Another long cook -- this one for pork shoulder

[kfenster]

Okay, so it's been five years since my last post, but still having the same issue, just with a different cut of meat on a different setup. I've always found that my cooks take way longer than the recipes suggest. Yeterday's/today's adventure was smoking port shoulder from Meathead's book for Perfect pulled pork, which says 8-12 hours, but for me it's usually 24+ hours. When I posted years ago with a similar problem, I was using a Weber Smokey Mountain in Connecticut, so I assumed it was mostly a temperature control (I was the controller for the WSM and I can be pretty unreliable).

Now in California with a Costco-bought Traeger, I figured the temperature control would be a lot better, but I was still getting long cooks for brisket and pork shoulder, I just did my first pork shoulder with a Fireboard setup, so I'm confident that the temperature at the shoulder was 225 and after more than 16 hours, the pork was still only about 181. The only reason I was able to get to 203 in 19 hours was because I bumped the smoker temp to 250, then 275.

I know I could do a Texas crutch, but I felt like I shouldn't have to and I'm surprised by how much longer my cooks take than the recipes suggest. When I read 8-12 hours, I figure 14 hours wouldn’t be crazy, but 2x to 3x the cooking times seems out of bounds,

I'm open to suggestions or "Yeah, it's the same for me", but the much longer times for brisket and pork make me wonder if I'm doing something wrong. I'm no doubt doing a lot of things wrong, but let's keep it to smoking pork for now.

Fireboard session (and a screenshot below)

[Donw]

Personally I use 275 for pork butts and haven’t seen any reduction in quality from when I use to cook at 225. What I do see is a reduction in cook time. Even at the higher temperature I have encountered butts that have taken 15+ hours. One trick many use is to cut their butts into smaller sizes. I don’t do that, but it will help reduce cooking time too.

[RonB]

I've had some very long cooks at 225°. Now I smoke at 250° minimum, and I'm not afraid of 275°.

[Stuey1515]

This

[Waiting for the Worms]

There are a lot of variables in play here. From the thickness of the meat to how well your cooker holds temps, as well as things like humidity during the cook. From your graph it looks like you have steady temps in your cooker, but is that reading taken at grate level near the meat? Another factor is cooking at 225°. At that temp you are dealing with a very long stall. That long time frame will certainly help get a very tender final result, but costs you a very long cooking time.

Like others have already stated, I won't run under 250° unless it's a much smaller piece of meat that I want to give maximum smoke exposure. For a butt or a brisket on a pooper, I would try running 200° for the first two hours to get the smoke on it, then bump it up to 275° to finish the cooking. The problem with most pellet poopers is that you really lose smoke output at temps above 225°. So the very low and slow at the start will get you the best smoke, and then bumping the temp up will keep it from turning into a 18 hour marathon.

The other thing you can try is running a higher temp from the beginning, but adding a smoke tube filled with wood chips. This is the route I took with my Camp Chef. It lets you control smoke and cooking temp as two separate things, and dial both in to your liking.

[kfenster]

Thanks for the suggestions and yes, I had the Fireboard ambient on the grill right next to the meat, instead of relying on the Traeger thermometer not quite as close (although the Traeger temp was pretty close to the FB temp).

[bbqLuv]

On my Traeger, I start most cooks at 165 to 225*F in super smoke mode. Then kick it up to 250-275*F. I wrap butts in foil at internal at about 170* to collect au jus and add it back in the pulled pork.

[Jerod Broussard]

For anything, once you get the BARK you want, wrap that dude/dudette and get done.

[texastweeter]

I'm a traditional 225° guy. Your times seem similar to mine. Probably 18 hours average.

[kfenster]

That's good to know--I was starting to think I was being gaslit by my pellet grill.

[radiodome21]

Majority of my cooks have been pork butts on both my pellet smokers. I have a Traeger and a Grilla. I’ve found that my cooks are somewhat shorter now and the last couple of butts I’ve been able to put in the morning and have them ready for dinner, though those were smaller butts. I go 200 for the first coupe of hours then bump it up to 225 or 250 until it finishes. I always wrap too and usually around 170 and that definitely speeds it up.
I also have a WSM though I haven’t done a butt yet on it in a while. And those those always took longer and I was burning at 250-275.

[smokin fool]

I'm not afraid to head in the 300's but agree with the above 275ish as a good smoking temp.

[kfenster]

Thanks for the great tips -- sounds like it comes down to:

• At 225 it's a long time for everyone
• On a pellet start low, get some smoke on it and then bump to 250 or 275
• Wrap it when the bark's good--probably around 170

Appreciate the help and I’ll try adjusting things for the superbowl brisket!

[Jerod Broussard]

Sometimes it takes into the 180's for really good bark, of course individual mileage and opinion will vary on that. I load my meat into the pellet straight from the fridge or freezer and then I turn her on.

[glitchy]

After about 4-6 hours, turn that thing up to at least 250-275. Once they get so far only so much smoke is absorbed. I usually run 1-2 hours on smoke, then 2-4 on 225, then 275-300. I got sick of waiting 18-20 hours for a shoulder and haven’t noticed any difference in results.

[glitchy]

This is for a pellet grill…my primary smoker for the last decade. I’ve never wrapped a butt and finish in 12-16…unless I stay at 225 with multiple butts.

[bbqLuv]

Pellet grills make it so easy to adjust the temperature. Now with WFI, on my phone with the app, "It's easy to fall in love"--Long live the pellet grill.

[Bkhuna]

I gave up the 225°/ no wrap dogma. I wanted to be a purist. I let that get in the way of enjoying good meat in a reasonable time.

I now use a grill temp of 260-275 and do the crutch when the meat stalls. After wrapping, I add some fuel and get the grill temp up around 300°.

Yesterday, I did a 10 lb. butt I bought at a big box store to 203° internal and it took 7.5 hours. Used a 22 in. Weber. Butt was fall apart tender when I took it off the grill.

[Jared49]

👆🏻what he said. I have a 18” WSM and I do the 275 degree cook as well. I don’t wrap but will push the temp during the stall. I use a Fireboard with a blower. I’ve done full shoulders as well as cutting the shoulders in half. I’m in the 8-12 hour range.

[smokenoob]

My Camp Chef pellet usually takes 18 hours for a 6-8# butt. I’m also going to go with the suggestions on 225 smoke for first 4 hours then crank it to 250 or 275 to speed it up. Cold weather will slow it down also so a moving blanket helps.

[jfmorris]

I will start by saying you don't mention the size of the Boston butt you are cooking, but my experience in cooking 8 to 10 pound bone in Boston butts (literally hundreds of them) is that it takes me 12-14 hours at 225, without wrapping. Bigger cuts like an 18-20 pound brisket will take 18-20 hours at 225, again - without wrapping. Wrapping once the brisket hits about 170 speeds up the cook, shaving several hours off the end. I never wrap Boston butts.

Another question is whether the temp at the meat is really 225. I'll assume your grate probe is within a few inches of the meat, so we will take it on faith.

All that said - no shame in cooking hotter. I run most of my butt and brisket cooks these days at 250 to 275, as it shaves hours off a cook. I've even pushed butts up to 300 or more to get them done on schedule for dinner, and had no issues. Don't feel bad about increasing the temperature to get it done in a reasonable period of time. Being a pellet cooker, you may want to run low temp for a couple of hours to get more smoke, then increase it to get it done. With charcoal and wood chunks, that's not an issue.