Trouble increasing temps to finish pork butt


 
J

JayT

TVWBB Member
Hello, WSM 18 owner here. I am able to maintain 225 to smoke pork butts but having trouble increasing the temp to 300 to finish it off. Any advice? Should I just take the meat out and finish it in the oven? Thanks!
 
If it is at the stall (160 to 170), you can wrap it and finish it in the oven. I’ve done that many times.
I tend to cook pork shoulder at 250 to 265 which will cut the cook time considerably and I find I get a better bark.
 
Open vents and prop the door open with a spatula or piece of wood. Can stir/tap the coals as well - just try not to kick up ash.

Got to watch though, or you'll soar right past.
 
You didn't mention a ATC so a natural breathing WSM requires a heat sink when going 225 and no heat sink when going 300.
What did you use?
 
More fuel, more air, less water will all increase temps in most situations.
Prop the side door open. Crack the lid. Add more hot fuel. Open all vents.
Using less water will also help. Start with half a bowl and by the time you get to The Stall a lot if it will be evaporated so you can increase temps easier.

Also, double check your thermometer! 😬
 
JayT said:
Hello, WSM 18 owner here. I am able to maintain 225 to smoke pork butts but having trouble increasing the temp to 300 to finish it off. Any advice? Should I just take the meat out and finish it in the oven? Thanks!
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How old is your WSM and is it in good shape? I would smoke it at 225F for a couple of hours and finish it in the oven. Also,if it is still under warranty why not give the Weber Folks a call regarding your problem.
 
All good advice here. But the most important is that, once you wrap the butt it will not be able to tell the difference between staying on the smoker or moving into a hot oven. For me, the only reason not to move it into an oven is that you're using the over for other parts of the meal.





BD
 
Actually….the butt’s memory stops way before that! 😬
I think the bigger issue is that he should be able to raise his WSM temps regardless of what is on the grate. 300 is very much attainable in an 18.
 
I cooked two butts for our July 3 party using a Minion Method start of original K and a pan of room temp water. All vents wide open, meat was stone cold from the fridge. All vents wide open. I checked the lid temp every so often...212, 256, 256, 262, 262, 270, 276...when first butt hit 165*F internal, it got foiled and moved into the oven set to 275*F. Over the next 40 minutes, after the removal of that first butt, the cooker crept up to 290, at which point the second butt had hit 165*F internal and got foiled and moved to the oven.

As you can see, I'm not too uptight about cooker temps, and pork butt is so forgiving it really doesn't matter for a backyarder like me.

But if I wanted to maintain a low temp for a long time followed by a bump up to 300*F, I think I'd lift off the middle section, stir the charcoal to remove ash and assess how much fuel I had left, perhaps have some extra lit charcoal off to the side if I needed to add it, then reassemble and open all the vents to get the temp up, but monitoring carefully so as not to really overshoot that 300*F goal.

But moving it to the oven is a lot easier. Putting it on a small rack in a foil pan then covering with foil works great, the rack keeps the bottom of the butt from sogging out and you can pour the juices in a fat separator and use the liquid to flavor the pulled pork. Yum!

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I've never cranked up the heat finish it off. I just let the WSM do it's thing and pull the butt when it's done. Avg temp for mine is between 240-275 depending on the weather. Are you increasing the heat to speed the cook?
 
JayT said:
Hello, WSM 18 owner here. I am able to maintain 225 to smoke pork butts but having trouble increasing the temp to 300 to finish it off. Any advice? Should I just take the meat out and finish it in the oven? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Are you using water in the bowl?
 
A WSM is designed to make it easy to maintain a low/slow temp.

To increase temp do one or more of the following: no/less water, more lit fuel, more air -- crack door, crack lid, open vents, stir coals, blow on coals (hair dryer, bellows, leaf blower). That's pretty much the tool box.
 
I cook the Pork Butt like RickP shoot for 250 let the temp drift 240ish to 275.Wrap when it hits the stall and let it go its done when its done to me this is not a time limited event its a commitment to having a great meal
 
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