What Is the Stall Temperature for Pork Butt?

Sometimes you are cooking meat, and the temperature just won’t reach the ideal temperature.

The reason you can’t just go straight to eating it is that eating undercooked meat can lead to you getting sick.

A good way to avoid this is by cooking the meat to the recommended temperature, but sometimes it doesn’t always go according to plan.

There are times when the temperature will stall during the cooking process, requiring us to intervene. One food this can happen with is pork butt.

In this article, we are going to touch on this subject, and by the end, you will know exactly what it is and how to fix it.

Contents

Definition of Pork Butt
Definition of Stall Temperature
How Do You Get Past the Stall Temperature?
The Ideal Temperature for Pork Butt
Final Thoughts

Definition of Pork Butt

Before we go into what stall temperature means, we need to figure out just what pork butt is because you can’t cook something if you don’t know what it is.

Pork butt comes from the shoulder of the pig, and the great part about this cut is that it is very inexpensive.

The thing about pork butt is that it’s from a thick part of the pig. Around the shoulder and neck area, there is a lot of muscle.

Muscle is very tough, so if you bite into it, it’s going to be very chewy. You can help lower the amount of chewiness by cooking it to make it more on the tender side.

Pork butt is simply a great food to cook on the barbecue, so if you are going to use a pork cut, consider using pork butt. So, now that you know what pork butt is, we will go into just what stall temperature is.

Definition of Stall Temperature

When plateauing happens, it means something is stalling. Normally you see this phenomenon in losing weight. Someone will be exercising and eating healthy, which will, in turn, help them lose weight.

However, eventually, you will get to the point where you will no longer be able to lose weight. No matter how hard the person works, they are just unable to lose weight.

Pork tends to stall around 150 degrees and 170 degrees Fahrenheit. It is plateauing, and the meat is not going to get any hotter.

Thankfully, there is something you can do to make sure you get past the stall temperature and keep heating your pork butt.

How Do You Get Past the Stall Temperature?

Luckily, there are things you can to do get past the stall temperature. It doesn’t matter if you can prevent it from happening at all or shorten the time it stalls for.

As long as you can get past it, then you be able to get on cooking your pork.

You can do this with the following methods:

A simple method, one that you may not have thought of before, is keeping the size of meat in mind when you are cooking it. The larger it is, the longer it can end up stalling, so try to cook on a large surface if you can manage it.
The design of the cooking device can also play a part in whether the meat stalls and for how long. You need to make sure you have a grill or smoker that has a great amount of airflow and can help encourage your pork shoulder to evaporate easily.
You can use something like a wet mop that can help brush or spritz liquid onto the meat. This helps put moisture onto the meat, which is something you want to employ because it helps with the temperature stalling.
Finally, this may seem obvious but consider buying a meat thermometer. This is one of the best ways to keep an eye on the temperature.

In the end, you could just wait it out. Eventually, the temperature stall will end, and the temperature of your pork butt will begin to rise. It is just a matter of time.

The only problem with this method is that it’s not the best for people who are on the impatient side.

If this sounds like you, just end up using one of the methods we listed above, and you will be good to go.

The Ideal Temperature for Pork Butt

Once you have gotten past the stall temperature, you need to cook the pork butt to its recommended temperature.

The USDA recommends that pork be cooked to 165 degrees. The reason for this is that red meat comes from a four-legged animal and is red in its raw form.

Pork comes from a pig which is a four-legged animal with meat that is red in its raw form.

Now if you are cooking it on the grill, you’re going to want to cook it between 195 to 205 degrees Fahrenheit.

If you are cooking it on anything with a high amount of heat, like a grill, smoker, etc., then you’re going to want to reach one of those temperatures.

If the temperature stalls, apply one of the methods, and then you will be able to cook it to the recommended temperature.

Make sure that you check the temperature with a meat thermometer. It’s not difficult to find one either in a store or online.

The same goes for being able to use it, which you’ll be able to figure out quite easily.

Final Thoughts

And here you go, all you pork butt lovers out there! Pork butt is an unbelievably delicious food to cook on your grill, and sometimes the temperature can stall despite your best efforts to prevent it from happening.

When the stall temperature hits your pork butt, it is going to be very frustrating, but if you just employ one of our methods, then you will be able to move past it.

Once you move past it, you can keep going with the cooking process and eventually eat your delicious pork butt.

So, what are you waiting for? Go out and purchase some pork butt so you can grill it up! We promise you won’t regret it.

You might also be interested in the following:

William Thomas

I have been smoking and grilling meat from an early age and enjoy sharing my knowledge and expertise through the hundreds of articles I have written about BBQ. I hope to make everyone’s BBQ journey that little bit easier.