Stampede Need help before I toss my grill

[sel1005]

Had my 590 for about 3 years now, have cooked on it a few dozen times, all sorts of meats. Was never impressed but I kept reading, trying new things, pellets, rubs, you name it.

It's been covered up all spring and with the Holiday weekend here, thought I would try again. Bought a great looking butt, marinade on it for about 12 hours, and fired it off yesterday morning at 220 with fresh pellets. Cooked for about 5 hours until inside temps were in upper 160's, but had the same result as always. Even took off grill and wrapped in butcher paper for an hour to let it rest.

Nice looking result, but sorta tough meat, dry and not much flavor. Have tried injecting in the past, and that didn't seem to impact the results either.

Any thoughts before I dump this thing and go to a stick grill? I love the rec-teq ease, set and forget, etc, but not the results after the cook.

Honestly have had much better results with my propane grill and a couple of fire boxes of chips than the 590.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[BillsCamino]

Butt...160s...didn't cook long enough...

 

[MOSmoke]

BillsCamino is right. 160’s is not near long enough. You want to shoot for about 200 degrees. By that point the connective tissues have all broken down, you can pull the bone right out and the meat pulls/shreds easily. I would also recommend wrapping in foil and allowing it to rest in an oven or towel-lined cooler for an hour or two before pulling.

For reference, I put a couple of 6 pound butts on the Bull Friday evening around 7, let them ride at 225 degrees until they hit 200 internal at about 2 yesterday afternoon. No wrap, no spritzing, no peeking (ok, I might’ve peeked once or twice). Probably the best pulled pork I’ve served up yet.

 

[SmokeOCD]

You only made it about half way through the cook before you pulled it off the grill (time-wise).

 

[cooleybird]

As above, cooking low and slow isn't about time, it's about temp. You're not cooking a naturally tough cut of meat to it's "safe" temperature, you're slowly going way past it so that all the fat and connective tissue melt mostly away. I pull butts at 202º IT if I'm paying attention, but up to 205º won't kill it. Wrap, then rest in a cooler at least 2 hours so that the juices distribute. Money every time.

 

[DesertRat]

Seems folks have given you good advice.

 

[TheRicker]

Had my 590 for about 3 years now, have cooked on it a few dozen times, all sorts of meats. Was never impressed but I kept reading, trying new things, pellets, rubs, you name it.

It's been covered up all spring and with the Holiday weekend here, thought I would try again. Bought a great looking butt, marinade on it for about 12 hours, and fired it off yesterday morning at 220 with fresh pellets. Cooked for about 5 hours until inside temps were in upper 160's, but had the same result as always. Even took off grill and wrapped in butcher paper for an hour to let it rest.

Nice looking result, but sorta tough meat, dry and not much flavor. Have tried injecting in the past, and that didn't seem to impact the results either.

Any thoughts before I dump this thing and go to a stick grill? I love the rec-teq ease, set and forget, etc, but not the results after the cook.

Honestly have had much better results with my propane grill and a couple of fire boxes of chips than the 590.

Thanks in advance for your help!

While 160 is a safe temperature to eat the pork that isn’t high enough to “melt away” the fat and connective tissues in the meat. As others have said, they take their meat to around 200 or so. That’s kind of a sweet spot on when to expect the meat to be moist and tender. But I would also encourage you to do the “poke test” too. That is, use the temperature probe to pierce into a couple of different spots on the meat. You want to get to a point where there’s little resistance to pulling that probe out of the meat. This process (getting to around 200 degrees and doing the poke test) applies to most all the tough cuts of meat you might cook…like pork butts and brisket. This does not apply to more tender and leaner cuts like tri-tip, picanha, steaks, and poultry. Poultry needs to get to around 165 and all your nice beef cuts to whatever temp you like. Most folks I know like medium rare (135-ish) to medium (145-ish). And keep in mind, all meat needs a little resting time…your hurts and briskets need a bit more resting time.

Some folks don’t wrap their low&slow meats during their cooks. Some do. From my experience and things I’ve read, folks will wrap when the meat gets to 160 and “finish it” (taking it up to 200) that way (wrapped). The “other great debate” about wrapping is whether you use aluminum foil or butcher paper. I personally use aluminum foil when I wrap ribs (which I don’t always do) and butcher paper for butts and brisket.

There are many different trains of thought on wrapping or not and, if so, what to wrap the meat in. I’m sure a number of the great bbq’ers on this forum will gladly share their experiences with you in that regard. My only suggestion to you is to start using that 590 almost every weekend or two and build up some personal experience. I think you will begin to love bbq’ing so much more as you gain confidence with it. Lastly, don’t be afraid to use this forum to bounce ideas around. The folks on this forum are very helpful and enjoy talking about their “Que”.

 

[Jim6820]

Can’t add much to the good advice provided above, but want to reinforce the thought of a good rest period before cutting/shredding. I believe it is the key to good BBQ.

 

[TheRicker]

While 160 is a safe temperature to eat the pork that isn’t high enough to “melt away” the fat and connective tissues in the meat. As others have said, they take their meat to around 200 or so. That’s kind of a sweet spot on when to expect the meat to be moist and tender. But I would also encourage you to do the “poke test” too. That is, use the temperature probe to pierce into a couple of different spots on the meat. You want to get to a point where there’s little resistance to pulling that probe out of the meat. This process (getting to around 200 degrees and doing the poke test) applies to most all the tough cuts of meat you might cook…like pork butts and brisket. This does not apply to more tender and leaner cuts like tri-tip, picanha, steaks, and poultry. Poultry needs to get to around 165 and all your nice beef cuts to whatever temp you like. Most folks I know like medium rare (135-ish) to medium (145-ish). And keep in mind, all meat needs a little resting time…your hurts and briskets need a bit more resting time.

