The Pork Butt Stall Explained

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If you've ever smoked a pork butt, you've probably watched the internal temperature climb steadily for several hours, only to suddenly stop moving.

You check the thermometer again.

Then you check it again a little later.

An hour passes, and it still hasn't changed very much.

Welcome to the stall.

Almost every pitmaster has experienced this moment, and almost every beginner wonders whether something has gone wrong. The good news is that nothing is wrong at all. The stall is a completely normal part of cooking large cuts of meat, and once you understand what's happening, it becomes a lot less stressful.

If you're new to smoking pork butt, I recommend starting with my complete guide on how to smoke a pork butt from start to finish before diving into the details of the stall.

What Is the Pork Butt Stall?

The stall is simply a period during the cook when the internal temperature rises very slowly or appears to stop rising altogether.

For most pork butts, this happens somewhere between 150°F and 170°F (66°C to 77°C), although the exact temperature isn't nearly as important as understanding what's taking place.

Some stalls last less than an hour, while others seem to drag on for several hours. Every pork butt is different, which is why it's impossible to predict exactly how long any individual stall will last.

The important thing to remember is this.

The pork hasn't stopped cooking.

Why the Stall Happens

The stall is caused by something called evaporative cooling.

As the pork cooks, moisture moves from the inside of the meat to the surface. Once it reaches the surface, that moisture begins evaporating into the air inside your smoker.

Evaporation requires energy, and that energy comes from the heat entering the pork.

For a while, the cooling effect created by evaporation nearly matches the heat your smoker is supplying. As a result, the internal temperature appears to stop climbing even though the pork continues cooking the entire time.

It's very similar to the way sweat cools your body on a hot day.

As long as moisture continues evaporating, it helps offset some of the heat that's trying to warm the meat.

Eventually, as the surface dries and the cooking process continues, evaporation slows enough that the internal temperature begins climbing again.

How Long Does the Stall Last?

Unfortunately, there's no timer you can set.

The length of the stall depends on several factors, including the size of the pork butt, your cooking temperature, humidity, airflow inside the smoker, and even the amount of moisture on the surface of the meat.

Cooking at 225°F (107°C) usually produces a longer stall than cooking at 250°F (121°C) or 275°F (135°C) simply because there's less heat available to overcome the cooling effect of evaporation.

That's one reason many backyard cooks prefer smoking pork butt somewhere around 250°F instead of lower temperatures.

If you're still deciding which cooking temperature is right for you, my guide on the best temperature for smoking pork butt compares the advantages of each approach.

Should You Wrap During the Stall?

This is where barbecue opinions begin to differ.

Some pitmasters never wrap because they enjoy the firm bark that develops during a longer, uninterrupted cook. Others wrap almost every pork butt because they appreciate the shorter cook time and the additional moisture retention.

Both approaches can produce outstanding barbecue.

Leaving the pork unwrapped allows the bark to continue developing while the smoke keeps working on the exterior, but it also means you'll spend more time waiting for the stall to pass.

Wrapping in foil traps moisture around the pork, greatly reducing evaporation and allowing the internal temperature to begin rising again much sooner. The tradeoff is that the bark softens because of the steam trapped inside the foil.

Butcher paper falls somewhere between those two methods. It shortens the cook while allowing the bark to retain more of its texture than foil typically does.

If you'd like a detailed comparison of all three approaches, my guide on wrapping pork butt explains when each method makes the most sense.

Can You Prevent the Stall?

Not completely.

The stall is simply part of how large cuts of meat cook, so trying to eliminate it entirely usually creates more problems than it solves.

You can, however, reduce its impact.

Cooking at about 250°F (121°C) instead of 225°F will usually shorten the stall, and wrapping the pork once the bark has developed to your liking can reduce it even further.

The biggest mistake is dramatically increasing the smoker temperature out of frustration. Large temperature swings rarely improve the final product and can negatively affect bark development.

Patience almost always produces better barbecue.

How Do You Know the Stall Is Over?

Eventually you'll notice the thermometer begin climbing again.

At first the increase may be slow, but before long the pork will continue making steady progress toward its finished temperature, which for most pork butts falls somewhere around 195°F to 205°F (91°C to 96°C).

Remember, though, that the thermometer is only telling you when it's time to start checking for tenderness.

The pork isn't finished because it reaches a certain number.

It's finished because it has become probe tender.

If you're not yet comfortable judging doneness that way, my guide on how to know when pork butt is done walks you through the process step by step.

Final Thoughts

The stall isn't a mistake, a malfunction, or a sign that your smoker has stopped working.

It's simply one more stage of cooking a large, collagen-rich cut of meat.

When it happens, resist the urge to panic, crank the heat, or assume you've done something wrong. Keep your smoker running steadily, decide whether wrapping fits your cooking style, and let the pork continue doing what it naturally does.

Before long, the temperature will begin climbing again, and you'll be on your way to a tender pork butt that's ready for its final rest before pulling.