Doing 1st Butt..

jaysun29

So my question to you all is ... Im going to be doing pork butts tomorrow nite into sat.. once i get everything up to temp and the pork on the grill.. how often during the night would you suggest that I go and check on the temperature? Once an hr.. few hours?

Eggcelsior

It's up to you. I put mine on at 2200, go to bed around 2300 and get up at 0730 to check on it. It is all based on how comfortable you are with the settings. When I first started, I checked every 2-3 hrs. Now, I just wait until the meat has been on for an hour and the temps have re-stabilized.

texbagger

One tip, PartyQ guru. You will be able to sleep through with no worries.  I picked up mine last year and I now can sleep thru pork butts and brisket. I guess it depends on the price you put on a good nights sleep.  If I was only retired, I wouldn't worry about losing a little sleep! Love the Party Q, and no I don't sell them or work for them either!

henapple

If it's your first I'd get up every few hours. Nothing sucks like waking up to a dead egg.

CAT Seller

Agree with what Eggcelsior said. Get the egg stable and holding at your temp, then put butt on. Temp will drop, but should come back up to your stable temp within an hour. I would stay up and watch for an additional hour or so, just to confirm them temp, then go to bed. That was before the Guru. Now I just put it on and forget about it. The guru holds the temp for me as long as there is lump in the fire box.

shtgunal3

henapple said:

If it's your first I'd get up every few hours. Nothing sucks like waking up to a dead egg.

Or burnt meat.

Foghorn

I sleep soundly (usually about 11 - 6) without an automated temp controller. My XL egg holds temp just fine as long as I make sure my charcoal grate isn't clogged and I get it stabilized right. I did a few daytime 5-6 hour cooks to get a good feel for it before I did my first all-nighter, but once I did that I never looked back.

MrCookingNurse

Do you have a maverick? It's the cheapest form of insurance. But like others have mentioned, the egg will ride if properally set.

I got a partyQ as a gift and its very nice, don't always use it but sure feel good knowing it won't move.

I think most eggers here will recommend to learn the egg before you slap on a controller. If you can't control your egg, you'll still have problems.

Trini_in_Ottawa

+1 about using a Maverick to cook to internal temp of meat.
Time varies depending on so many different variables.
You can never go wrong if you cook to internal temp of meat...unless you place the meat probe incorrectly

Scottyboy

My first butt cook I was up every hour or so, nervous as hell.  Now I throw 'em on and go to bed.....but I do use the Maverick as an insurance policy overnight.  Most butt cooks have gone smoothly while I sleep and the Maverick alarm has not gone off overnight at all.  I usually put the butts on around 7:00pm and check 'em again around 6:30-7:00am and the temp is always within 5-10 degrees of where it was when I went to bed.  I have found the key is to make sure you have enough lump when you start (I always fill to the top of the fire ring), clean out the ashes beforehand and make sure the fire box air holes are not plugged up with small bits of lump.