Lew Newby
R.I.P. 1/26/2024
My wife had asked for pulled Pork for New Years dinner and I was happy to oblige. I used 2 Publix 7 Lb. Boston Butts, bought fresh. I left the fat cap intact.Saturday, at 8:15 AM I injected the butt and rubbed it with Chris Lilly's rub and inject. I used 15 KB Briquettes to start a full charcoal basket with 4 small chunks of Oak and one of Hickory. I put the Butts on, fat side down, at 11:45 PM 2011 and tried using the Auber but it died about the time the clock struck 12. Time for plan B.
At 1:30 AM I was totally confused by the temp differential between my Maverick grate temp and my Weber lid temp. I had way more than a normal spread so, wanting to get some peaceful sleep, I pulled the probe off the grate and stuck it in the vent hole. At 2:45 AM the vent temp was stabilized at 260° and I went to bed. 7 hours later I awakened and headed for the patio. The temp was down to 205° and the meat temp was 145°. 20 minutes later I had the temp back up. Once the meat internal temp hit 180° I started probing for tenderness and pulled them when they were ready. I was aiming for a 3:00PM pull and the first came off at 3:25 PM. That's 15 hrs. and 40 min. on one load of charcoal and I used the remainder in my kettle for the Baked Beans. I wrapped the Butts in foil, put them in a cooler full of towels, and pulled them 2 hours later. The pictures tell the story.
After using my WSM for 8 months I've change how I read cooker temp. Thank you Kevin and all who recommend the vent method. I agree that it removes variables that I get at the grate and I slept better Sunday morning. I used the Kevin Kruger finishing sauce and while following the instructions I took a step towards learning how to balance tastes. Even with my Navy food trained Palate
I could taste the changes as I added Honey and water. I made Posole for the first time but I'll discuss that on a more appropriate forum.
All in all it was a good way to bring in the New Year.
At 1:30 AM I was totally confused by the temp differential between my Maverick grate temp and my Weber lid temp. I had way more than a normal spread so, wanting to get some peaceful sleep, I pulled the probe off the grate and stuck it in the vent hole. At 2:45 AM the vent temp was stabilized at 260° and I went to bed. 7 hours later I awakened and headed for the patio. The temp was down to 205° and the meat temp was 145°. 20 minutes later I had the temp back up. Once the meat internal temp hit 180° I started probing for tenderness and pulled them when they were ready. I was aiming for a 3:00PM pull and the first came off at 3:25 PM. That's 15 hrs. and 40 min. on one load of charcoal and I used the remainder in my kettle for the Baked Beans. I wrapped the Butts in foil, put them in a cooler full of towels, and pulled them 2 hours later. The pictures tell the story.
After using my WSM for 8 months I've change how I read cooker temp. Thank you Kevin and all who recommend the vent method. I agree that it removes variables that I get at the grate and I slept better Sunday morning. I used the Kevin Kruger finishing sauce and while following the instructions I took a step towards learning how to balance tastes. Even with my Navy food trained Palate

All in all it was a good way to bring in the New Year.
