after 15 good butts, I ruined one

[40 caliber]

I think it would be nice if it came with an extra probe. i already bought one of those as a back up. With an Eagle scout in the house one has to "be prepared"  (that  would be my son, not me)

I will say it is  problematic to the user to have 2 probes. when i first got the 3D, i used the maverick to test the box temp and the meat to the 3D.

what ended up happeining was there was enough difference between the 2, i had no idea what the  temp was 

now i just check with the 3D and leave it at that.

[40 caliber]

I just tried another 7.5lb butt . trying to figure out the  fast cook times. i am not really sure but  this  one was moving fast as well. i brined it for 25 hours ( just when i got around to pulling it out) then i applied the rub and put it in the smoker at 235 with an outside temp of 30 degrees F. It was 830pm and i figured it was at least an 8 hours smoke, all woudl be ok. within 3 hours the temp was already at 155 and i was getting concerned i was going to have  a repeat of the last time. I  opened the door and repositioned the probe. when i close the door, i turned the  temp down to 215 for the night. the 3D was trying to correct for the rush of cold air and jumped to 275!  it then settled  in to 215. i woke up at 130 and 330 am to check on it and it was staying steady below 180. i pulled at 5am  and about 9 hours. at 193.

if i had not turned it down this would have been a 6-8 hour cook. doesn't that sound fast? could brining really sped it that much? i usually get 11+ hours at 235 on a 7lb but. I am not sure why these last couple seem to be going so quick.

by the way, the butt was perfect and pure heaven

[ibbones]

Tom, I have had the same thing happen to me.  I brine from anywhere 4 to 30ish hours then a good rinse, dry, and rub.  I put the butts (usually around 8.5-9.5 pounds) in the smoker about midnight and they are ready the next afternoon.  I had one treated the same as all the others and my IT hit about 6:30am.  WAY faster then any others I had smoked.  It was good but like you I wondered if brining longer had anything to do with the short time.

[40 caliber]

thanks Michael. i guess that's what keeps it fun!

[SconnieQ]

155 is no time to panic. Meat rises quickly in the beginning. Rising to 155 in that amount of time is not at all unusual. You were no where near the stall. I think if you had just left it alone, without opening the door, turning it down, etc., it would have ended up completing the cook in about the same amount of time. Once it got to 165 or so, it would have stopped rising so quickly. It would probably sit in the 165-180 range for SEVERAL hours, probably not going up more than and few degrees, and the temp might even go down for a while. This is one of the things I see most commonly, is panic at the quick rise in the first few hours.

[40 caliber]

you may be right  Sconnie. all i can say is i lost my last pork butt on a similar timeline.  (beginning of this post) . was i gun shy ? yes.  Had i done  15 before without a problem ? yes....   i either need to throw them in at midnite so i am sure there is no chance or smoke them all day long so i can check them

[Tman]

I had simular issues with my PID (major temp flux, auto shut down, fast cook) and went through the troubleshooting tips listed in this forum and eventually got it moving forward. It was a little scary  because I had six turkeys smoking at one time which I know could had contributed to my problem as well.

[40 caliber]

I had simular issues with my PID (major temp flux, auto shut down, fast cook) and went through the troubleshooting tips listed in this forum and eventually got it moving forward. It was a little scary  because I had six turkeys smoking at one time which I know could had contributed to my problem as well.

so what was your particular issue?

[Tman]

I had major temp flux, auto shut down, fast cook etc. I never really figured it out exactly but have had the same issues again.