Picnic at 175 after 24 hours??

dennis
try to pull the bone out. if it comes away clean you are home. failing that try crutching it in foil but it sounds like a nasty plateau and for me crutching has helped break thru that
just an idea
jack

Like jack says,try pulling a bone.

If it pokes tender,it may be.

Lots of folks will just take picnics to around 180� and slice them.

Jack--great call! After I read your reply last night I pulled it out and all the fat off the surface had rendered out. I wiggled the bone and it was very loose--it twisted and pulled right out. All the sections came apart easily as did the other bones.

That baby was ready--maybe overcooked a tad but still very moist and sweet. And the temp was consistent throughout. I'm not sure why the temp wouldn't rise--maybe due to the extended cook and subsequent loss of moisture? Either way I'm sure glad you reminded me of the "pull-the-bone" technique.

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On a sidenote, since the drip pan I use is rather small I had to empty it once during the cook to prevent it from spilling over. I noticed that during the first half of the cook most (90%) of the drip pan was full of juice--not fat (it didn't congeal even in the below-freezing temps). But the second half of the cook rendered 95% fat and only a little juice.