Help Requested - Spirit 210 - Pork Butt Temperature Control Issue

Hi - I'm trying my first pork butt on a 2 burner Weber Spirit. I only have one burner on low and I have a water pan under the meat. However, the temp on the lid stays close to 300. I just propped the lid open about 3" to 4" using a spark plug socket and the temp is now at 225. My concern is that the temp inside the grill will be wildly uneven. It is about 50 degrees out, so I'm guessing the left side of the butt (next to the opening) will be much cooler than the right side (closes to the active burner). Will I be okay if I rotate the meat every couple of hours? Do you have other suggestions for bringing the temp down?
Thanks for your help.

I would not recommend propping the lid of a grill. On such a small grill there is really no way to get the control you're after. Honestly don't know what else to tell you. Definitely not a fan of the Spirit line especially the little one for anything except just basic grilling of burgers, dogs, steaks, etc. Anything else is futility. Honestly your best bet is cook the butt in your oven low and slow and finish on the grill for a little "smoke"

I've not cooked pork butt on either of my grills. But I've done several racks of ribs low and slow using both my grills. I have both a 2 and 3 burner grill. Yes it's more challenging to maintain the lower temp on the 2 burner. I didn't prop the lid. I just periodically raised the lid on the 2 burner when the temp got too high. The results were good. Indistinguishable from those cooked on my 3 burner. Just kind of labor intensive.

I would probably do what you are doing with propping the lid and I would also not be afraid to turn the roast every couple hours.
However, your readings with the lid thermometer are the readings "at the thermometer" and the temps down at meat level could be significantly different. So, basically, I would just do what you are doing and see how it goes. If it works out in the end, then you have a system you can work with. If not, you will have to adjust it the next time you do something like a pork roast.

If you do a lot of cooking, you should consider a remote thermometer such as the Thermoworks Smoke with a probe you can put at grate level by the meat and one that you can put into the meat and monitor both real time and know the true temps where the meat is, not up in the top front of the lid.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

even with my 3 burners I can't get low enough without propping the lid. Bruce's suggestions are what I do.

Thanks. I used to have both a WSM and a Green Mountain pellet smoker, but moved to the city and have a tiny balcony so only have room for a 2 burner Spirit. I ultimately decided to prop it a little less with the lid temp at around 270. I'm turning every 2-3 hours. I have a thermoworks probe and the butt is not coming up to temp very quickly, so I'm a little nervous. I'll probably foil it in a couple hours if it doesn't start to move.

Your lid temp may say 270, but the temps at grate level may only be 200.

Propping the lid is bogus. All it does is introduce air currents that will totally screw up your cook. You're better off cooking it too hot than with the lid up. Wrap it in parchment or butcher paper to keep moisture in but allow smoke

AlanD said:

Thanks. I used to have both a WSM and a Green Mountain pellet smoker, but moved to the city and have a tiny balcony so only have room for a 2 burner Spirit. I ultimately decided to prop it a little less with the lid temp at around 270. I'm turning every 2-3 hours. I have a thermoworks probe and the butt is not coming up to temp very quickly, so I'm a little nervous. I'll probably foil it in a couple hours if it doesn't start to move.

Click to expand...

I'll bet it turns out fine.

I agree, just cook as low as you can and use the internal temp as your guide when to pull it.

I have a pork butt in the freeze that I am going to turn into a batch of pulled pork this coming week sometime.

I'm a converted "stick burner" who now cook butts, ribs, briskets, etc. regularly on my old Genesis redhead and they all turn out great. For butts, I apply my rub the day before and wrap in plastic wrap. I use a Weber SS smoke box loaded with water-soaked cherry, pecan, or hickory chips located on the left end of the grill over the crossover tube, and I run the front burner only, starting on high to get the smoke going and reducing to medium after. I put the butt on the back of the grill, fat side up. with a pan of water underneath. A batch of wood chips will smoke for about 45 minutes, and I rotate the butt every 20-30 minutes or so to even the exposure to the hot side. I re-load the smoke box when the smoke stops and continue to smoke/cook for 1 to 1.5 hours until I get nice color & bark. I then wrap the butt in completely foil, insert the probe for my Maverick digital thermometer, and return it to the grill, cooking with lid closed. When the butt reaches 200 degrees internal temperature, it is done. The bone will pull easily, and most of the fat will be rendered out. The grill temperature is not critical. You are better off being too hot rather than too low. You can cook at 300-350 lid temperature and still get great results. What really matters is the meat reaching the proper internal temperature. Good luck!