Pulled pork fail

[Lemonhead78]

Done in pbc. Wrapped at 160. Had to slice it . Very disappointed. Was the thermometer in a bad place maybe ? Here's the cook. The green line is ambient temp and the purple  line is internal temp


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[bamabob]

How big was the butt?  4 and a half hours is a fast butt cook. 

[teesquare]

How many pounds was to butt? Larger they are the longer they need...But, I would prefer to cook one for about 8+ hours. That amount of time at somewhere between 200-275 F will allow the connective tissues to dissolve into moisturizing little helpers for tenderizing the meat from the inside out.

Nothing good happens fast - when we are talking BBQ....."low and slow" really means just that. Low temps...long time.

[TentHunteR]

I gave up a long time ago on checking/monitoring internal temps of pork shoulders because there are just too many variables (size, age of the pig, the breed of hog, what it was fed, etc.).  And this is also why I also learned to allow more time than I think I need just in case you get a stubborn shoulder.

I use the "feel" method with a large thermometer to probe them, not for temperature, but for tenderness.  When you stick a probe into the shoulder if it slides easily all the way into the middle with little to no resistance, then that means the connective tissues have broken down and the pork is done ready to pull.

If the probe goes part way in then hits resistance, then the it's hitting connective tissues that haven't yet broken down yet and it needs more time.  Re-wrap it (it it was wrapped) and leave it on longer until the probe slides all the way in easily.

This method never lies, because it tells you if the connective tissues are broken down or not.

[akruckus]

If I can't pull the bone blade out, I know it needs more time on the butt.  While I agree 4.5 hours is short, I've done one in the about 6 hours on the PBC, so depending on size I don't think its that outlandish amount of time.

[Kona]

It's possible your probe was touching the bone or very close too it giving you a false high reading

[zueth]

It's possible your probe was touching the bone or very close too it giving you a false high reading

If it was touching bone it would give a false lower reading.


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[Jaxon]

In my experience I have found that I get much better results by cooking butts at 225 to 250 for a long time.
The time depends on the size of the butt mostly.
If I cut a butt in half, it won't take nearly as long. 
I've never considered the PBC to be a butt cookin' machine because of the high temps.  However, people have used it successfully for that.  I never considered the Big Easy to be a butt cooker, but Tommy has been very successful with it.
Like T said, low and slow is different from hot and fast.
A good butt takes time to develop.

[Kona]

I've had butts on the PBC take 12 hours and others 8...and roughly the same weight, 8-9#

[smokeasaurus]

Not cooked long enough. Connective tissues did not break down yet.

You essentially pulled the butt off of the cooker during the "stall"

[Kona]

Not cooked long enough. Connective tissues did not break down yet.

You essentially pulled the butt off of the cooker during the "stall"

That's what I thought but his graph has his IT over 200 degrees when he pulled it off his cooker.

[HighOnSmoke]

Not cooked long enough. Connective tissues did not break down yet.

You essentially pulled the butt off of the cooker during the "stall"

That's what I thought but his graph has his IT over 200 degrees when he pulled it off his cooker.

It also depends on where his probe was placed. I have had to take pork butts to 208 before to get it pullable. Depends also on the meat itself. Some are easy, some are hard as heck to get tender.