Scale of 1-10 butt was 4 because fat cap glued to grate.

OldBull

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73
Location
Swampy and Sunny
Grill(s) owned
  1. Trailblazer
Good Morning,

My cook was going well except the fat cap glued to the grate, trying to use a wide spatula to loosen it broken it open and all the juices ran out. It also kind of contoured around the grates rods. The skin uneatable, why I don't know. At the last part of the cook I was trying to lower the heat to extend the cook a little, the bull reacted opposite to lowering to 220 then LO . It went directly to 295 and only came down to 276 before I pulled it. That high heat may have been culprit to all the troubles. The skin was leathery, I will probably not use mustard / mollasses on a long cook again. The meat was OK but stringy, probably a result of not having the proper rest. The meat also cooled very quickly on the plate, probably because of a lack of liquid. Lessons learned, life goes on.

Next time I will wrap, use higher heat, and use a more popular rub.

Have you ever had anything stick to the grate ??
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You didn’t mention what your final internal temp was, but I’m assuming you cooked to 200* plus?

As a couple of suggestions, the mesh grill mats are nice for dealing with a sticking fat cap. I’ve also never cooked low and slow with a wet sauce like molasses or even BBQ sauce. Perhaps that contributed to the sticking and the leathery skin? I also have learned that chasing temps is rarely successful. I set mine at 235* and let it run at that temp until done, IT of 205*.

I do spritz with a 50/50 combo of apple cider vinegar and apple juice every couple hours, wrap in pink paper at the stall, but no other changes. I understand that some bump the temp up at the stall to help force it through, and I believe that is perfectly acceptable, but I wouldn’t then lower it again after it’s through the stall.
 
The pull temp was just over 200, the probe was buttery soft. The meat was nice and soft but a little dry from draining when it broke open, I could hear it all sizzling on the bottom tray. It basically fell apart as I lifted it as well. Next time I will wrap just for that purpose.
 
I would say it was the molasses. That stuff can turn into an epoxy like finish after cooking for a while. I wouldn't recommend it early on in the cook, plus it could lead to a burnt flavor. By the very nature of fat, the cap shouldn't stick to the point of falling apart.
 
A month or so ago I was experiencing the same temperature issues as you. RT customer service had me lower the feed rate to 3.0. That greatly improved my ability to maintain lower temperatures, but I still had a couple of short duration spikes. RT attribute that to blended pellets, as some wood types burn hotter than others. I can’t confirm or deny that that was the cause - I’ve since replaced the controller and so far it has been very steady.

As far as your pork butt, I use a mustard/molasses binder too and never had an issue, but I put the butt either on a grilling tray or in a foil pan. I wrap at 165-170 and it always comes out good.
 
Thanks for the help all. Clm65, was this a warranty new controller ?? Also Clm65, when you wrap in tray it just covered and sealed right, youdon't get the butt wrapped tightly, correct ??
 
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Call from recteq recieved in 5 minutes from email... Wow !!!!!!! auger lowered from 65 to 30.

I should add the rest was 2 1/2 hours, wrapped in cooler with towels, smoking hot when I pulled it apart.
 
Thanks for the help all. Clm65, was this a warranty new controller ?? Also Clm65, when you wrap in tray it just covered and sealed right, youdon't get the butt wrapped tightly, correct ??
I bought my trailblazer in December 2018. The controller at that time did not have the little antenna on the front. I guess when they revamped the RT app a few months back, the alarm features no longer worked on the older controller. So they sent me a new controller under warranty (still within the 2 year warranty period).

As far as wrapping goes, I usually use a grill tray (which is pretty flat) and wrap the butt tightly. But on the few occasions that I used a foil pan, I just covered the pan so it was more like I tented it. Not sure if this is a right or wrong way, but it came out good.
 
Call from recteq recieved in 5 minutes from email... Wow !!!!!!! auger lowered from 65 to 30.

I should add the rest was 2 1/2 hours, wrapped in cooler with towels, smoking hot when I pulled it apart.
Based on my experience, that should be a big improvement. As you are aware, ReqTeq has great customer service. Quick background on the controller replacement I discussed above...I tried to call RT, but only got their answering machine. I didn’t leave a message. An hour or so later I got a call from them saying there was a missed call from my phone number, and asked me if I still had any questions. I’ve never heard of a company calling back missed calls.
 
