Completed First Boston Butt...

Fairalbion

I followed the Elder Ward recipe pretty closely. The butt was a 9 pounder that I put in at 10:30 P.M. yesterday and pulled out a 6:30 P.M today (20 hours), running it most of the time in the low 230s and 240s. I woke up at 4:30 A.M. to open up the vent fractionally to get it back up from 190°. When I re-awoke at 7:30 A.M the remote told me the dome temp was at 244°; not bad. The meat temp was 192° when I finally pulled it off and the butt was absolutely delicious, the family fell on the pulled pork like ravening beasts.

By the way, we are experiencing unusually (for Atlanta) cold temperatures and high winds at the moment and I added rather more lump than normal to compensate for the increased thermal loss. I am glad I did this. Even with the egg's excellent insulation properties, you are going to use more fuel to maintain dome temp when the ambient temp is in the low 20s than would be the case if the ambient temp is in, say, the 40s. This is especially marked during extended cooking sessions in windy conditions.[p]I bet you could save fuel by building a fiberglass-filled cold weather dome blanket to cover the egg lid. I imagine something shaped like a large half-spherical orange peel with a hole in the center for the vent.[p]Thanks to all of you for your collective advice. I got the BGE in late September and am just beginning to gain confidence.

Roy Fraser

Fairalbion,
Congratulations on your first BB. I love to do them. Now that you have mastered the first one next time throw a couple more on there and you can freeze what you dont eat. Sometimes I get a hankerin for a PP sandwich and cant wait 20+ hours. Pigtail