Advice needed: My butt is still frozen in the center

Gnarlbecue · May 26, 2015

So I just putt a 4 lb butt in the smoke and my maverick 733 meat probe reads "LLL", which means the internal temp is still below freezing. I guess I didn't thaw it thoroughly enough.

I unplugged my probes and verified that they are working properly, so I think the center of this butt is just below 32F, which is the lowest it can read.

How should I proceed? I was planning on smoking it at 275 until the stall, then foiling with AJ until probe tender.

Should I do anything differently? I've never put frozen meat in my pit before, kinda nervous about the unknown. Any advice would be appreciated.

GrillsGoneWild · May 26, 2015

If it isn't thawed out properly you take the risk of the outer portion getting done quicker than the inside. If you already have things in motion, I say go ahead and throw it on the smoker but I would turn down the temp to something like 200 to help the center thaw out more before everything starts cooking.

Gnarlbecue · May 26, 2015

OK, I'll dial the temp back as much as possible, but I have a minion burn going in the OTG right now at about 260 with the bottom vent mostly closed and the top already closed about 50%. I'm going to have to close the top vent a lot.

BigBobBQ · May 26, 2015

I just did 2 today and the centers were still a little frozen. I went ahead and put them on and cooked at 250 for the first 4 hours before ramping it up and they turned out great.

Gnarlbecue · May 26, 2015

Bottom vents completely closed, but my Maverick probe wires are snaked up through the bottom vent so that should get me a little air. Top vent only 20% open right now.

Pit probe reads 250 and dropping, meat probe still reads "LLL".

Gnarlbecue · May 26, 2015

I'm contemplating something truly blasphemous... I have a microwave...:behindsofa: :icon_blush:

Gnarlbecue · May 26, 2015

Meat probe now reads 34! Pit is at 235. I'm just going to let it roll at 225 or so, old school style!

And I won't have to change my name to "Butt Nuker".

GrillsGoneWild · May 26, 2015

On the road to recovery. Should turn out great.

Gnarlbecue · May 26, 2015

Opened my top vent all the way again, and cracked the bottom vent a little. Seems to be stable at 225 now. Meat probe reads 63 now, that temp came up suspiciously fast.

I'm just going to let it go for a couple hours at 225 and see what happens.

I think all the vent shenanigans killed my smoke; all I'm smelling is spices now. At least it's not dirty smoke.

creekwalker · May 26, 2015

My first thought when I saw the title of this thread was to suggest a car with a seat warmer. My second thought was that that wouldn't really help if the inside of your butt was frozen...

Gnarlbecue · May 26, 2015

Going into the 5th hour now. I foiled at 4 hours with AJ and some more rub and a little honey.

I ended up just letting the temp slowly climb throughout the cook. It was at 245 for a couple hours, which is right below my normal minimum comfort zone, I usually cook at 275+.

Now that it's wrapped, I ramped the pit up to 300+. Internal is 189 right now and I'll start probing for buttah in half hour or so. I frequently have to take my butts to 210+ and let em ride for a while before they're tender. I'm curious to see if the slower cook affects tenderness at all.

Wish me luck!

LarryO1947 · May 26, 2015

Sounds like you have everything under control. Looking forward to final results.

pjtexas1 · May 26, 2015

Should be fine. I have cooked a lot of briskets starting at LLL.I never adjusted anything. Never had a problem.

vmastros · May 26, 2015

LLL could also mean your probe is bad.

lumpy76 · May 26, 2015

LLL does not mean too low of a temp. Could be bad probe. My pit temp probe would some times read LLL. I would play with the wire at the probe and I'd get temp reading again. I think I have a bad probe.

Teleking · May 26, 2015

I seem to recall someone cooking a completely frozen one. Don Marco???

Gnarlbecue · May 26, 2015

I pulled my probe out and reset the whole system and both probes work fine. In this case it was reading "LLL" because the temperature was below 32F. I've seen this before in the winter where I left the meat probe hanging outside the cooker while the pit pre-heated. The maverick can't measure below 32.

My cook turned out fine, maybe a little over done and not as much smoke as I would have liked, but it's perfectly edible.

Advice needed: My butt is still frozen in the center

Gnarlbecue

Take a breath!

GrillsGoneWild

is one Smokin' Farker

Gnarlbecue

Take a breath!

BigBobBQ

Babbling Farker

Gnarlbecue

Take a breath!

Gnarlbecue

Take a breath!

Gnarlbecue

Take a breath!

GrillsGoneWild

is one Smokin' Farker

Gnarlbecue

Take a breath!

creekwalker

Full Fledged Farker

Gnarlbecue

Take a breath!

LarryO1947

is one Smokin' Farker

pjtexas1

somebody shut me the fark up.

vmastros

Is lookin for wood to cook with.

lumpy76

Got Wood.

Teleking

is Blowin Smoke!

Gnarlbecue

Take a breath!

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