wrapping after cooking. There are other reasons one might wrap during cooking as I noted above.

For ribs, I foil with a mix of pineapple and concentrated tamarind juices--single piece of HD foil sealed tightly. I do this after the ribs are deeply colored and then cook till done in the foil. Then I remove the ribs from the foil and allow the rub to firm a bit by returning the ribs to the cooker for a few minutes. If I am glazing I do so now, but I apply a thin veneer of glaze and it sets it a matter of a few minutes. I do not care for ribs that are sauced for serving so I never sauce ribs at the end of cooking.

Briskets I cook at high heat--either the mid-upper 200s measured at the grate--or, more usually, in the 310-320 range. I foil after the brisket breaks plateau (167-172 or whenever I happen to get to it), one piece of HD foil crimped tightly but with space around and above the brisket as they tend to throw off a lot of juices and I want room for those. I then take it to fork tender (temps can vary greatly when cooking briskets this way so I don't bother temping although I might leave the probe in to remind me to check it). I check the brisket at the just before the 4-hour mark (total cooking time) and it might be done or near done. I rarely have one go all that much over that time-wise. The way I mostly do briskets is described in this thread. My philosophy on cooking temps for barbecue is explained here.

Chucks I smoke 2-2.5 hours (I don't care what the internal is at that point) in the low 300s then foil, usually with a liquid reduction, onions, garlic and possibly other aromatics or vegs. Because of the additional ingredients I fashion a 'pan' out of two pieces if foil crimped together and stack on two other pieces of foil done the same way. I make a 'lid' out of two more stacked pieces. ChucksI cook till tender--I do not temp them but will check at the 4-hour mark. The thicker roasts that I prefer tend to run about 5 hours total. The way I do chucks is described here.

Butts, as noted, I don't foil till they come off. At that point I'll flip them onto a double thickness of HD foil, wrap tightly and rest.
 
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