Pork Butt on the WSM

[Eapples]

Hello, Everyone:

Just a few quick questions.

I'm doing pork butt on the WSM today.  I started at 5am, putting the butts in the smoker.  Right now, one butt is registering 142 degrees on the ET-732, and the other butt, about a pound lighter, is registering 154 degrees on the Taylor digital.  What's the likelihood that they'll hit 195 degrees before the crowd arrives at 5pm?

The last time I did pork butt, as some may be tired of hearing/reading again, the internal temp hit 177 degrees after about eight hours.  So, I figured 10-12 hours to hit 195 degrees.

Also, is it overkill to check the Redi-Chek and the Taylor against another digital, say, using my Taylor pocket digital?

When this is all done, I'll post a full report for comment/critique.

Thanks for your input.

[LightningBoldtz]

How big are your butts, they say about 1.5 hours per lbs

At about 155 to 165 you are going to run into stall, this is where the temp in the meat does not go up for a while (a couple of hours) this is a good thing do not mess with the temp in the cooker. 
I would say you are going to be fine for 5 PM guests considering you will be pulling it @ 4:30

Another thing, going to 200 in the meat is not an issue, and if you do reach that temp at say 2 PM pull it , wrap it in foil and put it in a cooler, it will stay hot for a very long time 2 to 4 hours or more.

Overall, I think you are at a good pace.

[Eapples]

How big are your butts, they say about 1.5 hours per lbs

At about 155 to 165 you are going to run into stall, this is where the temp in the meat does not go up for a while (a couple of hours) this is a good thing do not mess with the temp in the cooker. 
I would say you are going to be fine for 5 PM guests considering you will be pulling it @ 4:30

Another thing, going to 200 in the meat is not an issue, and if you do reach that temp at say 2 PM pull it , wrap it in foil and put it in a cooler, it will stay hot for a very long time 2 to 4 hours or more.

Overall, I think you are at a good pace.

One butt is a little over six pounds, and the other is a little over five pounds.  I chose the smaller cuts because I didn't want to do an overnight cook.  I figured that the smaller cuts would be done within 12 hours, give or take.

As an aside, right now (10:24am) the larger butt is registering 163 degrees, and the smaller one is registering 174 degrees.

[LightningBoldtz]

I would just pull them @ 200 and wrap them in foil and put them in a cooler or maybe oven @ 170

[1buckie]

Yeah, Mr. Boltz is right on.........the stall out usually happens just under 170f so your smaller one may be starting to rise.........

Cooler, dry, double foil wrap, old clean towel, wrap, into cooler to rest.......couple hours is great, if it seems like they're done way too soon (i.e. 4+ hours ahead of time) just keep a little charcoal burbling along in the cooker & warm up as it gets close to feed bag time...........

Two good 'doneness' checks are, if bone-in, does the bone wiggle easily & pull clean of the meat?
And, will a probe or icepick-type tool push thru like almost nothing's holding back.....knife thru warm butter?

See how the meat pulls off the bone?



I just check that, then leave the bone in place / piece intact & wrap.......


The guests are bringing sides, as I recall, so NOBODY'S going out for BBQ !!!!!

If anybody shows up with unacceptable side dishes, then maybe someone could make a run......

[Eapples]

Creeping along at 180 degrees.

Dilemma -- the ET-732 is showing 180 for the larger butt, and the Taylor digital is showing 190 for the smaller butt.  When I check the smaller butt with a Taylor pocket digital, it shows app. 176 degrees.  So, I'm figuring that I'll use the larger butt as a proxy for the smaller one.  These readings are as of app. 12:15pm my time.

My plan is, whenever they're done, take 'em off the smoker, wrap 'em in foil, put 'em in the cooler, wrap 'em in towels, towels top and bottom, and leave 'em there until the guests arrive.

[1buckie]

 Might just be some minor differences in calibration.......

The other thing that happens in using multiple therms to check is that it's almost impossible to take temp at EXACTLY the same place, same time with two different ones.......and a random shot with a quick read will most likely be different than one that's sitting still in the piece undisturbed.........

Another aspect is....Pork pieces have all different segments to them & the fatty areas may temp different than a leaner area at any given time........

I go for, generally speaking, 197 ~ 202 deep inside, but not touching the bone......bone wiggle & probe thru easy are still the deciding factor......

Missing info: What does the Taylor pocket say about the big one, averaged several different places?



EDIT: I'm a stinker when it comes to service.....I refuse to pull (shreading pull) 'till folks are ready to plate & eat......no lukewarm goods........

[1buckie]

[Eapples]

OK, everyone:  I'm going to do this in two stages, and this is the first one.  I'll post photos later, in a few minutes.

I encountered every problem I've been reading about, and I used bits and pieces of everyone's advice with this cook.

BTW, the pork butts were DEVOURED!  More on my experiment later.

Everything was rolling along smoothly until the temp hit in the 170's.  There was no stall, but the rise in temp slowed considerably.  When the internal temp hit 180, it was as though I entered a barbecue twilight zone.  At 183, about an hour later, I don't know what happened.  The temp stayed there for almost three hours, falling back to 181 in between.  I gave up watching the ET-732, and went for ice.  When I got back, about a half hour later, the temp was at 190.  It stayed there for about 45 minutes when it hit 194.  It hung at 194 for maybe fifteen minutes or so, then jumped to 196, which is when I took the meat off the smoker.  When I went to take the butts off the smoker, they were practically falling apart as I swung from smoker to table, wrapped both in foil, towels and in the cooler.  Guests arrived promptly at 5pm, whereupon I removed the butts from the foil, pulled them, and I broke the ice by making the first sandwich.

My experiment -- I used Myron Mixon's marinade:  3 cups apple juice, 1 cup white vinegar, 3/4 cup sugar, 3/4 cup kosher salt.  For the second butt I varied the marinade slightly:  3 cups apple cider, 1 cup apple cider vinegar, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup kosher salt.  When I removed the butts from the smoker, I forgot to note which was which.  I figured it out later because the original marinade recipe tasted a bit saltier to me.  The butt with my version of the marinade went first; there's still some of the other left over.

I put the butts on the smoker at 4:55am, and they hit temp at 4:05pm.  When I was checking the temp every hour, using the Taylor pocket digital, I was getting different readings from different parts of each butt.  So, I just averaged the readings.  After a while, when I ran into problems with comparing the temps from the two digitals (ET-732 and Taylor [not the pocket digital]), I stopped checking the smaller butt (the one with my version of the marinade) and just used the reading from the larger one as a proxy.  The difference in weight between the two was just about a pound.

The guests were impressed.  Either that or they were being diplomatic.  Most remarked that the butt with my version of the marinade was tastier.  Both were juicy, pulled easily.  Thankfully, someone brought black eye peas and corn bread.  One of the guests, whose wife is Filipino, brought a dish made with rice noodles, chicken, some vegetables.  We also had cooked shrimp, pasta salad, black beans and rice, and baked beans.

All in all, it was a success.  I share the spotlight with my grilling/barbecuing cyber-brethren.  I went into this armed with some practical knowledge, and a game plan, and it worked.

Photos to follow in a few minutes in a separate post.

Thanks again, everyone, for your comments, suggestions and encouragement.

[1buckie]

"BTW, the pork butts were DEVOURED! "


I'd say that's some kinda rough indicator, right there !!!!!!!!

Glad it worked so very well !!!!  Soon, it'll be "No Thermometer Day" !!!!!!!