Some folks don’t wrap their low&slow meats during their cooks. Some do. From my experience and things I’ve read, folks will wrap when the meat gets to 160 and “finish it” (taking it up to 200) that way (wrapped). The “other great debate” about wrapping is whether you use aluminum foil or butcher paper. I personally use aluminum foil when I wrap ribs (which I don’t always do) and butcher paper for butts and brisket.

There are many different trains of thought on wrapping or not and, if so, what to wrap the meat in. I’m sure a number of the great bbq’ers on this forum will gladly share their experiences with you in that regard. My only suggestion to you is to start using that 590 almost every weekend or two and build up some personal experience. I think you will begin to love bbq’ing so much more as you gain confidence with it. Lastly, don’t be afraid to use this forum to bounce ideas around. The folks on this forum are very helpful and enjoy talking about their “Que”.

Daggum spellcheck: “…your butts and briskets need a bit more resting time.”

 

[Lager1829]

Same applies to brisket and ribs. As mentioned above, cook until probe tender not a specific temperature, but typically over 200. Your Thermapen or <insert probe name> should slide in with no resistance. I call that Chef Greg probe tender, as he taught us at Academy.

 

[Greg Jones]

Ditto all the above comments. It doesn’t happen all the time here, but the comments are all correct that you didn’t cook the butt nearly long enough.

 

[pungo]

Great advice here, but you're blaming the grill you've used for 3 years for poor results, when it's been due to operator error

If you followed any one of the thousands of recipes for smoking a pork butt, they'll specify a temp closer to the 200-205 range and or probe tender where you're nowhere near that so yeah, of course it's tough

 

[sel1005]

Thanks, will try again and let you all know how things turn out.

 

[Mozekian]

BBQ might not be right for you. I mean that not in a bad way. BBQ is an art and requires study study study, all of us are trying to learn the craft and get it the best we can. If after 3 years of having a smoker you thought a 12 hour marinade on a shoulder and then cook to 165 degrees would give you anything resembling bbq, you have not been doing enough studying of the craft.

Again, I dont mean this to be, mean. It's the basics you need to learn before even firing up any grill. Buy a pork shoulder, cool. Spend 10 minutes on YouTube and see how to even approach the cook, not just wing it.

If you were to put some prep into the art, I bet you would be surprised with your results and not so quick to toss an innocent smoker to the curb.

 

[SmokeZilla]

Everyone above is giving great guidance. Sounds like you completed the first phase that takes you beyond the stall but the second phase takes you to 190-205F depending on the size, density, cooking temperature, and other factors for the butt. You definitely won’t get optimum results until you wrap at 165 or so, and then take it to the aforementioned temp range. I have seen others mistake a pork loin recipe for a pork butt recipe and they are totally different beast with different levels of fat/lean. I have a friend that got a small 8lb butt from the grocery store that was 60% fat that took 22 hours before he finally got so frustrated that he pulled it. Due to the fat content, it was still just above stall temp (~170) but did not give him the results he wanted. Don’t give up because this was a lesson we all learn to master. Your next cook will go better I’m sure.

 

[C. Keeper]

Throw the damn thing out and be done with it.
Home address and pickup day?

 

[TheMeaterator]

Lots of real good advice given here
160-165 for pork is for sliced pork like pork loins and such .. shreaded pork BBQ to 202 - 205 and you will have great BBQ

 

[Badrus]

wow is all i can say

 

[RHEINLEIN]

As above, cooking low and slow isn't about time, it's about temp. You're not cooking a naturally tough cut of meat to it's "safe" temperature, you're slowly going way past it so that all the fat and connective tissue melt mostly away. I pull butts at 202º IT if I'm paying attention, but up to 205º won't kill it. Wrap, then rest in a cooler at least 2 hours so that the juices distribute. Money every time.

Great advice! It takes time to get up to 203 ish.
Sounds like the butts are being pulled at the stall temp.

 

[WooPigFoodie]

Had my 590 for about 3 years now, have cooked on it a few dozen times, all sorts of meats. Was never impressed but I kept reading, trying new things, pellets, rubs, you name it.

It's been covered up all spring and with the Holiday weekend here, thought I would try again. Bought a great looking butt, marinade on it for about 12 hours, and fired it off yesterday morning at 220 with fresh pellets. Cooked for about 5 hours until inside temps were in upper 160's, but had the same result as always. Even took off grill and wrapped in butcher paper for an hour to let it rest.

Nice looking result, but sorta tough meat, dry and not much flavor. Have tried injecting in the past, and that didn't seem to impact the results either.

Any thoughts before I dump this thing and go to a stick grill? I love the rec-teq ease, set and forget, etc, but not the results after the cook.

Honestly have had much better results with my propane grill and a couple of fire boxes of chips than the 590.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Do what you are doing but run it all the way to 203 degrees. You cooked a pork chop here not pulled pork. You have a great system and a great plan, you just need to let it run several hours longer. When it is done the shoulder plate will pull out very easily, and your neighbors dog will be freaking out. Great luck to you!!!