im new to smoking and recently found this website and love it. it has helped me in a ton of ways. im on my third pork shoulder. its just me and my wife for now (first kid is on the way) so we get the butcher to cut us a 3lb shoulder. my problem is the first two shoulders took 22, and 24 hours to get to 203. it looks like the one on now will take about the same time. i have the flame boss so the temp stays close to 225 the entire time. am i doing something wrong. i thought it should only take around 12 hours. thanks for any help.
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I don't mean this to be snarky, but it takes as long as it takes. 22 and 24 hours seems like a lot of time for a 3lb shoulder, but hey, like I said at the beginning. You might try wrapping at 170º or so, although it will soften your bark some. Also, shoulder can be cooked at 250º-275º with pretty much zero loss of quality but a faster done time. One final thing, personally, I think 203 is too high for shoulder or butt. I prefer around 197º or 198º. And you are saying "shoulder" and not "butt" If it's a picnic shoulder (the one with the tapered or conical end, it is hard to get an accurate temp because of the large amount of bone passing through it. You might want to start spot temping with an instant read when it gets to or slightly over 195º.
Welcome to the Pit and congratulations on your soon to be child.
DEWLast edited by Dewesq55; July 4, 2016, 01:40 PM. -
Have you measured your cooking temp with a second thermometer (preferably digital) to verify what it is at the cooking grate close to your meat? Those times sound far too long for such a small piece. I would expect no longer than about 6 hours at most for 3 pounds.Comment
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yes sir, i have doubled checked the thermometer with a second one. they are both very close to the same temp display.Comment
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If you're not lifting the lid every 15 minutes peeking (
) and your temps are really correct, I have no idea what's happening, but taking 24 hours for a pork butt, even a big one, is taking low & slow to extremes. I wouldn't be at all afraid to kick the grill temp up to 250-260 (or more). Won't hurt a thing. Good luck!
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ike456 - anything over 6-8 hours for a small 3# butt isn't even reasonable. I'm at a loss to figure this deal out. Are you certain that your temps are correct? Have you calibrated your thermometers in boiling water? Just because two thermometers agree means nothing. Two stopped clocks will agree at least twice a day.
What kind of cooker are you using? What kind of charcoal? What temps are you shooting for? Have you thought about disconnecting the temp controller and seeing what happens? Can you control temps manually without a controller? There is something not right here. This has me intrigued.Comment
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ike456 can you post a photo of your egg with the setup you're using (everything in place including indirect piece, cooking grate, temp probes)? Thanks.Comment
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I've consistently been ~16hrs for my 3.5 to 4.5lb butts to get to 195. This is on a kettle though, not an egg. Might be some slight difference in environmental humidity in the different cooker even if the temp's the same. I don't take them to 203 unwrapped because in my experience the time it takes to get to 195 is sufficient enough that a higher temp simply isn't needed. Methinks you're evaporating more moisture out possibly, a second stall. I'd try taking a fork to it when it hits 195ish and see how tender it is, it's likely that's all you might need. We could solve this problem, but it may just be that we really don't need to
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Dang,,,22-24 hrs on a 3 lb piece of meat? I did four 10 lbers over the weekend that only took 12 hrs. I put them on @ 2 am and when they reach IT of 175-180 they got wrap until they got to 203 then to the cambro for 2 hrs. Served @ 4 pm.Comment
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Just spit-balling- Nothing to do with Altitude though, right?Comment
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ike456 I usually cook ten pound butts on my large Big Green Egg @ 225 which usually reach 200 in 12 hours. Occasionally one will go beyond fourteen hours. The longest cook I ever did was four ten pound butts for 22 hours. The ten pound butts are usually 4 inches thick. Thickness determines cook time. We are still not clear as to whether you are cooking a picnic shoulder or a butt shoulder, but I don't think it should make much difference. The only conclusion I can reach is that you are cooking at a far lower temperature than your thermometer thinks you are. The next time you cook try setting your dome temp at 250 without a controller after checking it for accuracy. See if you are still have 22 hour cooks.
A couple afterthoughts is how are you setting your top vent and is your egg gasket leaking? I don't think either would account for the long cooks, but you never know.Comment
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What a weird thing. That' a really long time for 3lbs. I would prolly push the heat to 275 and maybe even wrap it after 8 hours for a 3 lb'er.Comment
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when i first started cooking my butts took 22 to 24 hours. my cooker was super leaky and it had trouble maintaining temp
up the temp you cook at to 275. it doesn't hurt anything
wrap the butt around the time you get to the stall. depending on if you like bark or not will determine at what point you wrap.Comment
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It is always puzzling hearing about events like the OP describes. I'm completely flummoxed on why it would take 24 hours to cook a few pounds of pork regardless of cut.
I do 8lb butts on my KJ Jr. at 275-ish and they usually only take 6 or 7 hours.
Quite a puzzle indeed!Comment
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