Knock Knock Who's there?

[KyNola]

Bucky,
You're doing great.  Yep, temp swings really prevail at the start.  As the butt comes up in heat, the swings will get less and less.  Good news is butts really don't care about temp swings.  It will just set there and say "I'm good".  Don't despair when the butt hits a "stall" around 160 for several hours.  That's exactly what it's supposed to do.  That's when it's breaking down into the goodness you want to taste.  I promise it will finally start going up again.

I have 2 10 pounds butts going right now and they're stuck at 159.  I'm a happy guy right now.

KyNola

[Bucky]

I plan on finishing it in the oven after the 4 hour smoke.  I don't have a Maverick yet.  So, I only have one probe and thought it was better to monitor the tower temp since I know there's no way the butt is going to fully cook in 4 hours at 200(ish) degrees.  I plan on inserting the probe into the meat when I transfer to the oven in the house.  Is this ok?  Also, I took a few pixs but can't seem to figure out how to post them.

[KyNola]

Yep, you're doing great.  If you can only monitor one temp, it needs to be the IT of the meat.  Set your house oven to 200-225 and watch the meat temp.  That's the key!

KyNola

[Bucky]

Yep.  I do know that IT is more important.  The probe will be in the meat when I switch to the oven.  Thanks again for your help.

[squirtthecat]

Also, I took a few pixs but can't seem to figure out how to post them.

Tutorial on picture posting in the FAQ section of the recipe site.

http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showpost.php?p=768&postcount=11

[HawkeyeSmokes]

Well.  The butt has been for about 1.5 hours now.  I can't believe how much swing in temp there is with the bds.  If I set the controller to 230 degrees my probe (hanging 1 inch about the meat) reads anywhere from 212 to 220.  If I drop the controller down to 220 degrees the actual box temp drops all the way to 185 degrees.

Hey Bucky, don't worry to much about the temp swings, like KyNola said, it will decrease the longer it cooks with the meat starting to warm up. I found that my kitchen oven has a worse temp swing than my DBS does. I like to set my DBS at 220 with butts, ribs and brisket. Has worked great so far.

[Bucky]

Finished up 4 hours of smoke and it's now in the 200 degree oven.  Current meat temp is 147.  I hope it doesn't finish up until late tomorrow morning.  Thanks again and have a great evening.  Still working out the posting bugs with Shutterfly.  Hopefully, you can see the pix.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2IYuGLFy3YsPC

[HawkeyeSmokes]

I think you should be close. But if you want to slow it down, just turn the oven down a little. Really don't think you need to because you can FTC it for hours if it get done early.

[KyNola]

Bucky,
3 1/2 hours after I told you my butts were stuck at 159, still are.  That's when the magic happens!  You're doing fine.  Remember you can FTC if it's done early but I'm thinking your butt hasn't reached the "stall" yet.    It's well worth the wait.  Reheating is easy too!

KyNola