What Happened to Our Pork Butt???

Gloria

Well, need some answers as to what we did wrong. Put a "whole Boston butt pork roast", 7.43 lbs. on the BGE last evening around 9:30 p.m. at 250 degrees and then brought it down to 200. It was on a rack over a drip pan. Things looked pretty good when we went to bed but around 4:45 a.m. the temp had gone down on the Egg to 175. Opened things up a bit and got it back up to 225 and went back to bed. Before leaving for the dentist around 10:00 the Egg had dropped again to below 175. Again brought it back up to 225. Got home around 1:30 p.m. and looking forward to a pork sandwich but the lump had died out, so have had to remove butt, get the fire going again and am going to put it back on to finish up. I don't mind the long cook but I am concerned about the dang fire going out in the Egg. Doesn't seem like it will need too very much more cooking, but when I stick a fork in it, you can easily tell that it needs to be on the fire some more. Also inserted an instant sensor and it confirmed what the fork had indicated. (The husband had a phone call when getting the fire re-started and the Egg got up to 700 and now he is having trouble getting it below 400!) It's Hell getting old!!!

Wise One

Gloria, it's hell getting old and it's hell trying to hold a BGE to 200. I personally think 250 is a fine temeprature. Sometimes I can get it to hold at 240 or so but lower than that is a challenge. I try to start my fire and then as it gets up to about 225 I try to shut the vents down. If I can get it to stabilize anywhere between 225 and 250, I consider myself lucky. The other thing is: Fill that firebox COMPLETELY up with lump especially if you have a small or medium.

DavidR

Gloria,[p]The problem is that you didn't have the dome temp stabilized before you went to bed, then fell victim to the "see-saw" method. [p]Get the temp rock-steady at 250* and leave it there. The butt will cook just fine at that temp. Also, 250*, it is a lot easier to stabilize. The lower the temp that you want to maintain, the harder it is to maintain. [p]Fill your egg with lump up to the fire-ring, and light it, put a Polder in the meat, so that you don't have to lift the lid. Leave your vents wide open until the dome reached 225*, and then set them so that temp SLOWLY (over the space of an hour) ramps up to 250*, and then close the slide daisy further until it doesn't rise any more. If you see the temp start to fall back down, move your slide/daisy (leave that bottom vent alone) in SMALL increments and wait about a half an hour to see the results, or else that "see-saw" will "git" ya.[p]Remember, the WORST thing that you can do when your temp falls at 4 o'clock in the morning, is to swing open the vents to bring them back up, close them again, and then go back to bed. If you seriously want to save your meat, then you have no choice but to stay up.[p]Make sure that the dome temp stays rock steady at least TWO HOURS 'before' you go to bed, or you'll be a cussin later.[p]Good luck on your next go-round.

Painter

DavidR,
Amen, and the only other thing that I do is poke the coals from underneath the grate before turning in, just to make sure holes are open to air flow.
Painter

jwitheld

Gloria,i have two words for you "clean your fire box"

ravnhaus

DavidR,
Are you leaving your intake vent full open or are you closing it down?
I have had problems with the all nighter myself. I was closing both vents down fairly tight . It would be stable for quite a while but then lose heat about 3:00am.
As I am usually very tired at that time I would like to solve this problem once and for all!

DavidR

ravnhaus,[p]I don't know what you mean by "intake" vent. If you are talking about the bottom vent, for a steady long lasting 250*, I have the bottom vent about 1/2 to 3/4th's of an inch open. On the slide/daisy, I have the slide closed, with the daisy partially open. It is the daisy that you want to use for fine-tuning the temp. Leave everything else alone.

ravnhaus

I was closing my "bottom vent" down more like an 1/8 inch or so. I will try a little more open next time.
Thanks!

Gloria

ravnhaus,
Thanks to all of you for your input. I have just gotten home from my Bunco night and had the absolute best pork sandwich I have ever eaten in my whole, entire, adult or childhood life. It ended up cooking a total of 21 hours; however, some of that time the temp was so low that it really was not cooking. We will try for a 250 temp next time which will probably cut the cooking time down. Glad we did a trial run before having a crowd of hungry people waiting for the meat! All of your comments are greatly appreciated. Nothing like experience, is there? We just love this ol' "Aig".

Harry

DavidR,
In your text you mention the vents - do you leave the bottom vent wide open during the entire cook? - or do you shut it down when the temperature gets to 225?[p]Thanks - still looking for the best method to stabilize the egg.[p]Harry

DavidR

Harry,[p]For a setting of 250*, leave your vents wide open until the dome temp reaches approx. 225*, then close the bottom vent to the point where you have about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch wide gap left open.[p]Think of your bottom vent as coarse tuning, and your top slide/daisy as fine tuning. You use the bottom vent to establish a range of temperature. Then use your slide/daisy to fine-tune the temp WITHIN that range.[p]

Harry

DavidR,
Thanks, David. That will be a big help.
Harry