pork butt cook, questions on time vs temp

[SammyJ]

excellent cook. grab the bone and shake the butt free, pulled by hand.

i normally start checking when a butt gets above 200. First 2 butts got well over 200, and they were ready. The third butt got up to 194, then started dropping temp. The forth never broke 190. grabbed #3 and #4 with tongs, meat separated. All wrapped with foil, packed in cambro.

So 3 and 4 never reached 200, but they were equally done. Tenderness / texture a function of time vs Temp?

[holehogg]

Happens.
That looks awsome.
Good job sir.

[Jerod Broussard]

Not all meat comes off the same animal, and if it did might still have variation, plus there can be nuances to each cook were are not aware of.

[SammyJ]

Well said.

[Red Man]

Yes, it’s not just temp. It’s a combo of time and temp. That’s how you can cook a very tender medium rare chuck roast or brisket sous vide.

[Woodson]

As always, I’m not the expert here, just an A-Hole with plenty of opinions, and I propose a theory, hypothesis rather.

Collagen breaks down when? Some say it starts at 160, others say 180, right? Who am I? Definitely not meathead Goldwyn.

I'm not really sure, but every resource on pork butts tell you "cook it to 203." What if the end temp is irrelevant? I’m beginning to think pork tenderness is more about the time it spends above 180 than the final temperature. And conveniently the time it takes to get from 180 to 203 is just the right amount.

Your thoughts please!

[Jerod Broussard]

Yes. Unwrapped running 225 you might could be done at 195, whereas wrapping at around 160 internal it might take 203 to be done, due to the time you mentioned.

[pjlstrat]

As many before me have said we have much more experience and knowledge than I will ever have, it’s done when it’s done.

Great cook you should be very happy

[mountainsmoker]

Some excellent points made above. Pulled pork doneness varies by animal type, weight of butt, weather your cooking in(temperature, humidity, cloud cover wind speed, etc.), type of smoker and others. I always advise new smokers to keep a diary of everything that is going on during there smoke. After 40 years I had a strange one last month and found the same conditions had occurred in year 10. So I made some adaptions and saved an $80 brisket.