Pork Butt Cook Question


 
JRAiona

JRAiona

TVWBB Gold Member
I did my first pork butt yesterday using The Renown Mr. Brown and it turned out great. The question I have is concerning the length of time it took. It was a little under 6 lbs. I put it on at 4:15 AM at 250. I projected an estimated cook time of 10-11 hours going for an IT of 195. It didn't hit that temp till 7 PM and that was with me foiling it when the IT was 170 and increasing the cook temp to 300 an hour later. Is this unusual? I knoe each cook and each piece of meat is different and that we don't cook by time but that just seemed to be really long. Anybody have any thoughts?
 
I cooked two 7+ lb pork butts Saturday. They went on at about 7am with WSM temp at around 235°, and I took them off at around 8pm at approx. 170°. I ended up finishing them off in the oven at 300° for about an hour till they registered 190°. I've done butts maybe half a dozen times, the same way every time, and this is always my experience. Saturday I actually put more coals on after about 10 hours because the ones I started with were used up. I have decided that from now on, I will leave the butts on till the coals are just about done and the temp starts to drop, then foil and put in the oven. If I had done that Saturday, I'd have been eating dinner at 6pm instead of 10pm. :) My experience is that it's simply not worth it to try and finish them off unfoiled at pitt temp of 235°.
 
Where was the "second stall"? I don't think there's a difference between 195ish and 200. Also, were you checking with a ThermaPen, or just watching a probe? If you get your probe on a bone or in a fat vein, you can get readings that don't represent the temp of the overall roast.

May not be a popular opinion, but I can put a butt on at a reasonable hour of the morning and be ready for dinner at 6:00. I run 275 to 300 and a typical bone in BB will be ready in 8 hours or so. I like the texture of both the bark and the interior meat better than 12+ hour cooks and I never have to mess with foil.
 
I was mainly watching a probe but checked with a Thermapen a couple of times. I got the same readings from both.
 
Were you using a digital thermometer to monitor the cookers temperatures or going by the lid thermometer? Looks to me like you may have been cooking at a lower temp than you thought you were.
 
Keep in mind that butts are typically very thick so they can take a long time even though the overall weight isn't that high. Sometimes they've just cut down a much larger butt. I've cooked one hot and fast on my offset with no wrap and it turned out great. Typically, I prefer to cook low and slow, though.
 
I think that may have been the case Dustin. It was just under 6 lbs so I think it was cut from a lager one. It was thick and when I started shredding it I saw it was fairly dense.

 
Pound-for-pound, pork butts seem to take the longest of all the typical barbecue meats. I've often had 8-pounders take more than 16 hours. Subsequently, I almost always do them overnight.
 
When the pork hits the stall it can be quick or take forever. I usually do my pork the day before so I don't run into any problems of it not being done.
 
Fortunately I was doing it just for my wife and so I wasn't on a deadline. Great learning experience.
 
I usually have a 10lb pork butt done in 11 hours and resting in a cooler. Never had it take longer than 12. This is cooking at 250 and foiling at about 160-170.
 
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