My last butt stuck to the grate too, fell apart a little when I first tried to lift it. I flipped over the spatula and scraped under the butt to free it up. I was thinking of spraying the grate before the next cook. I had just cleaned the grate by baking it in the gas grill, so it may have been too clean. I also did not wrap it so it sat in the same place for almost 17 hours @ 225.

I've also had my temp bounce up like you had right after adjusting it. I used the phone for the adjustment and thought it might have something to do with the wifi. Coming from a Charcoal smoker short temperature variations don't bother me, I don't think they effect the cook. Short being something like 5 minutes to get back to the right temp. You didn't say how long yours was at 295/276.

I've not heard of using something sweet like molasses, was that used as a binder for the rub? I've used mustard and had no problems. Normally I don't use a binder on butts.

Most rubs have sugar in them, that might help meat stick to the grate. I've been using Magic Dust, or salt free Memphis Dust if my wife is watching.
 
Hmmm where to begin, i skimmed many of the answers so if some of this was already said my apologies. Ive never had a fat cap stick but ive never really had a fat cap. Most of that gets taken off because you cant get flavor and ideally salt past it. Sugar is great and a detriment at the same time. I have a heavy brown sugar rub i use on brisket and because of all the sugar it forms a hard crusty bark. It works for brisket not so much for butts. You can use the sugar but use it at the end as a final baste. I suspect this is the root of the skin issue. As mentioned misting helps here as well.

In regard to breaking fat cap and having all the juice come out, though that is what you saw, that didnt effect the outcome of the moisture of the finished product. What you simply saw is all the juice that slowly cooked out and got stuck between the butt and the cap. If you wish to save any or all of that cook over a pan. In regards to how it turned out, i suspect the butt didnt cook long enough to really break everything down. Yes you can cook to 200 or 205 or even 190ish if you cook it long enough. If you get to any of those temps to fast the collagen, fat and fibers dont have the needed time to break down sufficiently enough. Probing is a great indicator when you go against the grain, however you can very easily fool yourself if you happen to probe with the grain. Anyways, said alot there so will stop now or ill distract myself and go on for far to long ;-).
 
Fat and collegen definetaly broke down, I remember pulling one small chunk of pillow soft fat and that's it. The small drippings bucket was 3/4 of an inch from running over. I also sprizt it which it may not have needed. I think had I seperated the skin from the meat I would have given it higher numbers, and no molasses probably higher yet. In fact, this evenings sandwich was very good, not one hint of leftover pork flavor. Of course the leftovers had been seperated better than the day before, knowing the skin was not "little bark bits" made a big difference being left out. The day after score 6.5 . When I lifted it out the entire butt collapsed, the bone came loose and I even lost a small piece on the ground. I had a wide spatula and I did turn it upside down, but the butt was very soft. This was also a Winn Dixie $10 butt, one single piece, definetaly shoulder.
 
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The "skin" is not meant to speak of the animal skin rather the layer created by the sugar/mollasses. It was definetaly a butt, some use the term interchangeable by I understand it is different even though there is part of the shoulder on it, it was a boston butt.

Thanks for all the help folks, my next butt cook will cetainly be better due to your help.

@padlin00 i keep my grates clean also. cleaned after every cook
 
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The "skin" is not meant to speak of the animal skin rather the layer created by the sugar/mollasses. It was definetaly a butt, some use the term interchangeable by I understand it is different even though there is part of the shoulder on it, it was a boston butt.

Thanks for all the help folks, my next butt cook will cetainly be better due to your help.

@padlin00 i keep my grates clean also. cleaned after every cook
We call this outer layer bark. ;)
 
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Trust me, this was not bark, it was leather ! ! !
I agree with the other posts about the molasses causing your sticking and leathery surface, this can also happen with rubs that contain lots of sugars.
For cooks like this when pulling I trim the fat cap use cheap yellow mustard as a rub binder apply the rub let it sit for about a hour before putting on the grill at 225. When it hits the stall I wrap in pink butcher's paper until internal temperature is 203 ish and it probe's nicely, I might raise the grills temperature to 250 to 275 if time is getting tight but only after it's wrapped to try to push it through the stall. Remove it from the grill and into a warm cooler for at least a hour, more time in the cooler is better it will keep it warm and allow the juices to redistribute. I have found these cuts of meat butt's or shoulders are the easiest and most forgiving cooks to do if you keep it simple.
 

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