Can't seem to get the temp up on my WSM - first cook today

So I got up this morning at 6am to prepare everything and get the pork butts on. They're 4.5-5.5lb each (4 of them). I filled the round charcoal thing on the WSM with charcoal up to the top, with a few pieces of wood buried in it, then I put 2 more pieces of wood (hickory) on top and dumped 40 briquettes from my Weber charcoal chimney on top (they were all just about hitting the full grey mark).

One issue I ran into is the 2009 water pan that came with my WSM is too big, I couldn't stick it in the center section because it smushed down right on top of the charcoal and wouldn't fit! Good thing I had the brinkmann charcoal pan standing by, so I used that for the water instead (hot water).

Anyway, I had all 4 vents bottom and top open 100% and left it that way. About 2 hours into the cook the temperature still hadn't gotten much above 210 (at least according to the temp gauge that came on the WSM) and it was actually dropping back down to 205, so I lit up another 20 briquettes and after they were just starting to turn grey I shoveled them into the WSM on top of the existing coals.

Anyway, temp started to come up to about 235 and so I moved the bottom vents to 50% in anticipation of it getting much hotter. About 30 minutes later the temp was back down to 215 so I opened all 3 vents to 100% again. It's now been sitting with all vents at 100% for another 1 1/2 hours and the temp has been sitting at exactly 220 for the last 1 1/2 hours - it isn't changing at all.

I'm guessing that is probably hot enough to finish the butts (though they need to be off the smoker by 5:30 or so to be ready for dinner tonight), but I'm wondering, what if I needed to cook something hotter? Is it too much water in the water pan that is causing the issue? I've never used charcoal before in my life so I'm not even sure what it's supposed to 'look like' when it burns. When I open the side panel on the WSM the top charcoal is grey, the bottom charcoal is still black - it doesn't look like any of the charcoal is actually doing anything but I suppose it must be or it wouldn't stay at 220, no?

The Brinkmann charcoal pan has a full 3 gallons of water in it (or however much it holds). Any tips on what I should be doing at this point? Should I just leave everything at 100% and keep it that way the rest of the cook (assuming the temp doesn't go up more)? I don't have a way to measure the temp inside of the smoker other than the thermometer it came with embedded in the lid, so I don't know how accurate it is. I was planning on opening the smoker around 5 hours in (so in 1 hour) and flipping the meat plus moving it between top and bottom rack (swapping the meat from top to bottom and vice versa - right now the smaller butts are on the top). At that time I will put a remote meat thermometer into the smallest butt to keep an eye for 195 temperature.

Any advice at this point would be very appreciated - I'm trying to learn as much as possible on my first attempt to make my next one much smoother!

I figured I should add - it's about 65 out right now and there is 0 wind which is probably helping to keep the charcoal from getting too hot - just wanted to add that in in case it makes a big difference.

Well I guess I spoke too soon - now suddenly the temperature just went bam up to 245/250 in 15 minutes I dropped vents to 33% and we'll see what happens.

No more smoke is coming out of the smoker though, not sure if it matters at this point since it's been on for 5 hours at this point. I just turned the meat and sprayed apple juice on both sides, and moved top to bottom and bottom to top, inserted a thermometer in the smallest butt (it's currently at 157 internal after 5 hours). Have the alarm set to 190 internal and then I'll move the thermo to the mid-sized butt and go from there.

Hopefully all will end up well, this meat is for my dad's 60th birthday party tonight, and it's my first smoke, 18 people counting on some good meat so if it turns out horrible I might have to head to the local BBQ joint and buy some pulled pork from behind the counter!

Looks like you are answering you own questions! One thing to do is to wait a bit before assembling the middle section and putting the dome on the WSM. Once you've got the cooker assembled and you're having trouble getting it up to temp, open your vents to 100%, then prop open the door a bit and/or off set the dome by 1/2 inch or so. That gets more air circulating through the smoker so the coals start to catch up and the temps come up.

The biggest thing is to try not to chase temps. It's not crucial that your temp be exactly at 250, or 275 or whatever you are aiming for. 10 - 15 degrees either way isn't going to make too much of a difference.

You didn't say when you put your meat on- whether you put it on when you assembled the smoker or if you put it on after you started to get near your target temps, but if you added it at the beginning of the cook, it'll take the cooker temp a while to come up to your target since you're heating the meat. Similarly, if you bring the smoker up to temp first, then add the meat, you're going to get a decrease in the temps for a while after you add the meat.

Also, you didn't say if you used hot or cold water in the water pan. I don't use a water pan any more; I use the clay saucer IN the water pan instead. If you used tap water or water from your outdoor faucet, you are going to use a hot of heat warming up the water, so that can have an effect on the temps until the water gets heated up.

If you're worried about getting the butts done by dinner time, foil them and put them back on the smoker- that'll give you a boost.

Just remember - serve no swine before it's time!

Pat

Good news! The biggest of the butts just came off the smoker right on time! Just finishing up some ABTs before I leave to take everything over to the family's house

The Kingsford charcoal is just about gone, one load, lasted about 12 hours in total (probably could stretch it almost to 13). I'm pretty impressed. Next time I think I will put near-boiling water in and not put any meat in the smoker until the temp comes up a bit, I think that will help regulate the temperature a bit better earlier in the process.

The Mr. Browns rub is a lot spicier than I thought it would be. I think I'm going to have to scrub one of the butts clean for "some" of my family members as they can't handle the heat

Thanks for the advice Pat!

Congratulations on a successful cook. Yes, Mr. Brown is pretty spicy - a lot of pepper in there.

You could take one and set the "outside meat" separate from the "inside meat" when you pull the meat. That'll give you some less seasoned meat for the mild-minded family members, but they don't know what they're missin!

Pat

So? What was the final verdict on your Q?

Pat

Everyone absolutely loved the pulled pork. I ended up not separating any of the bark and just told everyone it was peppery and spicy and if they didn't want spice to avoid the bark, which worked well. The meat was pretty much melt-in-your-mouth tender. I loved it. The Mr. Brown was a super hit as well with everyone that likes pepper which was almost everyone. I already have a bunch of requests to make more now

Good job Mike! ...and very interesting...you never used charcoal b/4..and now..your friends & family want more...OUTSTANDING!