Help Min. temp for safety when smoking 12 lbs. pork shoulder

[Bandito]

Hello everyone!

My first time smoking a large pork butt and I think the temp may have been too low for the first 6 hours. I'll explain.

For the first 4 hours of smoke my tower temp was around 160 deg. and it was not until around the 5 hour mark that I stuck in the IT and had a reading of 136 deg. and then turned it up a bit.

My question is was that first 4 or 5 hours to long for the pork shoulder to sit in the smoker at that 130-140 IT?

I've been reading on the forum and mostly just talk of the stalling at the 150-160 deg. mark which is obviously ok.

Also the tower temp is maxed out at around 170. Is that OK?

Anyways, I thought I better check just to make sure. May have to chuck this one try again :'(

Thanks for any help in advance.

[muebe]

140F is a danger zone without using a cure.

That saying "When in doubt throw it out" may apply here.

It sucks to throw away meat but making you or your family sick with food poisioning is worst.

And if your cabinet temp is not going above 170F it sounds like your heating element is not working and only the smoke generator heating element is providing heat.

[mikecorn.1]

Plug in the smoker directly to an outlet and see if the elements glows red.


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[Bandito]

Good morning and thanks for the replies!

The heater element was glowing the whole time. Maybe because it was fairly large 12-13 lbs that it was taking awhile?

The tower temp slowly keep rising as did the IT after 5 hours... Just seemed like it was taking a bit to long. At the 6 hour mark the IT rose more steadily and stalled around 165.

I started it around 12:30 pm and at midnight it had an IT of 170. Woke up at 7 am and it had an IT of 183. Then at 9 am it shot up to 200 so I took it out and FTC.

It looks really amazing, great bark and the meat is falling off. I'm torn on this one.

Thank you all for your advice.

[mikecorn.1]

You can preheat as high as you can go before putting anything in. Fill the water  bowl with hot water, keep the vent open,  don't put meat in straight out fridge. Don't open the door unless its to dump the spent pucs and refill the water bowl. If you ate gonna be doing any door opening, you can put some bricks in the bottom of the smoker so that the will retain heat and when you close the door back up, they will aid in the recovery of the loss heat.


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[muebe]

That door thermometer is not all that accurate due to it's location above the meat so it appears that your element was heating the whole time correct?

If that is the case then your safe.

Large cuts of meat like pork butts can take many hours to finish(24 hours is not unheard of with a loaded cabinet). As long as the heating element was not malfunctioning it should be fine.

Always measure the temp right below the lowest cut of meat. A wired/wireless thermometer is the most ideal. Many of us use the Maverick ET-732 ;)

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi Bandito;

Welcome to the forum.

For solid muscle meat, you should be more concerned about the cabinet temperature, when you are smoking a butt. It is the surface of the meat that the bacteria is going to grow. A good rule would be to keep your cabinet temperature above 200°F, because near the surface of the meat it can be as much as 40°F lower. Follow the advice given and you should be fine.

Also the stall occurs closer to the temperatures of 160°F - 165°. You may also notice a stall around 140°F, but it is very short in duration.

[beefmann]

welcome to the forum, and as for the meat being in the danger zone at 136 after 5 hrs, and the element is glowing  red and box temp is higher, let it go and it will get out of the danger zone soon enough and kill any nasties

[Bandito]

Thanks everyone!

It turned out great and I didn't kill the inlaws with food poisoning. 

Got some compliments and was told that it was the best pulled pork they had ever had!

I'm looking forward to my next smoke and learning more along the way.

I can see why you guys are really passionate about this stuff and it really is an art form.

Thanks again for all your advice.