pork butt didn't get done


 
B

Billy S

TVWBB Member
So I put my 7.2 lb. pork butt on my 22.5 Weber Kettle. I had rubbed
and tried my first injection and everything was ready to go. I got the
temp to approximately 250 and had one fire brick with minion start on
one side of the grill. The time was 6:40am, with a planned dinner at 6
pm (half-time Carolina/GA game--we had 4 guests over, so a total of 6
people eating).

Long story short I started checking temps around 4 pm. 160 degrees and
holding. I started to get a little nervous as around 5pm I was holding
internal temp at 170. It didn't budge after that. I knew I was at that
plateau I learned about. Basically we had chopped pork
sandwiches--some of the butt was really tough and I didn't even slice.

So a little under 12 hours and I didn't get the temp I wanted.
Maintained 250 degrees. I had a dome thermo so that minimized lifting
the lid unless I was refueling.

So my questions to you guys:

Did I not cook long enough?

Was my temp too low for getting 7.2lbs done in 12 hours?

There are plenty of leftovers--can I throw it in oven and finish the cook?

I'm suspecting at 250 I need to cook longer than 12 hours. What temp
would you guys recommend if I wanted to get it done in 12 hours?

Everyone seemed to enjoy the pork and the sides but as you guys know
that's not good enough. After all that work (which I enjoyed
thoroughly) and I didn't get the product I wanted is frustrating.

This was my 2nd pork butt on the kettle and the first one came out
awesome! I weighed a lb. less but other than that I don't know what
was different about this cook vs. my first one.
 
To answer your questions in order based wholly on my opinion:

1) You needed to cook it longer until it was tender/done. You may have just had a stubborn piece of meat. Rule of thumb for a butt is an internal temp of 190F+ but it's done when it's of the consistency that you like.
2) Your temp was fine. Most would probably cook closer to 225 but a butt is pretty forgiving, even up to the 300's.
3) I regularly use a crock pot for leftover brisket and it makes a great stew. I think crock pot pork stew would be great as it would finish your meat low and slow. Add some liquid and base veggies and let it go for the day. If you had nice smoke flavour on the butt it will carry over to the stew. Grab a crusty loaf of bread to mop up the sauce.

I did my first butt many years ago offset in a cheapie gas grill with smoker bags. It was 8lbs and took 15 hours. I was making sandwiches at 11pm for a party that started at 7. This was before I knew anything about real BBQ and couldn't understand how it could stall for hours. My lesson learned was that its better to start early/comfortable and to finish early and cooler the meat if necessary than pull some meat that isn't done to satisfy your timeline.

Enjoy!
 
I agree that the butt needed more cooking time. I do not agree that there is any such thing as a 'stubborn butt'.

Cooking to a particular internal temp may or may not mean the meat will be tender. Internal temp does not cause tenderness. It may simply correlate with tender.

Though some cook that low, I see no reason that 225 offers any advantage over, say, 250. At 7 pounds, I would have allotted 15-16 hours from set-up to serving, at the targeted cooktemp. If that would be too long, I would just raise the cooktemp target to 275.

If the plateau happens later in your cook and it seems that time will run out, increasing the cooktemp at that point can be helpful. (One can also foil the butt which will then shorten cooking time considerably.)

Cooking your leftovers longer should help, yes.
 
Billy,like James said,sometimes butts are just stubborn! Your temps were fine,and your timing should have been fine,even with lifting the lid to refuel.
When I cook butts,I always put them on early. Most of us would rather have them done early so they can rest in a cooler.
Just don't give up! Almost everyone here has messed up a cook or two. Keep up the good work,and let us know how the next one turns out!
 
Time is why I have become a fan of smaller cuts. If a picnic roast or butt is over six pounds I have the meat cutters cut it in half. Even a three pound cut cooks properly in a much shorter time. And there is no shortage of bark or taste.
 
You can always use the Texas Crutch. After the bark has formed, try placing in an aluminum disposable pan with one cup of apple juice. Cover pan with foil and place back on cooker. I usuall complete 7 to 8lb butts in 8 hours or less.
 
I agree with Kevin: I always allow 16 hours for a butt that size. Also, I always find there's a plateau around 160-170 that can last for more than two hours easily.

