9.5 # butt in 7hrs??????

TNmike

Yep, I did a 9.5# butt in 7hrs, but not on purpose!! The story:

10:00 PM-fire up the XL BGE
10:20 PM-hook up the DigiQII and set pit temp to 250*
10:30 PM-put in plate setter, drip pan, and grid.
11:00 PM-put 9.5# butt on and install meat probe.
11:20 PM-check temps. pit at 260*, pit temp. a ittle higher than set temp. but not too unusual.
11:30 PM-go to bed
06:00 AM-get up-I'll go out and check how butt is cooking-- The DigiQ alarm is going off- What the L? It's only been on 7hrs. Check temps.-pit temp. is 350* !!! meat temp is 200*. Holy crap what is going on??? Open dome-this don't look good- check meat temp in several places, temps 198*-203*. Maybe I can salvage something, so- foil, towel wrap, and into cooler for rest. I go back out to check what was going on. One of the hinges on the XL was stuck and there was a 1/2 " gap between the dome and base near the one hinge and the lump in that area was glowing red.
After things cooled off I loosened the bolts and the dome sat back where it was supposed to be. Tightened bolts and everything is working fine again.
I guess when I put the butt on and closed the dome the hinge stuck and didn't close all of the way and I didn't notice it in the dark.
I was able to salvage the butt but did have to remove some of the overly dark bark (read burnt) but thanks to the forgiveness of butts the meat was still very moist.

A couple of pics, 1st is what I saw when I opened the XL and then the meat after the rest, notice there is juices in the bottom of the foil.