What temp setting to cook at 225? 230 or 240?

[waynerto]

I am doing pulled pork right now and I have set my Bradley smoker to 230F.  I can see from my Thermoworks Signals that the temperature follows a sinusoidal-like pattern from 205F-230F.  This makes sense as the thermostat will cause the heat to shut off when it hits 230F.  So the average temperature is about 217.  Given that the target oven temp is 225, should I set my smoker to 240F and it will then likely range from 215-240, averaging 227?  Or am I overthinking this?

Note that my Signals ambient temperature probe is hanging through the vent and is just an inch or two above my pork which is on one of the lower racks in my four rack smoker.

[Orion]

I’d set it to 220 and be done with it. It’s more about cooking slowly and having the required time available to let it cook. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again ... this isn’t rocket science and pulled pork does not require absolute precise temps . You’re overthinking it for sure. No one is going to eat the product and say “ooooh, this was cooked at 230 and not 215”. Jmo. Hope it turns out well.

[waynerto]

Thanks.  The lesson I take from that is that a setting of 220-240 should be fine.  I have just turned it up to 240 since I want the pulled pork to be done sooner rather than later.  A setting of 220 would likely extend the cooking times, which occasionally I may want, but for today I would prefer it to be done as soon as possible.

I am currently about 7 hours in and now in the "stuck" phase as the temp is 164 and has only gone up about 3F in the last hour.

[Habanero Smoker]

You may have your probe too close to the meat, and the evaporation of moisture  from the meat can give you a reading that is lower than the actual cabinet temperature. Though temperatures for butts and briskets don't have to be exact, it is best to be consistent with your cooks. So pick a temperature that works for you.

As far as the stall (also called the plateau), if the bark is set you can wrap it and that will help speed the butt through the stall. You can either use foil or butcher paper, but which every one you use you need to remember that after wrapping there must be enough room for heat to circulate through the tray, or you can create a fire  hazard.

[waynerto]

Here is a graph of my cooking session.  It would be nice if the Thermoworks UI gave you the slope of the graph so you would know when you have hit the stall.  In calculus terms this would be d(temp)/d(time) allowing you to set the time period that you want and even show multiple rolling intervals, like 10 minutes, 1 hour, etc.

This chart also shows the oscillation of the temperature between 205 and 230.  Around 3:30 I turned up the temp setting to 240 and you can see that as well. And you can see when I opened the door.

Pulled Pork temps by Wayner1965, on Flickr

[Zekee]

Your proposed approach of setting the smoker to 240°F to achieve an average temperature closer to your target of 225°F makes sense. The sinusoidal pattern you're observing suggests that the actual temperature fluctuates around the set temperature, so by setting it slightly higher, you can aim for a more consistent average temperature that aligns with your desired cooking temperature.

Speaking of temperature adjustments, I recently came across an intriguing culinary trend related to air fryers—specifically, how to make banana chips in an air fryer. The concept of using an air fryer for banana chips caught my attention, as it combines the beloved snack of banana chips with the modern and popular cooking method of air frying.

If you're curious about how to make banana chips in air fryer, the process typically involves thinly slicing ripe bananas, arranging the slices in a single layer in the air fryer basket, and then air frying them at a specific temperature. The aim is to achieve that perfect balance of crispiness without compromising the natural sweetness of the bananas.