I am stalled again on pork shoulder picnic roast

[Hoss]

I hope you are not going by the original dome thermometer on that WSM as far as your cooking temp.Buy a good oven thermometer,place it on the rack next time you cook just to check the accuracy of that standard WSM thermo.I do not recommend using this technique for all your cookin because you have to remove the lid to check the oven therm.But it is a good way to double check your standard dome thermo.You will then know the differential between dome temp and actual cooking grate temp.Just a thought.Keep on Smokin!!!!

 

[Biloxidman]

Get a kamado Joe, it'll do the job. I hand a9.5 lb butt on this morning at 8:40 when my grill temp hit 250*. Ran it up to 300* where it stayed from 10:00 am to 3:00 when it slowly went down to 280*. Took it off at 4:10 when the IT hit 180* cuz I wanted to slice rather than pull. Turned out great! Thicker parts sliced and thinner parts pulled. Best of both worlds!

 

[SmittyJonz]

I done 2 cooks 2 days in a row and didn't hit 17 hrs COMBINED. :shock:

 

[landarc]

A WSM is a fine cooker and no need to get anything else, just like any cooker, it has it's eccentricities.

 

[Harbormaster]

Forget the foil, put it in a pan and finish it in the oven.

Then, take the stock thermo out of the dome and test it in boiling water. When you see that it doesn't read 212 or there abouts, throw it away, buy a Tel-Tru thermo, drill out the stock hole and install the Tel-Tru.
Next time you cook, run the WSM at 275 or so dome temp and see how your cook goes.
If you're still unhappy, I'll give you what you have invested in it and pay for the shipping to Wisconsin.

 

[Rusty Kettle]

Just an update still cooking. I am now at hour 21 and 5 mins for 6.70 lbs of pork just cracked open another bag of charcoal and shoveled out the ash and added the lit charcoal from previous fire and added it to new charcoal. Stubbs is to ashy if I wouldn't have run out of lump I think it would have gone better. I will say the last pulled pork I made on this thing was amazing and totally worth the wait but for cooking over 21 hours this is insane. I think I can't wait for summer when the pellet grill burns less fuel again. I may invest in a kamado or some sort of insulated smoker when it is more affordable for now I will stick with my cheaper smokers and do the best I can do and fight the weather and ash. It's worth the effort for bbq to feed us all week. It just goes a long way and feeds my wife and son and myself all week. Not to mention it tastes amazing.

 

[Bencroft4]

21 hours is insane... something has to be off temperature wise...

Biggest problem with a 21 hour cook time is having enough booze to last that long.

 

[landarc]

Wow, you have to be down below 200°F at the grate, it just doesn't take that long. You are in cold temperatures, that is a factor. Still, that is a long cook, I would have given in and gone to the oven a while back.

 

[Rusty Kettle]

It dropped some because of ash but it is climbing again. It's the ash that's the killer. I just don't think I will ever like a WSM this small. I think 6-8 hours is this little guys limit without some mods just not sure how yet. I think this is my most useless cooking device. Really it is. I think my charbroil barrel grill is a better cooker than this one. Maybe a stoker could fix the issues but not sure about that. I will keep fighting it until I get my pulled pork. I think I need a really good low ash lump charcoal and to have a lot of it on hand otherwise it just can't handle it.

 

[SmittyJonz]

That's ridiculous - should have been 8 hr cook. Im pissed if it goes past 10 hrs on any cook.

 

[Rusty Kettle]

21 hours is insane... something has to be off temperature wise...

Biggest problem with a 21 hour cook time is having enough booze to last that long.

I only ever had one beer in my entire life and it was a miller light what a mistake I think I would rather drink sewage water. I don't drink. Just did not like it so I am good for the rest of my life.

 

[castlepines]

21 hours? For less than 7 pounds? You aren't going to get any more smoke into it, and at this poin't you're just wasting fuel. Get it into the oven where it can cook properly. And invest in Maverick...it would have paid for itself already if you could have avoided the frustration of this cook.

 

[Rusty Kettle]

That's ridiculous - should have been 8 hr cook. Im pissed if it goes past 10 hrs on any cook.

Yeah I know but weather is killing it and I think the ash is choking the life out of the fire. At least it was until I shoveled it out. I think the bigger ones must have a much better capacity for ash build up.

 

[Rusty Kettle]

21 hours? For less than 7 pounds? You aren't going to get any more smoke into it, and at this poin't you're just wasting fuel. Get it into the oven where it can cook properly. And invest in Maverick...it would have paid for itself already if you could have avoided the frustration of this cook.

I hate ovens. I can't cook with them at all period. I will finish it as a stubborn bull headed lunatic who just won't give in. I know I am nuts but hey you say why and I say why not?

 

[castlepines]

I'm curious how you're reaching the conlusions you are without a way to monitor temps at the grate. Feel free to rage on and do nothing different but expect different results. I'm not sure how a pork butt is ever going to finish if the temp is <190 at the grate. Stubborn is one thing, physics is another.

 

[Rusty Kettle]

I'm curious how you're reaching the conlusions you are without a way to monitor temps at the grate. Feel free to rage on and do nothing different but expect different results. I'm not sure how a pork butt is ever going to finish if the temp is <190 at the grate. Stubborn is one thing, physics is another.

I got it wide open vents and it is humming along higher temps it got choked down a bit but I fixed that issue so now just trying to get it going.

 

[Goyo626]

I rarely foil pork amd try to cook @ 230-260f the butt usually taker 15-18 hrs with a stall around 170f and another @ 190-205f it can be extremely anxiety inducing to watch the temp just stay there for 4+hrs but you have to plan your time. I usually start cooking at 11 pm and it is usually done by 4pm. Raising the temp (as many brethren have already advised) will shorten the stall.

 

[Rusty Kettle]

Yeah I raised the temp it got choked as I had to go pick up some paperwork I needed for work tomorrow due to personal issue. Not an illness just some legal matters that are finally over. I fixed that and right now using thermapen through the grommet air temp is humming along at 250 and rising plus I took one of my folding tables and turned it into a wind break thinking maybe it might help but who knows.

 

[BrotherInArms]

So the big question is is it finally done.?

 

[retired trucker]

So the big question is is it finally done.?

Probably not until page 3. :blabla: :laugh:

Blessings,

Omar