Good Butt - Bad Process

Gandolf

I put two 8 pound Boston butts on my medium at 7:30 Saturday evening. Loaded Hasty Bake lump (dump and light) to almost top of fire ring. Starter cube in center of top. At about 200 I started temp control and stabalized at about 230. Added dry hickory chunks (2), plate setter, drip pan, grill, and butts. I couldn't get temp back above 200, so opened bottom vent about half way, daisey full open. Temp still not coming up much. Looked through bottom vent and saw that I had a blaze going in there, so closed both vents to approximate 225 position. Took dome thermometer inside, cleaned good and put it back. Showed temperature rise just like it should. Obviously needed the cleaning. Temp again stabalized by about 9:00 at 230. Checked at 1:00 am and dome had dropped to just over 200. Opened vents a little. Only about 210 an hour later. Opened vents little more (to settings that would normally result in abuot 350 dome). At 4:00 am dome bact to 200. Butts at 146, so not too concerned about the meat. Took everything out, stirred lump around a little, added another starter cube. Too much draft for that to work, so took it out. Opened vents all the way and temp finally rose again. Put everything back in and got it stabalized at 230. This time stayed at temp until took butts off at about 12:30 pm. Pulled Pork was great! But can't understand why I couldn't keep the lump going correctly. Used same process that I have previously. Previous cooks remained stable all night. Don't like getting up that much during the night! Any suggestions? Thanks

Unknown

Gandolf,
Sounds like wet, or moist lump.
Seth

Mike Oelrich

Seth Howard,[p] Could also be that the grate was partially clogged with ash or little pieces of lump.[p]MikeO

Gandolf

Seth Howard,
That's what I think too. Gotta be damp lump. I keep the lump in the garage, but could have been damp befor I bught it. It wasn't the grate because I completely cleaned the EGG before starting. Thanks

ColoradoCook

Gandolf,[p]Look up Elder Ward's pulled pork recipe and process. I follow his process minus the vacuum and works great. I had the same issues as you, now that I follow his advice I can go 24+ hours with hardly having to adjust. The key is a clean firebox with large pieces of lump in the bottom to keep the ash off the vent holes during the cook.[p]Later,[p]CC