Butt on

Don't worry about it getting to 160 - 120 is the key temperature. Your butt will only take smoke until it's about 120 degrees. How long did it take to get to 120? Do you let your temp get to 225 before you put the butts on? I would suggest getting soaking your chips in water for a half hour (chunks for 8 hours) and once your pile of coal is going pretty good, put the chips or chunks in and put the butt on. This will allow the temp of the egg to rise slowly and ensure that your meat takes a good injection of smoke while the temperature is rising to 120. The wet chips will bring the temp of your pile down a bit and start releasing smoke sooner.

After it gets to 160-170, wrap it in heavy grade saran wrap and foil and put it back on until it's 195-200. Unless you get it to this temp, the collagen and connective tissue will not melt. Once it does, it releases and the saran wrap catches it. After its 195-200, put it in a cake pan and put it in a cooler for another 4 hours or so. When you cut it out of the saran wrap, make sure you open it over a bowl so you can collect the juices. Put the juice in the refrigerator while you pull the pork, scrape the rendered fat off the top and add the juices back the pork.

I agree with Crunk- leave the temp where it is. You have at least a few more hours and you can always hold it in an insulated storage container.

I will be surprised if you dont have to bump the dome temp up to at least 250 if not 275. When you say you want to pull it off at 5, is that for a rest, or are you trying to serve at that time?

handymannyharvey wrote:

Your butt will only take smoke until it's about 120 degrees.

Actually, the butt (or a brisket) will form a smoke ring all the way up until 140. After that, you will not form any more of a smoke ring, but your meat will continue to take on smoke for the remainder of the cook.

I guess you haven't had a egg for very long :ermm: No need to soak chunks or chips in a egg. The smoke ring will continue to form up to approx 140 temp and the meat will continue to take smoke flavor for the whole cook if the chunks or chips are layered throughout the lump.

I'd say you are right on target then, but you still may have to bump the temp up the last hour or two to get to the pulling temperature. For Super Bowl, I did one about that size, put it on at about 5 am, and still had to bump the egg up to about 350 for the last hour of the cook in order to have it in the cooler to rest at 5pm so I could pull and serve at half-time. Good luck with yours!!!

After it gets to 160-170, wrap it in heavy grade saran wrap?
Collagen and connective tissue "melting"?
Cake pan?
Wet chips and chunks?
Smoke only being taken up to 120 deg?
Wrap and foil and put it back on until it's 195-200?

These parts I do not understand.