pulled pork stall help ASAP

[Alex Baton]

OK, so i've put the pulled pork on the smoker around 9p.m. last night, around 5a.m. It stalled at 150F-160F. It is now officially 8:30 the temp just raised to 162F. So in my opinion the stall is almost over.
I got to leave to work in 30-45minutes. For How long should i program my MES to keep running?
I understand that this is a major mistake from my part and that this pulled pork could be ruined but who would of thought that this is one tough butt won't be ready in 12hours.

Any fast replys/advices will be appreciated.
Thank you dear pit memebers

[Alex Baton]

OR Should i just take it out, wrap it and finish smoking it later tonight?

[Jerod Broussard]

How much time you got?

I'd wrap and set oven for 200 and just let that sucker coast.

[Alex Baton]

Maybe you are right, wrap it up, put it in the oven at 200 and ask my old lady neighbour to come check on it once an hour or so. If she comes and timer is ringing, take it out

[Alex Baton]

Some pulled pork that will be For the first few hours, at 225F the temperature was raising at about 15 degrees/hour.
SO i predict a another 2.5-3hours at the same temperature no foil :S This looks like the best option so far. unless anyone here tried to interrupt the cooking process.

[CurlingDog]

damn, that must be one big ass pork butt to go that long at 225 and not be higher than 162. I've missed your deadline, so all i gots to add is this... Hindsight is 50/50: next time cut it in half to reduce the cook time and gain more bark due to surface area. Good luck man!

[DeusDingo]

for me everything takes 3 hours longer than i thought it would. i would say let it coast and come back at lunch to check on it. when i smoke 10-8lb butts it takes me over 20 hours to finish it.

[Alex Baton]

So for those of you who are interested how I finished that Pulled pork:

At 9a.m. (12hours since start) the temperature was still around 160F.
I took the decision.... drums............... to finish it in a cast iron pot in the kitchen oven.

Since I was leaving for the whole day and I had no means of control what so ever I moved the 160F pork in my cast iron dutch oven, set the temperature to 200F, added some apple juice in there to make sure it doesn't burn and left for work.
I came back at 6p.m. looking at my balcony from the parking lot and expecting to see my apartment bursting in flames. Luckily that didn't happen and I was very happy to see that my meat thermometer was showing me a nice round 200F.
So it has spent 12hours in the MES and another 9 hours in the dutch oven! Unbelievable

With a BIG smile I took it out and realized that the ~3/4 of a cup of apple juice I've put in there turned into a full 1 1/2 Cup of liquid

To summarize: In my situation, I believe that it came out better than I have feared
+The pork came out very tender, just a little dry in the lower part (from the 12hours smoking).
+ Once it was pulled and the fat have been diced and mixed in there that dryness disapeared.
- The smoky flavour got washed away and replaced by apple juice taste but nothing a little smoky bbq sauce couldn't fix.


Here are the results. judge for yourselves.
Thanks to all.

[Alex Baton]

damn, that must be one big ass pork butt to go that long at 225 and not be higher than 162. I've missed your deadline, so all i gots to add is this... Hindsight is 50/50: next time cut it in half to reduce the cook time and gain more bark due to surface area. Good luck man!

Next time I will do this on the weekend or call in sick. I'm sure if we've put this to a vote 100% of members would agree that it is a valid reason to miss a day of work.

[Alex Baton]

for me everything takes 3 hours longer than i thought it would. i would say let it coast and come back at lunch to check on it. when i smoke 10-8lb butts it takes me over 20 hours to finish it.

What kind of smoker do you use?

[DeusDingo]

i have a masterbuilt propane smoker. it is very leaky. the last time i made shoulder it took me 22 hours. i was expecting 16 so i was getting very frustrated. i tried to make country style ribs pulled pork style and i thought it would only take like 8 hours and it took 16 because the chunks i picked were way too thick and it was like cooking a small butt. when i make ribs i expected them to take like 5 hours and i don't think i have gotten away with making them any shorter than 8. everything takes me longer than i think and it frustrates the heck out of both the wife and i! it's all a learning curve. the only thing i guessed right was a whole chicken.

[Jerod Broussard]

I no longer add any flavored juice to anything, just water.

[Alex Baton]

I no longer add any flavored juice to anything, just water.

I figured it out the hard way. It's part of the learning I guess

[Alex Baton]

DeusDingo Before purchasing, I have read all the Amazon.com reviews on all models and was left with an impression that many of the older models have the same problem (leaks). If you have purchased yours a while back then you are not alone to have those issues. I even remember someone adding extra isolation to the outside because he was loosing smoke (and therefore temperature) from around the door edges.
But to be honest with you, the best pulled pork I ever made was smoked for about 3-4 hours and then moved to the kitchen oven to finish at 225F. I mean: How much smoke does it need absorb to taste just right? And everything seems to be cooking faster in the kitchen oven(humidity/leaks/isolation?).
Maybe you should try that, your oven will be keeping a nice and steady temperature better than your MES and since you're not adding smoke to it during the whole process, this could be an effective way out. Smoke it up and finish in the oven.
Same experiment was done with 2 turkeys. Most guests liked the one finished in the oven better in a side by side comparison.
Not to mention that it was ready about an hour and a half faster.
good luck, and if you try that, please let me know of the results

Jerod Broussard What do you think?

[DeusDingo]

I have thought about using the oven but my wife is particular about what goes in there and how much of a mess it could "potentially" make. it takes longer outside but it's a lot safer for me!

[BBQ Bill Wyko]

Time for a Rec Tec, they have financing now too. Take the plunge my friend.

[Alex Baton]

I just checked them out. Looks nice. A bit out of my price range for now, but I will definitely keep them in mind when upgrading.
thank you