Stubborn Butt


 
M

Mike Hartwell

TVWBB Pro
This 6 pounder refuses to give up.
Been on the smoker at 250-280 for 10 hours.
It's been holding at 184 for 3 hours.
But I'm HUNGRY, dang it.
I WON'T give up.
 
Foil it and open the vents 100% or put it in a 350 oven and check every 30min. Or just wait it out. Shouldn't have much longer though.
 
It finally gave up at 20:00 hours, put on at 08:00.
When it reached 200, it finally probed tender,,,it's just resting now.
Can't help nibbling.
I use the "Memphis Dust" found at amazingribs dot com. I add 2 TBS of ground sage to that.
I also use evoo on the butt, and rub with Penzey's half sharp paprika, then the rub.
Great bark, with a bit of heat.
We'll see on this mutant, I'm afraid it's going to be dry.
 
My first brisket last week did the same thing. Stuck at 170 and wouldn't budge. Kept thinking my probe was bad. What causes it to stop at certain temps?
 
12 hours for a 6 lb butt isn't "stubborn", it's about average, especially if you don't foil. I've had some real stubborn ones take ~3 hours/lb!


@Bryan - that's called the "plateau" and it's normal. It's essentially when all the fat/collagen/connective tissue are 'melting' and absorbing all the energy so the temp stabalizes. It'll start climbing again when most of the 'melting' is done.
 
The two hour a pound rule is a good rule of thumb for making sure you have enough time, even if you tend to cook on the hotter side of low-n-slow.

A couple more things to remember: Just because you cut a huge 12 pound pork butt into two halves, don't think they'll get tender near as fast as a puny six pound (whole) butt. One other thing, a wsm will take significantly longer to cook butts when it's full of four or more vs. just one to three. I cooked five my last cook for a total weight of 40.25 and because of time pulled the last couple off at 18.5 hours, even though they could've gone longer. (I found that if you put three on a rack, on their sides, they need to be turned, even if not touching.)
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Bryan Marriott:
My first brisket last week did the same thing. Stuck at 170 and wouldn't budge. Kept thinking my probe was bad. What causes it to stop at certain temps? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

The temperature of matter will hold constant as it is changing state. We use double boilers to keep the cooking temperature at 100C, for example -- the temperature of the water will not increase until it is all boiled off.

Similarly, when you are cooking meat, you are melting all sorts of fats and connective tissues. I haven't researched the melting points of specific collagen and lipid structures, but I'd guess that the probe is surrounded by a bunch of stuff whose melting point is 170F, if you're seeing your temperature "stuck" there for awhile. Once all of it has melted, the heat will then continue its rise.
 
Sean is correct, when substances undergo a "phase change" ( solid to liquid , liquid to gas ) it absorbs a lot of energy!
 
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