In a pinch, you can move it to your oven and finish it at high hear. You've got the smoke and bark, so you won't hurt it.
 
I use butts between the 9.5 and 10 lb range all the time. Sometimes they are done quicker and sometimes they they aren't. Average time for me is at least 14-16 hours. Not to say I haven't had them done in 12 hours but that's not the norm for me.
 
One thing I notice in some of my cooks was if the unit was in the sun, the dome temp was way higher than the rack-level temp. I use an umbrella to shade it if I'm unable to get it set up in the shade.

Are you smoking in direct sun?

If so, your rack temp may have been a lot lower than your dome temp reading, hence the loooong smoking time.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by paul h:
I use butts between the 9.5 and 10 lb range all the time. Sometimes they are done quicker and sometimes they they aren't. Average time for me is at least 14-16 hours. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Same here, it usually takes around 14 hrs. or so to get tender. I don't foil. On a side note saw Bobby Flay smoke what looked like around a 8 to 10 pound butt for 4 1/2 hrs. on a WSM and claimed it was done...
icon_wink.gif
 
Whenever I am cooking for others or for a competition, I always figure 2 hours a pound at 250*. So using my logic your 7.2# butt would take 14.4 hours so I would have rounded it high and said 15 hours. Then if it was, and almost always is, done before that time I wrap it in foil and then a towel and store it in a cooler until I am ready to pull or slice.

Also I did not read but was this bone in or boneless. It will make a difference in cook times.
 
Thanks everyone for the replies! yeah it was a tough one dealing with a failed cook--but lesson is learned. It looks as though I just needed much more time than the allotted 12 hours.

Len, my grill was/is in the direct sun. I didn't even think of that as a temp discrepancy between dome and grate. I will get that puppy under some shade.

Victor I will check the meat thermo--it's a cracked analog probe one. Time for a new one anyways!

Thanks again everyone!
 
if I want to have pork shoulder in a hurry I buy a package of "country style ribs". It is my understanding that they are the same meat as pork butt and they finish in about 4 hours easily.

dave
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Dave O (Alaska):
if I want to have pork shoulder in a hurry I buy a package of "country style ribs". It is my understanding that they are the same meat as pork butt and they finish in about 4 hours easily.

dave </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Pork butt is part of the shoulder. It's a big old fatty chunk of delicious meat.

Country style ribs are, ribs. Very different.

I know it's an old thread, but my 2 cents, agrees with everyone that it needed to cook more. I'd question the temp from the lid though. I've never gone more than 10 hours with 8-9 lbs butts at 225-230, but the temp is at the grate the butt is on. I've never had a butt that I didn't shred by hand, easily and was about as done as done could be.

You mentioned "adding fuel". If you start with enough and light it using the minion method you'll never have to add fuel. My guess is that you cooked at a much lower temp that you thought, or, the average temp fluctuated too much.

I've done them on both my kettle and WSM.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Billy S:
Thanks everyone for the replies! yeah it was a tough one dealing with a failed cook--but lesson is learned. It looks as though I just needed much more time than the allotted 12 hours.

Len, my grill was/is in the direct sun. I didn't even think of that as a temp discrepancy between dome and grate. I will get that puppy under some shade. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Wish I would've seen this one sooner.

The OP simply needed more HEAT. No reason to cook so slow, and YES to what Len said. Once the meat heats up good, a kettle dome gauge is going to be suspect to reading higher than the actual cooking temp even WITHOUT sunlight, but direct sunlight will make a lid/dome gauge on all kinds of grills and cookers almost irrelevant, Weber kettles and wsm's included. Simply measure grate temp sometime you're cooking in direct sunlight and see for yourself.

Anyway, Kevin's right about meat being very standardized, and I've cooked bbq on a few different smokers. I can honestly say I've NEVER had a seven pound pork butt take over twelve hours to get tender IF ACTUALLY COOKING AT 250*, uninterrupted. I'd suggest clipping a therm to the grate and finding out exactly what the temp is for a more predictable timeframe, and clipping to the underside of the grate is probably best since it's not as affected by the coolness of the meat in the first stage of the cook.
 
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