First, I cooked a pork shoulder over the weekend... the smoker finally made it through a complete smoke without breaking..... good news for sure.
I don't remember the weight of the pork shoulder, but I think it was around 7 pounds. It took me 22 hours to reach 190 degrees internal temperature. I have verified that my Auber temperatures are correct. I was smoking at 220F. The pork was tender and moist... just took a long time.. much longer than I expected. I put the internal probe in the thickest part of the meat and way from the bone.
Am I doing something wrong?
Sometimes butts can be really stubborn and take a long time. As with people every butt is different ;)
Here are some tips...
Try not to open the door and peek. Every time you open the door it takes some time for the cabinet to recover temp.
Make sure the temp probe for the auber is below the meat.
You can foil the butt during the second half of the smoke to speed up cooking but you will lose bark doing this.
And sometimes the temp probe could be located in a fat pocket causing a lower temp reading.
Just remember the rule it is done when it's done and you don't rush perfection ;D
nope.
some suggestions to help you.
bring your meat out of fridge and let it come up to almost room temp before going in the smoker.
preheat your smoker at about 250* and leave it there for first hour or to help combat the coolness of the meat.
make sure you have your temp probe below the lowest rack of meat to get an accurate cabinet temp.
1) preheat your smoker
2) let meat come to room temp.
3 put meat into the smoker
4) let the smoker do its work
5) keep opening the door to less then 1 every 4 hours
6) add a fan or blower to move the air and not burn the meat in the back of the cabinet
They have you covered with some really great information...IT is what I go by not the clock...
I don't worry about the time anymore. If it takes longer, that just gives me more time for another beer or two!