2nd attempt at pork butt, I think I nailed it! Pics + lessons learned included

I have been using Franklins' recipe for Boston Butt aka Pork Butt for the past couple of years, but always in a regular oven and thought I had mastered the recipe, so when I did my first attempt last week at the same thing in the XL BGE I just got last month, the meat came out dry and tough on the bottom and somewhat ok on the top / fat side.

Quick summary on Franklins' recipe -  rub equal parts salt and pepper, fat side on top @ 275° for about 5 hrs or until fat cracks, wrap in foil, return to oven until meat reaches 200°, about 5 more hours, rest 30 minutes.

I thought that the BGE would be more difficult to master for anything else than pizza, got all moody and tried to get past this failure.

Thing is, I like to experiment, try a new recipe exactly as stated and then make variations to make it mine. So I bought Lampe's recipe book and worked myself to do a 2nd try with his recipe which differs from Franklins' in that the fat side goes down from the start and then he flips it when he pours apple juice inside the foil. I also used a drip pan with water to moisten the pork.

This past Sunday I woke up early and went out for a run, got back and took out all the burnt charcoal and ashes from the BGE and placed only new lump and lit fire around 7:40 am; this time I placed both a regular dial thermometer in the grill and a needle probe fixed to a grate clip connected to my trusty probe thermometer to compare temperatures between these two and the dome thermometer in the BGE. I found out that in the beginning there is a substantial temperature difference between the dome thermometer and the ones at grate level, but after some time they settle on something pretty close. 

So the lesson here is to set initial temp control by grate level thermometers and not the fixed dome thermometer.

Here's the butt at around the 3 hour mark:



Lesson learned at the 3 hour mark - Patience will be rewarded.

This is the butt at the 8 hour mark and at an internal temperature of 170°, just before being foiled and the apple juice is added. I was a little scared because the pork looked dry and crunchy, but I guess this is what bark looks like.





Lesson learned at the 8 hour mark -  Do not leave BGE lid open because temperature will raise significantly.

So, according to Lampe's recipe, 2 to 3 hours to go and it's 4pm, so I guess this will be done just in time for dinner and nothing more to do till then. 

3 hours later pork reaches 200°, so I take it out and do an FTC.

This is the first beer I had while waiting for the pork which by now's in the FTC stage:



Two Hearted Ale by Bell's is a great beer, more of an american ale than an IPA, but great nonetheless.

This is the second beer, Racer 5 from Bear Republic out of California; this is one of the most drinkable IPA's I have tried.




Regrettably, I was very anxious and did not take a pic of the butt as I ripped the foil, but it looked awesome. The pork came out very tender and moist, the bone was pulled very easily and the aroma was awesome.

 I did take pictures of the pulled pork:





My wife and kids agreed that this was the best pork butt I had ever made, I guess this time the butt came out great because:

1. I adjusted temp control by grate level thermometers instead of the fixed dome one.
2. This is my theory - Fat side goes on top on a regular oven because the flame comes from the top, so the fat protects the meat acting as a buffer; in the BGE, the fat side goes down because the radiant heat comes from the bottom and convection from all over.

Tomorrow I will modify Lampe's recipe by substituting beer for the apple juice and using beer instead of water in the drip pan and also by spraying beer every now and then.

I will post pics and results.