37 hours and counting for pulled pork (4Kg)

[Welshdragon]

Hi all,

Just wanted some advice on cooking pulled pork. Normally it takes around 20 hours but on the weekend I cooked 2 x 2Kg pork butt and a 4Kg piece of picnic. Both of the 2Kg pieces of pork were done in about 20 hours (203F) but the 4Kg picnic I had to take off the grill at 191F after 37 hours as needed to go to work.

The temperature probably averaged around 250 but for a few hours it was around 300. (It was wrapped after about 6 hours at 147F - just before I went to bed)

Was cooked on smokey mountain and was on the top grate. (for a fair few hours there wasn't water in the pan)

Is that length of time normal for a 4Kg piece of meat? (In the past it has always taken between 20 and 24 hours and I think the largest I have cooked is about 3.5 Kg)

Any suggestions on what I should do to cook it slightly quicker? ( Got no problem waiting 20 to 24 hours)

Cheers

Andrew

[JMessner]

Andrew,

The last pork butt(10lbs) I cooked turned out great and I ran a temp of 300F until I wrapped it, then the temp went to 325. Total cook time was 10-11 hrs roughly.

Good luck,
James

[fuzzydaddy]

I measure the air temp with a probe in a clip that sits about 1" above the cooking grate that the meat is on, with 2-3" between the probe and any meat. At ~250 I've had 11 pounders be probe tender at around 12 hours. My guess is that you were actually cooking (meat grate level) below 225 to take that long. Also the meat probe should be at least an inch from any bone.

[EdF]

Yeah, that seemed kind of long to me, too. Be sure to calibrate your probes, and then follow fuzzydaddy advice.

[JCGrill]

Seems like you have done this before, but even 20 hours for me would be on the long side. I think that will be the consensus as more replies come in. Lower grate temp than you think? Lower meat temp than you think?

[6th Borough BBQ]

That seems like an awful long time compared to anything I've seen. Are you sure your thermometers are working properly?

[Welshdragon]

Thanks for comments.

Have had issues with meat shadow before but probe was quite a distance from meat. Am using the fireboard and the probes they supplied.

Normally the probe is quite close to the grate, probably a few mm. Maybe that could be the problem? (I use the clips provided)


What temperature do you aim to cook at, throughout the cook?

[BigCountryQ]

As long as your ambient probe is within a few inches of the meat, you are safe to shoot for 225-300°F. In my experience, it takes me about 12-14 hours or so for a 4kg (~9lb) butt to reach 200-203 or probe tender. I too use a fireboard, and the clips that come with it are what you should use. I would guess, as others have, that your ambient probe was too far away and what your meat was seeing was a temperature below what you were expecting. And/or you had your leave in food probe too close to the bone, or touching the bone of the shoulder......unless of course it was boneless

[choffert]

Wrapping at 147F seems a bit early...but I don't wrap. The longest I ever had any shoulder take was 18 hrs.

[jfmorris]

I have done a number of 10lb (4.5KG) pork butts, and while there is some variation in time, at a temperature of 225F (107C) to 275F (135C), the absolute longest smoke I've ever done took about 18 hours to reach 203F.

I agree with others that something else must have been going on here. I think too that once I reached some point in the cook, I would just crutch (wrap in foil) so that you can get done and quit cooking. I don't think I would ever want to cook 1 piece of meat for 2 days straight unless it was a whole hog, and even that should be done faster than what you describe.

[RonB]

Another option is to cut those large hunks in half. That way they will cook somewhat faster, and you will have more bark.

If the cook seems to be taking to long, don't be afraid to crank the temp up. PBCs cook in the neighborhood of 275* to 300* with great results.

[LA Pork Butt]

I’ve done a lot of ten pounders and they usually hit 200 in 12 hours cooked at 225. Once I cooked 4 ten pounders for 22 hours. Something seems wrong with a 37 hour cook - maybe a defective probe.

[Welshdragon]

Cheers, my next cook I will set up 2 probes - one like I have been doing and then try to get the second probe further away from the grate.

[Welshdragon]

Set up the 2 probes to monitor the temperature but didn't get the result I was expecting. ( have now worked out how to use the probe clips)

The probe closest to the metal grid was cooler than the one about 5 cm above the grid.

This time the meat did cook a lot faster as I ran at about 280 for most of the cook. cooked within about 14 hours.

[Henrik]

As others have stated: cut that meat into smaller hunks. You get more bark, and they finish faster.

one thing that hasn’t been mentioned: when it comes to larger cuts of meat (like your 10 lb’er): weight doesn’t affect cooking time as much as thickness.

Two butts, equal in weight, but different in thickness will take bery different time to finish.

[bardsleyque]

I'm wondering Was it good? I truly admire your patience! I'm hoping it was extra tender as you had massive rendering time