8lb Shoulder done in 6 hrs??

cly · June 19, 2011, 06:09:02 AM

Hi All!

New to this forum and new to smoking.....

Set up my DBS and PID last evening, brought cabinet temperature to 225 and set the PID to turn off when the IT of my 8+ lb pork shoulder reached 180 degrees. Placed the shoulder in the smoker at 8:00p and walked away expecting to come back 12+ hours later to a shoulder perfect for pulling.

However, I woke up at 5:30a and much to my surprise the PID signaled the end and the IT (at 5:30a) was 130 degrees??

The shoulder was cooked through but was not ready to be pulled.

I figured the cooker shut off around 3:00a. Hardly "low and slow".

What happened??

Did the smoker get too hot? Is 225 too high?

Disappointed in NJ......

muebe · June 19, 2011, 07:19:32 AM

Was the timer set?

I do not own a DBS but from what I understand is that the timer goes for 9 hours max. So if the timer was set then that would explain why it shut off.

There also may have been a misread from the probe due to placement or a malfunction and the controller thought the IT was reached.

GusRobin · June 19, 2011, 08:33:52 AM

Quote from: muebe on June 19, 2011, 07:19:32 AM
Was the timer set?

I do not own a DBS but from what I understand is that the timer goes for 9 hours max. So if the timer was set then that would explain why it shut off.

There also may have been a misread from the probe due to placement or a malfunction and the controller thought the IT was reached.

Ditto

cly · June 19, 2011, 09:17:41 AM

I think the max on the DBS timer is 4 hours.

Regardless, the temperature and time is being controlled by the PID.

Correct?

I put it back in and its at 187 degrees after 3 more hours of cooking.

I'm not sure what to expect but we shall see......

Smokin Soon · June 19, 2011, 09:30:57 AM

Cly. you are corrrect. Max smoke time on DBS is 4 hours. Oven is 9:40. If your PID is installed correctly it should override that. Are you trying to run the pid through the smoke gen?

muebe · June 19, 2011, 09:37:12 AM

I would verify that you had programmed the step in the PID to cook by IT temp and not time. Also if moisture makes it's way into the probe during the cook it will cause the probe to malfunction and you will get high temp readings. If this happens then the PID will end the cook thinking the IT temp has been reached.

GusRobin · June 19, 2011, 09:58:34 AM

I don't set the temp setting on an overnight butt or brisket because rarely will it be done by the time I get up. I time the smoke to end about midnight, change the water and go to bed and get up about 7-8. Since the butts I cook are at least 8lbs and the briskets 12-14, it works out good.
The problem ending an overnight with temp is that the probe may be in a fat pocket and give you a false high reading. If I was going to use the temp I would also use the maverick set to give an alarm if the temp dropped a certain amount then I would know if the power was turned off.

Bradley (Head Office) · June 19, 2011, 10:49:45 AM

Quote from: cly on June 19, 2011, 09:17:41 AM
I think the max on the DBS timer is 4 hours.

The max time you can set on both the Smoke and Oven sides is 9:40.
The default time when you first turn it on is 4 hours from there you need to set your own time.

Brian.

cly · June 19, 2011, 08:08:56 PM

Thanks for all the replies guys!

I'm not sure I'll ever know what happened but things turned out well in the end.

As I mentioned, I put the shoulder back in my DBS with the probe repositioned until the internal temp read 200 degrees.

After standing for about an hour the meat just fell apart!

I was very happy and so was my father.

In the end things turned out well which is I guess all that matters.

Happy Fathers Day :)