Long smoke Pork butt

[Pipe Rat]

I am using a #3 with an Auber. My very first smoke was a single 3.8 lb pork but that took 14 hours to IT 195 @225 deg. I had a little interference with my factory controller so I thought that may have something to do with how long it took. I finally opened the door at 10 hours because I was concerned but all looked good and was probably the best pulled pork I ever ate.

But today I bypassed the factory controller and ran direct from the auber @150 for the first 0.8 hr then @225 the remainder with a 7lb and 6 1/2lb butts both on the top shelf and confirmed the temp with another device and I just pulled the 7lb @ IT 195 after 19 hours. The small one is still on @ IT 191. I did not open the door at all until 19 hours into this to pull the big one. They look great but I'm confused about the 1 1/2 - 2 hours per pound average everyone talks about when I'm seeing 2 1/2 - 3 hours per pound. Temps are holding spot on with the Auber too. Am I doing something wrong?

 

[NDKoze]

No, I don't think you're doing anything terribly wrong. Mine tend to take at least 2 hours per pound too. I usually estimate 2.0-2.5 when I do mine and I have never had a bad one.

When smoking two butts, you could bump the time to 235. But in general I like to smoke at 225, no matter how full of a load I have.

2.5-3.0 maybe seems a tad long. But not totally out of the ball park.

1. Are you using a permanent probe or the standard?

2. Where was the smoker probe located? It could be a bad probe placement that was causing false readings. I used to always put my probe on the underside of my smoking rack. But have since started moving my side rails to the top position and placing my smoker probe on that very top rack. I have been getting better readings from this location.

Did you brine your butts? If so, brining does increase the time a bit, but well worth it. I ALWAYS brine my butts.

Did you have a water pan of any kind in the smoker? If so, where was it located? If it was anywhere other than the bottom of the smoker resting up against the smoker box, that could be causing problems as well.

 

[Pipe Rat]

Thanks for the reply Greg. I am using a permanent probe about 2 1/2" below the top of the cabinet just enough off center to avoid the stiffening rib that runs down the center.
I also have a pan of apple juice laying directly on the floor butted up against the smoke box and I did brine the butts this time for about 13 hours using DM's recipe. The foil over the factory probe I just did to keep it clean after I bypassed it.

 

[NDKoze]

Well, that all looks good. You may just have to chalk it up to some stubborn pieces of meat. I don't see anything that you are doing wrong.

We'll see what the others have to say.

 

[Pipe Rat]

Those pics were the second one finally done at 20 hours. They sure look and smell good though. Will pull them a little later after resting and spritz with a finishing sauce I found on another site. I used it the last time and it was GOOD!

 

[DivotMaker]

Looks like they were worth the wait, Doug!  I'm sure they tasted as good as they look!

 

[Walt]

If you like the sauce, please add ut to the suace sectiin.

 

[Pipe Rat]

Walt I looked and it is already over there. Scroll down to the bottom to see the original recipe from smokingmeatforums. A member has posted the credit there to the originator. It's good stuff. The top post from Big Bob added alot of sugar to the original recipe. I used the original with only 2 tbsp brown sugar. Please note that it's supposed to be creole seasoning as there isn't a cajun seasoning from that brand.
http://smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=1040.msg9567#msg9567