First Pork Shoulder

DGarner211

Slightly ambitious for a new owner, but I'm stabilizing the Egg now with only a Partagas black and a glass of Fireball to keep me company. It's hanging around 240 with the vents nearly shut. Im hoping it won't climb much above 250 or so or it might be a long night.

Here's a pic:

500

Good luck on getting the first one under your belt. It gets easier. You may even get comfortable enough to get some sleep.

theyolksonyou

If you get it stable and you filled it all the way up. I mean top of the fire ring up. Put the meat on, watch it for an hour, then sleep easy. Although, I will say 275 is easier to maintain.

what size egg?

DGarner211

It's a large. Not quite to the top of the fire ring but close. To the top in the middle, about halfway up the fire ring at the edge. I put a few chunks of pecan wood in there for smoke. Keeping my fingers crossed.

theyolksonyou

I cooked a brisket on my large wed night. 12 hrs at 265 ish and it never moved. Just set it and relax, you should be fine. Don't chase when you put the meat in. The temp will drop, but if you leave the vents alone it will come back.

DGarner211

On the grill at 11:15 PM. Hoping to be done by early afternoon.

theyolksonyou

what's the weight?

theyolksonyou

Also, wrap that plate setter in heavy dutY foil to save yourself some cleaning heartache down the road.

Jeepster47

You might consider wrapping the probe leads loosely in tin foil and aligning them with the plate setter leg. That will keep the smoke gunk off the leads and protect them from the heat/flame. Make a tin foil tube around the leads.outside the egg. Then you can quickly raise the lid, slide the tin foil up to the probes, swing the leads over the plate setter leg, and close the lid in no time,

Philly35

The temp won't go too high on you overnight if the vents are barely open but if it's not open enough, it can go out. A maverick is a good friend, a pit controller is even better.

DGarner211

I have a Maverick 733 on it now. It's about a 9 pounder. 9.1 I believe. Oddly, the temp shot up to about 280 after I put it on. I thought it would go down. I'm watching it until it stabilizes. I didn't have the dome open long, but maybe it was too long.

I'll definitely wrap the leads next time. Rookie mistake. Platesetter too. Thanks for the tips!

theyolksonyou

Fresh air stoked the fire. Don't chase. You should be in good shape for finish in the early afternoon depending on where it settles. If early FTC. If late, bump the temp to 350.

DGarner211

6:45 AM. Temps dropped to about 212 overnight (and since my low alarm was set to 200, I slept like a baby), so I opened her up to check the fire and bumped the petals open just a hair more. Maybe a quarter inch instead of a half inch. Temps are now SLOWLY climbing up to the 240 range. At 235 and still climbing 40 min later. Butt is at 147 and holding. Now to wait out the stall.

grege345

What time are you planning on eating?

DGarner211

We're going to eat some today when it's done, but we'll warm up the rest while watching football tomorrow.

Jeepster47

If it starts getting late and you're not up to an acceptable IT and folks start telling you to bump it up to 350 or so, listen to them.  I just went through the same cook last week ... first time also ... the good advise was to bump it up.  The pulled pork tasted great and the cook was finished in a reasonable time.

Looking good.  Don't forget that there is another shorter stall in the 190 degree range ...

anton

Good choice for one of your first cooks, butts are forgiving, I predict you will be eating porky goodness soon!
:-bd

DGarner211

I got the stall from hell. It took from about noon to now to get from 160 to 180, and it's still going 2 degrees every 20 min or so. Hoping we're in the home stretch now.

grege345

You can always bump to 275-300. Won't hurt a thing. Low temp cooks with protein ready @200° takes a looooong time.

DGarner211

I might bump it after a while. It's at 253 right now and seems to moving better, but still slow.

anton

You are in the home stretch, expect porky goodness soon, post the finish pics so we can praise them!!

DGarner211

Finished product, nearly 19 hours later.

Dyal_SC

Beautiful!!

grege345

Did you cook to temp or buttah probe or bone wiggle?

theyolksonyou

Looks good, how'd it taste?

anzyegg

That came fantastic....great job and welcome...

DGarner211

Haven't tasted it yet. It's resting now. We cooked to temp (195) and then probed to check. The bone didn't wiggle much but everything around it does. I think it's just the way the butt was cut - the bone has an odd flare on it.

Thanks folks! Hoping it tastes as good as it looks.

DGarner211

Man, it's fantastic. Finished product.

Hawg Fan

Heck yeh! You nailed it!

Jeepster47

Congrats!

XC242

Nail'd It!! Congratulations and welcome!