The Stall: Even with our careful attention to our smoker temps, we still experienced what “low and slow” experts call “the stall.” When smoking meats like beef brisket or pork butt over extended periods, the internal temperature of the meat can seem to plateau or stall at around 160☏ (71☌)-it can even drop slightly.Īaron Franklin explains the stall well in his book Franklin Barbecue: A Meat-Smoking Manifesto: On more than one occasion our high and low alarms helped us know we needed to tend the smoker fires to keep our cook temperature consistent throughout. Maintaining a steady internal temperature in your smoker over the extended period of a slow cook can be a challenge and require some fire craft. Monitoring the Smokers: We set high and low alarms on each of the ThermaQs-a high alarm of 250☏ (121☌) and a low alarm of 200☏ (93☌) for the smoker set to 225☏ (107☌), and a high alarm of 320☏ (160☌) and a low alarm of 280☏ (138☏) for the smoker set to 300☏ (149☌). We didn’t spritz the surface of the pork with any liquids-we just let it be. The Cook: With the ThermaQ probes in place, each butt was placed fat side down so the fat could act as a barrier between the heat source and the protein, and help the meat retain its moisture. We checked the air temperature of the smokers and internal meat temperatures hourly to track the progress. Any piece of meat is only as tender as its toughest part, so we needed to make sure the thermal center of each cut was reaching our desired temperature. Probe Placement: The ThermaQ probe for the meat was placed with the tip in the center of each butt. What will be the difference in taste and texture?.How much longer will it take for the pork smoked at 225☏ (107☌) to reach its target temp than the one smoked at 300☏ (149☌)?.But one was cooked at the recommended “low and slow” temperature of 225☏ (107☌), while the other was cooked in a smoker brought to 300☏ (149☌).
We took two pork butts of similar size and weight, prepared them in exactly the same way and cooked them in two similar smokers. ➤ We wondered, is it possible to achieve similar results with a higher smoker temp? The Kitchen Project: But at that temperature, it can take as long as 18 hours to bring the internal temperature of the pork up to its target of 195-205☏ (91-96☌). “Low and slow” experts typically recommend keeping the internal air temperature of your smoker at about 225☏ (107☌) during the cook. Pork shoulder is the lead of culinary alchemists, just waiting, itching to be turned into gold. But though the butt starts tough, those who take the time and effort to tenderize it are amply rewarded with a deep, rich flavor and a succulent texture. Because of the load-bearing activity of the shoulder muscle, the protein fibers of the butt are very tough, and they are held together with a web of connective tissue. It is a heavily-worked muscle on the animal. The pork butt is a sub-primal cut from the pork shoulder. The anatomy of this cut is what determines its optimal cooking method. The art of smoking meat is all about taking tough cuts of meat such as pork shoulder and brisket and turning them into tender, juicy, flavorful masterpieces by controlling low cooking temperatures over time. This is what gives the resulting pulled pork meat its signature moist and silky texture. What’s more, dissolving the collagen into gelatin and successfully rendering the fat usually requires lower sustained temperatures during the cook than turkeys or roasts. But every griller worth their salt knows that cuts rich in collagen, like pork butt, need to be brought to much higher temperatures ( 195-205☏ ) to properly break down the connective tissues. The USDA recommends that pork is cooked to an internal temperature of 145☏ (62.8☌) for food safety. Barrels came in different sizes (the hogshead, the tierce), but the ones pork shoulders were packed into were of the size officially known as the “butt.” These 126-gallon (477-liter) barrels filled with pork came to be known as “Boston Butts,” a term that was soon applied to the meat inside.
The shoulder was the least desirable cut and was routinely packed into wooden barrels and shipped out across the country for processing. In the early nineteenth century, New England was a pork-production powerhouse. Turns out, the name comes from the name of a barrel. The cut is, as we’ve said, from the shoulder of the hog, nowhere near its rear end (the anatomical “butt” of the animal is actually the ham).