Slooooow Butts


 
L

Lee Morris

TVWBB Fan
Got 3 butts on the smoker now. They should be done, but aren't close yet. This only happens when I have a "deadline". Guests arriving in about hour and a half. They won't mind waiting a while, it just makes me mad. In their eyes, I'm the master smoker so I like everything to work out perfectly.

3 butts at 7.7 to 8.1 pounds. Started at midnight last night. Cooking at 238 degrees with the DigiQ. Figured I'd need 16 hours tops. Well at 16 hours and 15 minutes, they are ranging from 171-178 with the DigiQ probe as well as the Thermapen.

Oh well. They'll be done when they get done I guess.
 
Hey Lee, LarryR here, I'd kick the temp up to around 275. Every single one of my butt cooks seems to go long, I hear of guys going a 8 lb butt in 12 hours and I'm amazed, mine usually go 18 hours.

You're right, they're done when they're done, just make a beer/wine or spirits run and you'll be golden. Good luck!
 
I have noticed the same thing. I was reviewing my grill log the other day and noticed the difference in times.

9-24-06, 7.23 lb. butt, 9 hrs.
1-14-07, 8.28 lb. butt, 15 hrs.
2-24-07, 7.00 lb. butt, 14 hrs.
5-27-07, 7.80 lb. butt, 13.5 hrs.
7-27-07, 7.50 lb. butt, 11 hrs.
9-14-07, 17.06 lbs. (2) butts, 12.75 hrs.
11-16-07, 17.19 lbs. (2) butts, 10.75 hrs.
5-3-08, 13.99 lbs. (2) butts, 12.50 hrs.

I thought that the outdoor air temp. was the cause, but several of the longer cooks were during the warmer months. I guess I can't argue, my butts seem to be getting done in a reasonable amount of time.

I always cook my butts over night to allow for the time variations. It does get hard to plan when you don't actually know how long it will take to finish the meat.

Good luck on your cook.

Hey Larry, did your big wing ding turn out ok. It sure sounded good. The prep pics. were great.
 
It all worked out well. Butts came off about 7:00 and we pulled them at about 7:30. Cooked them for 19 hours to get to 191-194 internal temps. There was plenty of beer and appetizers to keep everyone happy until then.

It actually added to the "show" a little bit for them to be late. Some of the guests really enjoyed watching me get gloved up and pulling the meat off the cooker.

I would have liked to rest them a little longer, but with the way they tasted, I don't think they could have been any better. This was my first attempt at injected butts and they were some kind of good. Used Chris Lilly's injection and rub recipes and I was very happy with the results.

Could the injection have made the cook times longer? I didn't ever read anything about that when I was researching injecting.
 
I smoked my first butt this weekend. I was worried that something was wrong until I seen this post. Mine took 18 hours to reach 195.

It was a warm day in Alabama.
 
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