? about first Pork shoulder/butt

MeatosBanditos

I recently purchased a XL BGE and would like to cook a pork shoulder or butt. Haven't purchased one yet and will probably start with a smaller one.

Regarding the egg, what can I realistically expect to get out of the cooker when it comes to time if I was cooking in the low-to-mid 200's? (Assuming I start with the lump charcoal all the way to the top of the fire ring (hope I'm labeling that part correctly.) Should I ever have to re-fill the charcoal? This seems like it would be an inconvenience but if thats my option I guess.

When I cooked ribs on Sunday, I was able to keep the temp the same for over 2 hours and then it slid down a little (like 10 degrees maybe). Is that normal or was I just doing something incorrectly? I assume that during an extended cook I'd need to add air flow at some point. Can I easily cook 8-10 hours on one fill-up of lump charcoal? I believe I've seen that as a "yes" elsewhere, but want some confirmation.

I plan on letting the platesetter get acclimated in the egg for at least a half-hour before I ever put food in. Reasonable too? I believe I've seen written that its okay for the dome thermometer to drop after you put cold food in too and if you wait it will rise back up to where you were stabilized at.

Any help, comments, or tips are very much appreciated. I plan on serving some pulled pork at my daughters birthday in a few weeks but would like to do a test run this weekend possibly.

Thanks again,
John

Mainegg

Step by step right here http://www.nakedwhiz.com/pullpork.htm I have used this a number of times and was great every time! This is the the "bible" for me when I have an egg question. I cook on a lg, md and a small, have done the pulled pork on both the lg and md with out having to refill the fire ring.get up to temp set it and just check it every hour. I have done two all nighters with no "fancy" help at all and fire has been fine. I have never used a XL but i would think you will have plenty of lump Julie

fishlessman

my large will burn 30 hours plus, full size butts take me about 14 hours at 250 dome. dont go and buy a small butt, look for a standard one as thats what you will be cooking later on and the small ones wont really give you the best cook. for practice you could also cook a picnic at half the price of a butt, they come out a little more fatty but with more flavor and cook exactly the same as a butt. skip 200 degrees, you want that dome up around 250, even a little hotter wont hurt.

vidalia1

My first comment is go to:

www.nakedwhiz.com

and read everything there is about cooking a pulled pork

2nd get a 8 -10# bone in boston butt

a smaller butt may have less fat and not be as tender...

I have a large BGE and if you build a fire correctly and get the fire steady at 250 dome you should be able to cookf 18-24 hours without touching (opening) your BGE...

others that have XL can answer some other questions better

let the butt cook until 200 degrees internal temp and then wrap for 1 -3 hours....

good luck

gdenby

Try to start with at least a 5 pounder. That size should take between 7.5 and 10 hours. You won't need to do an over-niter with that size, and it big enough that it should be nice and moist at the end.

Aim at a dome temp of 250. Lower temps are harder to maintain. If you get the dome steady at 250 for about half an hour after you put the platesetter in, the temp should only drop a bit, and should come back in half an hour.

The temperature drift you experienced isn't too bad. I can get the Egg temperature to sit still about half the time. Other times it will creep a bit as you described. Part of the reason is the meat shrinking, and giving up its moisture. Another factor can be how the fire is moving across the lump. Check every few hours, 4 at the outside.

A load of lump to the top of the fire ring will be plenty for a smallish butt. There will probably be enough lump left when the butt is done to let you cook some sides while the butt rests.

MeatosBanditos

Thanks for all the help everyone! That's a good idea to use a similar size butt to the one I'll be cooking in a couple weeks. If we had 30 people coming over, how large of a butt or maybe how many should I cook?

PS - you guys all rock, I can't believe how quickly I've received responses!!!

AZRP

3 in the 8 lb range. -RP