Overnight cook, how long should I go?

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robbq

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I started a 9 lb pork butt last night at midnight. Running the smoker at 225, planned for a nice long slow cook. Checked it at 4:30am and the maverick said it was already at 189. Had a minor freak out but I must have hit a bone, because I checked it with the thermapen and it was really at 180. Maverick agreed once I moved the probe a bit.

I was really surprised that it hit 180 in only 4 1/2 hours. WTF? I was expecting it to be more like 160. Anyway, I checked again around 6am and it was at 190, where it still is. So it's been 9 hours, and it's been at 190 for at least 3 hours. How long and how high should I let it go? I'd really rather have it done later in the day, not early. If I foil it, which don't normally do, can I keep it on longer without killing it?

Thanks!
 
Don't reply on the temp. How does the bone feel? It should come out with pretty much no resistance when done. Butts can be odd. Sometimes they stall like a mother, and other times they push right through. Also, how are you measuring the 225? Maybe you are hotter than you think.
 
If you double foil wrap, wrap in towels, put in cooler you will be fine for hours to hold it. As mentioned above, make sure it is probing "like butter" versus relying too much on just the temp. That is it you are going for pulled and not sliced.
 
I just checked, the bone is loose and it probes like buttah. I guess it's done!

As for the temp, I have the 2-probe maverick thermometer, and I have the second probe next to the butt. It seemed to run right at 220-225 the whole time.

I have never had one of these cook longer than 1 hour per pound, they always seem to finish fast.

I don't need it until dinner time. Grrrr. I know it will last 4-5 hours in a cooler, but I assume not all day. What would you do? Shred it in a few hours and then reheat?
 
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A lot of guys have the magic touch to go by feel. I have tried and am never happy with the meat once I pull it so I still go by temp. Pork is forgiving so IMO you can leave it as is until you hit that IT of 200-205* Then I would wrap in foil and pace in a cooler with some towels. She will still be hot in 6 hrs.

I would hold as long as you can then shred it and reheat if needed.
 
Yep.

I'd pull, vacuum pack, put it in the fridge and then reheat the bag in boiling water. Turns out extremely well that way IMO.
 
I'm doing a hot and fast brisket on my 18.5 wsm. I calibrated my Maverick and Thermapen last night with ice and boing water. They wer "spot on". When I fired up the smoker and it hit 300* on the Maverick, the WSM showed 225*. If you're using the bimetal thermo from the WSM to determine smoker temp, you're probably running the WSM at a much higher temp than you think causing faster cook times. Just a thought.
 
Thanks for the thought, but I always use the maverick. I guess I haven't calibrated it though so maybe it is off. I did this one on the electric, not the WSM.
 
robbq said:
I just checked, the bone is loose and it probes like buttah. I guess it's done!

As for the temp, I have the 2-probe maverick thermometer, and I have the second probe next to the butt. It seemed to run right at 220-225 the whole time.

I have never had one of these cook longer than 1 hour per pound, they always seem to finish fast.

I don't need it until dinner time. Grrrr. I know it will last 4-5 hours in a cooler, but I assume not all day. What would you do? Shred it in a few hours and then reheat?
Click to expand...

not sure if you foil wrapped at all after you hit the four hour mark (would have been roughly 150-160*), but when I did my last one, it smoked for exactly 8 hours, wrapping at the 4 hour mark, and was 6.5#. So, your timing sounds pretty close to me. I started probing for tenderness when the internal temp hit 198. The bone pulled clean out. Temps I've learned are just "rough estimates" as to about when the meat will be finished.
 
I would wrap and hold it instead of tearing it apart. Just make sure that the internal temp has dropped a bit so that it doesn't carry-over cook.
 
Double wrap in heavy duty foil.
Wrap in a couple of towels and toss it into a warm dry cooler. As stated above, it will hold like that for hours. Do not open the lid. If it starts to drop in temp, toss it in a low oven. Pull it right before serving.
 
Had the same experience as you, my pork was done way too early. Put the foil wrapped pork in the oven at 195 until we were ready to eat. Came out great. Don't know of any meat more forgiving then pork.
 
You, Sir, have experienced the stall.

Listen to what the others have said. Don't take off the smoker until the bone will wiggle loose.

Keep wrapped in cooler until the feed.
 
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