Bizarre start to my cook

[Crotonmark]

Morning all
What a weird start to a cook!
Have a 10 lb. brisket and a 9 lb pork butt on the Weber Summit Charcoal
Chilly morning here in the 40's and breezy
Dome temp shows around 210*
Fireboard shows 285* inside the cooker
The real weird part is this:
my brisket is reading at 120* after an hour and a half
BUT the pork butt is reading 90*
Now that the sun is up I have opened the Weber and the meat doesn't look cooked at all
I have reset the location of the probe in the brisket but this is what it reads

1 - How can this be? The initial temp out of the fridge was 40* only an hour and a half ago. Why are the two cuts of meat so different?

2 - The diffuser plate is in place so why is my temp so high inside compared to the dome temp?

3 - If this meat gets done in a short time (hard to believe) - what do I do to save it for my guests who are coming in 12 hours?

thanks all

 

[bschoen]

Seems like they are both a long ways from done. Go with your plan and don't panic, it's Q, it'll get there.

 

[Dweverett]

On the dome vs fireboard readings, make sure the latter isn’t picking up more direct heat coming around the edge of the diffuser. I also don’t know how accurate the dome therms typically are. I know the type isn’t viewed as overly reliable.

I’ve had a few cooks where the meat seemed to start heating up really quickly. Usually it slowed back down through the stall etc and didn’t continue on trajectory. Assuming you wrap, I’d be even more focused on waiting for the right color/bark texture vs doing it at a certain temp.

You should be fine on keeping it warm though. Especially with two big hunks of meat, put them in a cooler with some towels to fill the rest of the space and you will still burn your hands in 6 hours

 

[Crotonmark]

On the dome vs fireboard readings, make sure the latter isn’t picking up more direct heat coming around the edge of the diffuser. I also don’t know how accurate the dome therms typically are. I know the type isn’t viewed as overly reliable.

I’ve had a few cooks where the meat seemed to start heating up really quickly. Usually it slowed back down through the stall etc and didn’t continue on trajectory. Assuming you wrap, I’d be even more focused on waiting for the right color/bark texture vs doing it at a certain temp.

You should be fine on keeping it warm though. Especially with two big hunks of meat, put them in a cooler with some towels to fill the rest of the space and you will still burn your hands in 6 hours

I don’t wrap. I’ll try the cooler trick if I need to.
What do I wrap the meat in if i put it in the cooler?
Thanks

 

[jkief]

Both cuts will sit in the cooler for 12 hours easily. You still have to hit the stall which in some cases could be 1-2 hours. If you decide to wrap and cooler, this is what I do: I wrap the brisket in seran wrap first. This keeps the edges from drying out as it sit in the cooler (thanks Kosmso). Then wrap in foil. I line my cooler with towels, but the meat in a disposable pan, and fill cooler with towels. Pork butt, skip the seran wrap, but same process. I usually rest minimum 6-8 hours. 10-12 is ideal, IMHO!

 

[bschoen]

So, do tell, how did it turn out?

 

[Crotonmark]

Ha. It all worked out
The meat stayed in a stall for hours
Everything got done at 6 pm
All delicious but so weird!