What happened to my butt?

[coachB]

Here's the backdrop: 15lbs of Sam's pork butt, Tony's brine (24 hrs), mustard and rub, back in fridge overnight, 225 to 195 IT with a hold for 2 hrs @ 140 on the Auber in an SI2.
Put in the smoker at 9:30am Sat.  At 5:30 butt was at 161, dropped back to 160 at 7:00.  At 11:30 it was 167 so I bumped the temp to 235. At 1:30 it was at 174.  At 4:30 it was at 181.  At 7:45 this am it was at 193.  The Auber remained within 1 degree of setting throughout the entire smoke.
The final result was that the bark was on the whole a bit crustier than normal and a bunch of it went to the dogs.  Most of the meat was still moist, though not as much as with a normal butt.
I have seen the comment numerous times of the forum about how each piece of meat is different, etc. etc., but this is the first butt I've done that was so radically different than the others.  Live and learn.
I can't figure out if it was just the meat or if I did something different.  The only thing that changed was the brining time which amounted to 24-28 hrs by circumstance. (The addition of the #1 cure to Tony's brine did give it a beautiful smoke ring though.)
Anybody got any observations about what might have caused such an unusually long stall?

 

[Limey]

If my arithmetic is correct your butt took almost exactly 1.5 hours per pound overall. This is totally in line with most of our experiences which typically run 1.5-2.0 hrs/lb. I am assuming that the 15lbs was a single butt, although a very large one. Incidentally I have found that brined meats tend to cook somewhat faster than unbrined ones.

 

[Pork Belly]

1 15 pound butt? That would be huge, are you sure it wasn't a shoulder? Regardless of the cut, 1.5 hours is reasonable. I would have started at 235 for that much mass of meat.

 

[coachB]

Sorry for the ambiguity--typical Sam's 2-pack, 15lbs total weight.  In retrospect I should have done them at 235 right from the start.  I guess the time wasn't that far off.  Live and learn.

 

[SconnieQ]

22 hours for two 7.5 pound butts sounds like quite a long time. When your butt reached 193 at 7:45 am, then what did you do? Did you remove from the smoker, wrap and rest (and rest for how long?). Or did you take it to 195, then go direct to hold in smoker at 140, as in your initial plan? The latter hold after taking all the way to 195 could definitely overcook and dry out your butt if you did not cool down the smoker (open the door) between the cook and the hold. If I was going to "hold" for two hours (or even longer), I would just remove, wrap in foil, towels, and hold in a cooler. No reason to hold at 140 in the smoker unless your hold time is really long, like 5+ hours, in which case you would only hold in the smoker for the minimum amount of time needed, with the last 4 hours wrapped and in a cooler.

Also, did you leave some space between the two butts on the rack? Or were they lumped or tied together into one big meat mass?

 

[es1025]

I think you need to bump the temp to 235-240. Thats a lots of meat at 225.

 

[coachB]

Kari, when I checked at the 193 mark I just went ahead and pulled it.  No hold time.  They got double wrapped in foil and into the cooler for 4 hrs.  There was about 3-4" separation between the 2 butts during the smoke. 
I have done these numerous times in the past with no difficulties.  I think I will just go with 235 in the future.

 

[NDKoze]

I use 225 for a single butt, but with two butts or with a large one I always bump to 235-240 depending on how big.

I always start my butts at Midnight the night before too. That way my meal is ready for dinner the next day.

 

[Pork Belly]

There is a big difference in a 15 pound single piece of meat and two 7.5 pound hunks. You should have run 1.5 hours x 7.5 pounds.

Try again, that the beauty of the hobby, there is always another smoke.

 

[coachB]

Brian, that is what I normally get when I do 2 butts--11-14 hrs.  This smoke just threw me an MLB curveball.  I will be doing the next smoke at 235-240.

 

[DivotMaker]

I agree, Bill, with the recommendation for 235-240 for 2.  I actually use 235 on single butts; no effect on the finished butt, but cuts the time down!  At that temp, too, no need to increase temp to "push through" the stall.  The stall is where the real magic is happening, so let it ride! 8)

 

[Kutch98]

Thanks for asking the question about smoking 2 at a time, Im doing 2 8.3ish lb butts this weekend!  The fiance bought them for me as gift for me from CostCo.  Using one for us and one for the guys at work, AKA, guinea pigs!

 

[DivotMaker]

They're gonna eat better than any Guinea pig ever did, Jake!