Second PBC Pork Butt failure

[(John S)]

which is why i always shim the feet of my coal grate up 1/4. it prevents the struggle i was having with maintaining temp.

[rmesagna59]

Kathryn,
Amazing, I am ready to smoke my first pork butt on the PBC tomorrow and had questions. Now I find them all answered in your one post. Thanks and now I am really looking forward to it.
Rocco

[LA Pork Butt]

I have a different cooker (BGE), and I usually cook 10# butts (about 5" thick) @ 225-250 for 12 hours + to reach 200 internal meat temperature. I am using lump charcoal, but It would seem to me that charcoal briquettes should work fine on your cooker. You would do well to heed the advise above to monitor the grill temperature to know what is really going on.

[Irrivirsible]

Sorry I never responded. I was frustrated with the results and have had another failure with a 7 pound. The ends in the thickest part of the latest one were over 160 but the middle which was actually thinner because it was almost in half would not get up to temp. I used a third hook in the middle to make sur it would nt come apart. When I pulled it when most of it was at 200, the meat did not pull apart as easy as it should and there were sections that took quite an effort to pull. I don't understand how such a simple process can become so difficult. Noah had previously told me that 1 out of 100 doesn't work the same for whatever reason even though they are all made the same.

[richinlbrg]

So what was the final result here? Finished in the oven? Taste? Texture? I am not a PBC'er, I am a WSMer. Every larger hunk I have cooked has had 2 stalls, and a 10*F drop in temp has not been unusual for me during the stalls.

[Ernest]

That's BBQ, some days it's straight forward and some days it's Stall City. BUT gotta keep at it.
You'll have to find other ways of lighting YOUR PBC that works for you. Gotta mess with the bottom vent, try different coals etc. Become one with the PBC.

[ghipes]

I usually cook two 7-9lb shoulders on my pbc at one time. I don't hang them at all, just sit them both on the grate. I wrap in foil at 165 and take off to the cooler at 205. Time varies, but my average cook time doing it this way is about 5.5-6 hours. The pbc stays at 260-280 the whole cook (maybe a little hotter than it should be), of course I may have to crack the lid once to get it back up.

[scorched_porch]

Try not to get flustered. You can't rush good BBQ. A 9 pounder is pretty big (assuming it's appropriately thick). In a WSM it takes me about 11 hours. The PBC runs a little hotter but you just need to wait it out. Don't give up, it's worth getting it dialed in to where you are happy with it.

[digtheq]

I tried cooking two on my new PBC… ran into the same problem. Had to finish them off in the oven as I was running out of time. Next time I start sooner. good smoke ring and all but not very tender.

[smarkley]

Ya know... I think Kathryn fzxdoc is right... you prolly hit the dreaded second stall. Aggravating, but yes it happens occasionally, but also there are times when you barely stall at all.

[fzxdoc]

I actually looked for a 7 pound butt but no luck. Maybe I will need to go smaller next time also or cook it in the kamado longer.

It's not so much the weight as the thickness. I've had 7 pounders go 9 or 10 hours in a 260-270 PBC cook. Heck, I've had thick 3.5 pounders take that long.

Kathryn

[fzxdoc]

Thanks, It is still in the PBC but never got above 190 and I am not going to have time to finish it in the oven. Can it be finished tomorrow? I guess I need to do as suggested and monitor the cooker temp.

You may have hit the dreaded second stall. Take it out, double wrap it, put it in a 275 degree oven (higher than I normally do) and I bet it will be up to the temp you want in under an hour.

Look at it like this: sometimes smoking a PB is a big a pain as raising a teenage child, but if you show some patience, they turn out marvelous!

Kathryn

[smarkley]

7.5 hours to get to 190 doesn't seem unusual to me for a 9 pounder. That's big!

I agree... I just did 2 8lb butts in my PBC and I hit 190 about the same time... not unusual at all.

One thing you can do, that has helped me a couple of times on REALLY long cooks... (note you usually dont need to do anything like this), is pull the meat and grill if it is in, take a shovel and pull the briquets on the outside more towards the center where the hot coals are... my PBC usually responds well to this and will last for a lot of hours after that.

[David Parrish]

...Maybe I will need to go smaller next time also or cook it in the kamado longer.

No Sir. The PBC makes excellent pork butt. You just need to get some experience under your belt. Keep trying.

[Irrivirsible]

I actually looked for a 7 pound butt but no luck. Maybe I will need to go smaller next time also or cook it in the kamado longer.