Meat temp. strangely dropped from 170 to 163...why?

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This is my second smoke on my WSM.

I used the minion method and started (2) 4lb. Butts at 9:30am today. I have held the grate temp. to a pretty steady 240. At about 3:30 I flipped and rotated the butts and inserted the meat probe.Once the lid was put beck on the meat temp read 170.

About 10 minutes later it dropped to 163...Is that from the 60 seconds that I had the lid off the smoker? I find that hard to believe.

My expectation is that the meat temp should do nothing but rise steadily. Is it typical to see the meat temp fluctuate like this?

Any suggestions?

P.S. My plan is to pull the pork when it hits 190...anyone think I'll be eating by 7pm (It's 5pm now and the meat temp is 164). My guess is that I'll be eating by 10-11pm tonite...the wife will not be happy about that (at least the kids will be in bed...ha ha).
 
Steve,
You may have gotten a different temp because you inserted the probe in a different part of the pork.
Probe it in several locations and see what you get.
Try not to probe into fat either.
 
will fat read higher?

My post wasnt really clear but I actually didnt have the probe in the meat until AFTER I rotated the butts. So the temp drop occured about 10 minutes after the probe had been positioned for the first time.

Thanks for the help...good to see "neighbors" manning their smokers along with me!
 
Oh...and I have already foiled them and put the spurs to the fire to speed things up...next butt I'll start at midnite
 
A temp drop in a butt cook is not all that unusual. When fat starts rendering and moving through the meat, it can cause what you observed. In that plateau area-- above 160* usually-- is where you're likely to see it if it does happen.
 
Steve B.
I have averaged 18 hours for butts at 225-235.
Add time to rest then time to pull...
 
Steve,
Sounds like you have a pretty long wait for dinner if you are only at 164* now and it is 5pm. I would bet you won't be eating at 7pm. It is possible, but not guaranteed. Let us know how it turned out and if you are sleeping in the dog house because dinner was late! Good luck.
 
Pulled pork turned out great!

Had to foil it the last hour (which I didnt want to do, but had to to keep from mutiny). One more added wrinkle was that the inlaws decided to drop by for dinner as well. Obviously "Not foiling" was not an option.

Regardless, I stirred the coals, opened all vents and got the smoker temp up to 320 in no time. Butt reached 190 in just under an hour (From 164).

The moral of the story: Rave reviews by the In laws. Matter of fact my father in law had three helpings.

Thanks for the help everyone. I look forward to completing a butt without foiling next go around. I'll have to get up at 3am I suspect.

Thanks agian and see you all on the message boards!
 
Steve...HELL NO!! DO NOT GET UP AT 3AM. Do yourself a favor and start them at 10pm or 11pm. The butts should be ready by 3 or 4 at the latest. Add hold time at a few hours and viola...5pm or 6pm eat time. Plus, sleep overnight!! Can't beat it with a stick...can't wip it with a switch!!

Are you using sand in the pan or water???
 
My standard long cook is two butts on top and a full brisket on bottom. With a two probe Maverick, one probe in one of the butts and the other in the top vent.

I start the cook around 9 pm and check on it again around 7 or 8 am. I don't remove or really bother the meat probe. It is the temp for the whole cook. I also haven't really turned or moved the butts.

Everything is usually done around noon or 1 pm. Since the Maverick is a remote temp probe, I can monitor it anytime.
 
Sonny, I am getting a Maveric ET-73 in a week. Is this a 2 probe unit? Also, if you have one probe in a butt or briskett and one probe taking top grate temp...what is happening with the other 2 pieces of meat??
 
Hey Greg,

Yes, that is the two probe remote unit.

The brisket is the big size, not a flat. The two butts are roughly the same size, so temp of one handles all the meat. Kinda the standard Wally World doubles. I just make sure the probe is in the center of the biggest one.

Oh yea, the top probe is pretty close to top dome temp. As long as it is around 220 deg or so, all is well IMHO. Set and forget, but carry the temp indicator around with you.
 
Agreed...I will not be starting my next cook at 3am. Seemed to take me about 2hours to get the smoker temp to hold steady. Therefore starting at 10pm (or earlier) will allow me to settle the smoker temp down for a nice overnight cook.

Regarding the ET-73. It does have two probes. One for the meat and one for the grill temp. Mine came with a clip to hold it on the top grate. Therefore, I clip mine to the grate and get an accurate "Grate" temp. Works like a charm. The range on the ET-73 leaves something to be desired though. I cant seem to get more than 15-20 feet from the cooker (Through a glass window.) They need to tweak that. That being said, it does keep me out of the rain.

Oh and to answer another question: I use water not sand in my smoker. I did upgrade to the Brinkman, high capacity pan. This pan gets me through about 9hours without needing to be refilled.

See ya...
 
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