I cooked a 5.5 lb bone-in Kurobuta pork butt for 15 hours (started at 8 am, gave up at 11pm) on my 18” Kamado Joe smoker last Sunday. The internal temp never got above 182F as measured with a quality digital probe. The kamado held a fairly stable temperature range from 220F to 238F the entire time. Frustrated by the long cooking time I took it out of the smoker and waited 30 minutes before pulling it. Seems to be OK, but why so long? I didn’t use the crutch, had a full water pan the entire cook, and basted religiously. This is my 3rd attempt at pork butt. The first two were only about 6 hours because I had promised lunch for everyone, not expecting a longer cook time. I was determined to wait the third one out, but gave up at 15 hours. Any comments about the failure? Could a 5+ pound pork butt stall for 7 or 8 hours? Thanks for any insight anyone wants to share.
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I have done lots of them on my Big Green Egg, but they were usually 10#s. Typically they took 12 hours to get to an internal temp of 200 without wrapping. Every Butt cooks differently, but my best guess is something is off on your thermometer.-
I thought of that, but when the probe is in boiling water I get a value very close to 212 F. -
Fujbalz I guess it was just one of those odd butts. I wouldn’t be concerned unless it happens again. I don’t know how frequently you basted, but opening the lid sand basting frequently would elongate then cook. I never baste except
sometimes on ribs. I cook Butts at 225 overnight to 200, wrap and hold for 2-4 hours to serve for noon. Cooked at 275 they will turn out just fine.
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The last couple unwrapped (no crutch) pork butts I smoked took 20-22hrs. This is, or can be, common. Mine however were not in a kamado but a kettle. This is why the crutch was adopted by many. Also, don't be afraid next time to crank your temp up to 275-300 during the stall.Comment
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Stop basting and run 250-275.Comment
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Like to run a pork butt at around 275 F and wrap at 180 internal on my KJ classic. The wrapping is to trap some of those delicious juices to add back to the pork after it’s pulled. At these higher temps and wrapping you can usually get a #10 done in 9 hours.Comment
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After giving this some thought something suddenly jumped out at me. Why would you run a water pan in a kamado? If you’ll eliminate that you’ll find cooking on a kamado easier. These things hold moisture like crazy, especially at lower temps. Basting will add more moisture to the surface of the meat but that then evaporates causing the meat to actually cool and stall longer. One of the purposes of wrapping is to stop surface evaporation and cooling. That’s why the cook speeds up after you wrap.
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How often is “spritz religiously”? I’m sure your KJ bounces back pretty quickly but remember you’re losing heat and cooling off the outside of the butt every time you spritz. I’ve found this can add a lot of time to your cook, especially if you do it a lot in the beginning.Comment
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The BBQ Stall Explained: Why Meat Temperatures Won't Rise (amazingribs.com) :
"It’s that simple. The meat is sweating, and the moisture evaporates and cools the meat just like sweat cools you after cutting the lawn on a hot day."
Prof. Greg Blonder of Boston University is a physicist, engineer, food scientist, former Chief Technical Advisor at AT&T’s legendary Bell Labs, and the AmazingRibs.com science advisor and mythbuster. At our request, in 2016, he set out to figure out what causes the stall. His answer: “The stall is evaporative cooling.”Comment
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How was it? If it TASTES good, then it IS good.
I have never used a water pan in my kamado, been cooking on it for 15 years. It probably doesn’t hurt, but it is extra, unnecessary work.
275° for pork butts. There will still be a huge window for margin or error there.
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