Have you ever underestimated how long something should take to complete

[Big House]

Smoked a pork butt on the new smoker yesterday and today. Yes, it took almost two days. 7lb butt @ 220 degrees. For some reason I had a complete brain fart on the estimated time. Started at 10:30 yesterday morning hoping it would be done in 8-9 hours. Never even looked it up to see how long it would take. At 02:00 this morning, the internal temp was 172 degrees. At 07:00 it finally reached 195. 95% of the fat had rendered down and the meat fell apart, less the bark that was made. I wasn't about to put it in the fridge until this evening, so I had pulled pork and green beans for breakfast.

 

[John6185]

Family who partake in smoked meats have no idea how much time is invested and sleep lost in smoking meats.

 

[Big House]

Family who partake in smoked meats have no idea how much time is invested and sleep lost in smoking meats.

I did plan on not having family or friends over, thank goodness for that.

 

[TwoShoots]

Everything happens for a reason. Sounds like the best breakfast ever! Go where Jesus leads you, my child!

 

[Aries]

Are you kidding? I underestimate the time for almost everything I do....

 

[TerryMiller]

Are you kidding? I underestimate the time for almost everything I do....

Troof...

...and with 79-YO just around the corner, it will take even longer.

 

[Shoot Summ]

That is a long time, I would check the actual box temp, I bet it isn't 220, or isn't keeping 220 consistently. I can finish a 10lb butt at 225 in 10-11 hours, if I need to shorten it I ramp the temp up to 250-275 after 5-6 hours.

 

[Perplexed]

Like @Aries said, but better - every single time. It’s so bad I have to estimate how long it’ll take, then double it.

And it still takes longer each time.

 

[Big House]

That is a long time, I would check the actual box temp, I bet it isn't 220, or isn't keeping 220 consistently. I can finish a 10lb butt at 225 in 10-11 hours, if I need to shorten it I ramp the temp up to 250-275 after 5-6 hours.

Like you, I thought that was an issue too. Was not the case. It was within 2 degrees.

 

[mtnboomr]

Yes, at 220-250° it should average out around 1 hour per pound of meat. And that's exactly what my cast iron smoker will do.

As Shoot Summ said above, it's likely your box isn't actually at 220°. Get an oven thermometer and set in the box, run the temp up to 220° by the exterior thermometer, then open the smoker and compare temps.