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The Stall

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    The Stall

    Hello!

    I hope this is the right place to post this, I was smoking a Boston butt a couple weeks ago and it was very hot outside, over 100 degrees, and as is common around where I live it was 100% humidity aslo. The pork really stalled for hours at 160 and even after the stall passed its temperature was only rising 2 - 4 degrees an hour. After 14 hours it reached 193 and I took it out of the smoker. The bark had become quite thick by then so it was hard to test if it was done by using a fork and twisting ( it came boneless so I couldn't use that as a guide), luckily it turned out fantastic for the most part but there was a lean section that dried out pretty bad. I own a broil king smoke gas cabinet smoker and with just the meat and factory water tank it cooked at 260. With extra water I can bring it down to 225 quite easily. I was wondering if the high humidity on the day combined with the extra water made my meat stall so long and slow down its temperature gain after the stall was over? or perhaps it was just a very juicy cut of pork? Is was a Berkshire Boston butt. In future cooks should I use the crutch if it's very humid outside? Or perhaps find a different medium than water to use as a heat sink? I have a needle valve but have not hooked it up yet as I think I'm gonna need it professionally done (propane laws in Canada and all that...) anyways thanks for your time.

    Richard.

    #2
    Welcome!

    Comment


      #3
      The high humidity may have exacerbated the stall, but 225* is not a magic temp. Butts are very forgiving and lots of people here cook them hotter - some much hotter. If you feel it's cookin' too slow, you can bump the temp up to 250* or 275* without problems. Some people even go higher.

      The easiest solution to your problem is to drink large quantities of adult beverages. That won't actually fix dried out meat, but if you drink enough, you probably won't notice how dry it is. And if you do, you won't care.

      Comment


      • Breadhead
        Breadhead commented
        Editing a comment
        Now that is advice only a real Pit Master could come up with. Especially the adult beverage consumption having a positive effect on your final tasting results. Welcome to the Pit R.Keogh ...👍

      #4
      You betcha! Once your bark was formed you could have wrapped it. It's likely you were done some time before you pulled it. Temp is a guide (as it's not for food safety on this cook) with these cuts and types of cooking. It was likely over cooked and that's why it dried out. Also the large cuts of meatblike some time in the Faux Cambro to chill out and get ready for you. A couple of hours should do.

      as was said it would not hurt to bump up the temp. I historically like a crazy moist chamber for butts. Lately I have been bumping up the temp with nice results.

      i hope this helps.

      And BTW....Huntington Beach welcomes you!

      Comment


        #5
        i find the opposite, for me high humidity makes the stall a lot less than if i do it dry.

        Comment


          #6
          Thanks for the welcomes, and responses. I imagine it was over cooked as the money muscle was a little too soft near the bark but 80 -85 % of the meat was fantastic. Just the one corner seemed more like loin meat in texture and fat level was dry and the bark was pretty thick. It just didn't wanna cook. At 12 hours in it was only around 183 internal temp so I let it keep going, and like I said it was 193 at 14 hours. Was just curious if it was a humidity issue or if I should have crutched it. All part of the learning process =D.

          Comment


          • Breadhead
            Breadhead commented
            Editing a comment
            Most of us here use the internal cooking temperature as a guideline as to when to start checking the tenderness of our meat. Most of us use the probe of our Thermapens to test the meat. We want it to be soft like buttah before we pull it. That can happen as early as 190°, or up to 210°.

          #7
          I cooked in similar heat and humidity conditions on a BGE with a water pan and the stall 160 -180 typically took 6 hours and 180 - 200 3 hours.

          Comment


            #8
            Welcome to the Pit. I will often bump my temps up when I see the stall. If it's going really long, wrap it once you get the bark you like. All part of getting to know your cooker and the meat that you find locally -- each is going to behave a little differently!

            Comment


              #9
              Welcome from Indiana

              Comment


                #10
                Welcome aboard from Florida!

                Comment


                  #11
                  You can put sand in place of water... Or just take it out all together. Some kinda of heat deflector on bottom rack. Wrap 1/3 of rack with foil. Just gotta play with it. Hi humidity honestly I wouldn't put any water inside cooker. Here in colorado we are dry climate. I use water pan in my gateway drum.

                  Comment


                    #12
                    Howdy from Kansas Territory, Welcome to th' Pit!
                    Glad ya' joined us, here...
                    Some Great advice, above...
                    I hope yer enjoyin' th' complexities, an' nuances of smokin'...

                    Comment


                      #13
                      May be a stupid question, but how confident are you that your thermometer is accurate?

                      Comment


                        #14
                        Pretty confident in my thermometer. I haven't tested it with boiling water yet but I've used it for steaks and pork tenderloins and they were all perfect. ThermoPro TP20, it's rated at 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit accuracy.

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                          #15
                          Welcome R.Keogh

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