Ramping temperatures for pulled pork, et all.

Artmiester · October 08, 2007, 07:50:40 AM

Pulled pork has always been my favorite Q. I always have a butt or two included when doing a large or medium smoke. Usually, I'll remove finger foods and specialty items, ie. ABTs, pig candy, justurds, sausage, etc., when the time's right, 4-6 hours or so. At this point I've usually reached the 154F-160F threshold and wait it out for an hour or two and the temp slowly rises to 170F (sliced). This is all accomplished at 210F, which is fine but, it takes forever to reach 190F-200F (an addittional 6-8 hours). The butts average 4 pounds each when I'm doing two and occasionally a single 8 pounder will take the ride. Are there any tables for ramping temps/time that I could use, or a rule of thumb? My PID's doing a great job (+- 1 degree drift) but I'm wondering if building one with the ramping feature would be worth the effort/expense. As always I know the replies to this post will be the bomb.
Thanks guys! ??? ??? ;D

Mr Walleye · October 08, 2007, 08:07:43 AM

I don't have the ramp feature either but I have been looking at the new DigiQ II Guru which does have it. Here is a discussion on the use of the ramp feature from the BBQ Guru Forum. From what I understand about it you can start with a higher cabinet temp, then as the meat temp starts to get within 25 degrees of your target temp, the ramp feature starts to lower the cabinet temp. By starting with a higher temp it is supposed to speed up the cooking process. Hopefully somebody with some experience chimes in as I'm also very interested in you question.

http://www.thebbqguruforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=5

Mike

Artmiester · October 08, 2007, 08:49:48 AM

Once again, THANKS Mike!
I've seen your earlier posts on the Digi-Q II which sparked my interest in using it for regulating temps in a lump charcoal offset pit style rig with the blower. I hadn't seen the posts on ramping but that makes sense now that I thunk about it. Starting out higher and reducing heat as the meat temperature rises should work. Wondering if I'll lose the tenderizing effect when starting out higher. It would be nice to have the finger food served sooner. Now I'm rambling. ??? :-\

Mr Walleye · October 08, 2007, 09:10:08 AM

Habs has the new Digi Q but I don't know if has used the ramp feature on anything yet. Someone else built a PID with with the ramp feature but I can't remember who it is. According to the BBQ Guru guys the time it takes to get the meat up to the rendering stage is where it is quicker, then the cabinet temp starts to lower for a more "low & slow" approach. At least that's the way I understand it. Hopefully someone with some "ramp" experience will chime in.

Mike

Habanero Smoker · October 08, 2007, 02:07:00 PM

You can use the ramp mode in the DigiQ II or Competitor in a couple of ways. One way is the one already mentioned by Mike; which is to set the pit temperature higher than what you normally will cook at, and it will slowly lower the temperature to the set food temperature. I use this feature when I am smoking chicken. This seems to improve the skin texture. I've tried it a couple of time with pork butts, but with the BS, it takes so long for it to recover to the set pit temperature, using the ramp mode in this manner didn't make a difference. In a wood or charcoal smoke, it would work.

Another way is to set the pit at the temperature you want to smoke at and the cabinet temperature will slowly lower until it reaches the set temperature of the food. This will greatly extend your cooking time, but I use this on occasions when I am doing an over night smoke, and don't want to get out of bed when the food is finished at 3:00 AM.

I've have mentioned this several times. When you are using a cabinet temperature of 200°F-210°F, you can take the pork out of the smoker at when it hits 175°F, and it pulls very easy; and I don't FTC. It's not only the final internal temperature, but how long the pork has been in a temperature range in which the connective tissue can break down into collagen.

Arcs_n_Sparks · October 08, 2007, 06:23:06 PM

Okay, so this has my interest. Would people really want a ramp feature to start out high and then glide down towards the target meat temperature? I thought one point of running 200-210 was to keep below boiling off liquids.

Arcs_n_Sparks

Artmiester · October 09, 2007, 06:45:38 AM

Thanks Habs,
I've noticed during one of my marathons when I'm running out of time and the temp has climbed from 170F to 175F over a period of about 2 1/2 - 3 hours that it is easier to pull and there has been a more substantial breakdown. So maybe I should be more concerned about how long it remains above the threshold temp than actually final meat temp. Right? I agree with Arcs on the 200F-210F thing but I can also see the advantage of ramping for overnighters. Reminds me of when I went out at 11:00p to reset the timer for another 9:40 and forgot to reset the temp down from 280F. Everything came out OK but what a BARK! Good thing the DBS is so forgiving. ??? ;D

hillbillysmoker · October 09, 2007, 04:52:13 PM

I also have the Guru/Raptor Competitor with the ramping feature. Habs is absolutely right on with the things that it will do. I usually only use mine when I am going to be away from the smoker....e.g. all night smokes or times during the day when I am not readily able to watch the smoker. It is super nice to know that as you approach your meat temp. that the cabinet temp. will begin to moderate until they equal out. It will actually hold foods at the desired temp. for hours with no ill effects on the finished product.