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pork shoulder internal temp

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keithbc

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I have just Spent the last 11 hours smoking a shoulder in my uds, the temp was constant at 225, however the internal temp of the shoulder would not go above 185 in fact it would get to 185 and then drop a few degrees then slowly back to 185, it stayed at 185 for over 3 hours. Is this normal am i doing something wrong. Was aiming for 195.
 
It's in the stall, don't worry and wait. You can foil to speed up if you want. Next time I'd go at 275, less time and great results.
 
Yep, like mentioned above, you sir have hit the stall. A waiting game between cook and meat to see who can out last who. Patience is the name of the game and eventually the butt will give in and go above 185 and onward to your desired 195.

Foiling at 165 is one way to power through the stall and turn a 12 to 13 hour cook into a 5 or 6 hour one.
 
watch for bone wiggle during and after stall...more important than time or temp....also be sure temp at grate where meat is cooking is at 225... a few years ago i ran into same problem..the cooker was running 225/230 all day and all night ..however when I checked the grate temp where the meat was cooking was only 190** and remember whaT EVER THE COOKING TEMP IS WHEN DONE ITS DONE! if not go have another beer
 
If you start out at 300 and stay there there is no stall

BBQ RULES FOR SUCCESS


YOU CAN NOT COOK GREAT BBQ ON A CONSISTENT BASIS BY COOKING TO AN INTERNAL TEMPERATURE OR BY TIME ( XXX MIN PER LB) YOU MUST COOK BY FEEL! For Brisket it must pass the poke test(probe like soft butter) Ribs pass the Bend Test, Pork Butts when the bone wiggles loose. These are the only reliable methods to ensure that your cook will be a success. There is one exception to these rules and that is Poultry which must achieve and internal temp of 170 deg in the thickest part of the thigh and 160 in the breast.
 
Bludawg said:
If you start out at 300 and stay there there is no stall

BBQ RULES FOR SUCCESS


YOU CAN NOT COOK GREAT BBQ ON A CONSISTENT BASIS BY COOKING TO AN INTERNAL TEMPERATURE OR BY TIME ( XXX MIN PER LB) YOU MUST COOK BY FEEL! For Brisket it must pass the poke test(probe like soft butter) Ribs pass the Bend Test, Pork Butts when the bone wiggles loose. These are the only reliable methods to ensure that your cook will be a success. There is one exception to these rules and that is Poultry which must achieve and internal temp of 170 deg in the thickest part of the thigh and 160 in the breast.
Click to expand...

Bludawg....good quote...however I do not see the beer rule!
 
keithbc said:
I have just Spent the last 11 hours smoking a shoulder in my uds, the temp was constant at 225, however the internal temp of the shoulder would not go above 185 in fact it would get to 185 and then drop a few degrees then slowly back to 185, it stayed at 185 for over 3 hours. Is this normal am i doing something wrong. Was aiming for 195.
Click to expand...

Keith, I hope it worked out for you.

I want you to think of something: How hard is it to bring something up to air temperature that has mass? Answer: extremely hard if not impossible; perhaps attainable after a few weeks. I dont think many of us have a few weeks to cook a butt, plus imagine how dry it would be at that time... :razz:

Seriously, you asked "am I doing something wrong", and the answer is yes, you're cooking too low. Anywhere from say 235 (which is still very low) to say close to 300 is plenty low n slow. Most smokers have a sweet spot; let it cook there. Mine like to dial in right at 260-265. I have no problem getting pork butts internal temperature to 205+-.
 
just did an 11lb shoulder yesterday, 275 temp and roughly 8 hours. i guess the last hour i left it in the over at 195 until family showed up.
 
Bludawg said:
If you start out at 300 and stay there there is no stall

BBQ RULES FOR SUCCESS


YOU CAN NOT COOK GREAT BBQ ON A CONSISTENT BASIS BY COOKING TO AN INTERNAL TEMPERATURE OR BY TIME ( XXX MIN PER LB) YOU MUST COOK BY FEEL! For Brisket it must pass the poke test(probe like soft butter) Ribs pass the Bend Test, Pork Butts when the bone wiggles loose. These are the only reliable methods to ensure that your cook will be a success. There is one exception to these rules and that is Poultry which must achieve and internal temp of 170 deg in the thickest part of the thigh and 160 in the breast.
Click to expand...

This is becoming more and more apparent to me, but I have to have some way to monitor the progress of the cook in order to keep me from opening the smoker all the time. Thus, I use an IT probe in the meat so that I will know when things start getting close and need to be checked. When I first got into this hobby, I was using IT to decide when to take meat out of the cooker, which resulted in highly inconsistent results. Now, I start probing about 200 IT and adjust from there. Much better results in terms of consistency.
 
after 5-6 shoulders this year, last night i really started to see the "probe like butter" feeling..

i checked it around 5 hour mark and it was getting tender but i knew it was done either, probed around 175, let it go a couple more hours and when the probe went it, it was smooth and easy, probed 190.
 
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