Pulled pork extremly going wrong

[stef_s]

Hi all
Yesterday I did a pulled pork on my EX4. I started with smokeboost for 1,5 hours and after that, i set the temp up to 250 degrees.
I sprited every hour moisture on it and wrapped it after 5 hours in butcher paper. After that, the tempreture stayed at 160 degrees and didn't go up again.
What was my fault?
Did I use too much paper? I wrapped it about 4 times in it.
This didn't happen when I wrapped it in alufoil.

Regards
Stef

 

[Bruno]

Patience it will go up. The stall is a fascinating thing.

 

[Dassman5]

Hi all
Yesterday I did a pulled pork on my EX4. I started with smokeboost for 1,5 hours and after that, i set the temp up to 250 degrees.
I sprited every hour moisture on it and wrapped it after 5 hours in butcher paper. After that, the tempreture stayed at 160 degrees and didn't go up again.
What was my fault?
Did I use too much paper? I wrapped it about 4 times in it.
This didn't happen when I wrapped it in alufoil.

Regards
Stef

You did nothing wrong.What you experienced is the classic stall. Large chunks of meat with lots of connective tissue and muscle, like pork Butts (shoulder) and brisket will seem to cook quite fast until they reach the stall, somewhere between 150F and 165F, and the temperature will then “stall” and fail to rise for many hours.
You did the right thing by wrapping the meat... you just needed to leave it on until it got through the stall, which can last up to twice as long as the initial heat rise, depending on the size of the butt. (I have has butts stay in the stall for 8 hours or longer for a total of 18 to 20 hours.) Once the meat gets past the stall, it will resume its heat rise to 195F to 200F. Once in that range, you can then start probing for doneness.

Lots of articles and videos available, and patience is critical.

 

[Dassman5]

Patience it will go up. The stall is a fascinating thing.

By the way aluminum foil will often speed up the process somewhat since it seals the moisture in. (The stall is partly/largely caused by moisture within the meat migrating to the surface and evaporating, which imparts a cooling effect on the meat. Foil prevents the evaporation) The sacrifice in using foil is that the bark will tend to be softer hence my preference for butcher paper!

 

[stef_s]

You did nothing wrong.What you experienced is the classic stall. Large chunks of meat with lots of connective tissue and muscle, like pork Butts (shoulder) and brisket will seem to cook quite fast until they reach the stall, somewhere between 150F and 165F, and the temperature will then “stall” and fail to rise for many hours.
You did the right thing by wrapping the meat... you just needed to leave it on until it got through the stall, which can last up to twice as long as the initial heat rise, depending on the size of the butt. (I have has butts stay in the stall for 8 hours or longer for a total of 18 to 20 hours.) Once the meat gets past the stall, it will resume its heat rise to 195F to 200F. Once in that range, you can then start probing for doneness.

Lots of articles and videos available, and patience is critical.

thank you for all your posts. So do you do your meat the day before? I thought 10 hours for my meat we'll be enough...

 

[Bruno]

thank you for all your posts. So do you do your meat the day before? I thought 10 hours for my meat we'll be enough...

My pork has been taking forever the last few times. I also use butcher paper because I like the bark I get.
I usually start the night before and plan on an early dinner, I’m actually going start really early next time so it has plenty of time to rest.

 

[Dassman5]

thank you for all your posts. So do you do your meat the day before? I thought 10 hours for my meat we'll be enough...

It depends. I prefer to start my butts and briskets the evening before if they 8 lbs or more, since I allow for 1.5 hours per lb. Smaller cuts can be done by starting very early in the day, and may take around 1 1/4 hrs per lb. The last full packer ( point + flat) brisket I did was a 21.5# monster that trimmed to 17+ lbs. and took 21 plus hours.

I like to smoke at between 200F and 225F on either the WSM or SF and now that I have the SB option with the SF (I use that like you did for a couple of hours near the start), my smokes do take close to that 1 1/2hrs per lb.; sometimes longer as each piece of meat is different.

The good news is that both cuts of meat are forgiving, and can be tightly wrapped and placed in a cooler or Cambro for several hours where they will keep just fine before slicing/pulling.

 

[JpsBBQ]

You could easily bump the temps to 275-300 once wrapped. It will just finish faster. Pork butt is extremely forgiving and you won’t experience any appreciable difference.

 

[Bruno]

You could easily bump the temps to 275-300 once wrapped. It will just finish faster. Pork butt is extremely forgiving and you won’t experience any appreciable difference.

I’ve done this with good results.

 

[Dassman5]

I’ve done this with good results.

Although it may limit ones adult beverage consumption time.

 

[Bruno]

Although it may limit ones adult beverage consumption time.

I drink fast!! And often,lol! The SmokeFire has saved my butt, it’s so easy you can drink and still get good results.
I used to make some serious mistakes In the middle of the night with my WSM.

 

[Dassman5]

I drink fast!! And often,lol! The SmokeFire has saved my butt, it’s so easy you can drink and still get good results.
I used to make some serious mistakes In the middle of the night with my WSM.

Same here, and my Maverick probes were always waking me up, but no longer with the SF.

 

[AHoneyman]

If you want one pork butt done for company, start two and one might be done on time. I like to capture the juice and mix in back in after pulling/chopping with a rest.

 

[abmet]

I’ve had many done in 10 hours but last one I did took 17.

 

[Bruno]

If there is any problem with your grill and need to be replaced, you can try to check the following website-https://grillpartsreplacement.com/collections/weber,The grill I am using is pretty good, there is no major problem at the moment, the quality is still very good, you can see if there are any products you need here, I hope my answer can help you, good luck!

Carl you really like that grill replacement parts website huh?