Help with PP overnighter.


 
J

Jerry P.

TVWBB Super Fan
On Saturday I did my first overnight pulled pork cook. Two 7 lb. butts went on at 10:00 pm and finished at 7 am. I was shooting for lid temps around 225 which I had for the first hour of the cook (all 3 vents 25%) but when I woke up 2 hours later they had climed to 260. I used 25 lit K and a full ring of unlit. I closed one vent completely and left the other two at 25% to settle temps back down to about 225. I used a foiled clay saucer and ambient temps were around 30 degrees. There was no wind at all. To start, I had all vents 100% and closed to 25% when the lid hit 200.

To attain 225 should I have:

1. waited longer than 1 hr to dial in temps before going to bed.

2. used less lit.

3. something else.

The pork turned out great. I just wish it had finished about 3-4 hours later since I was planning on eating it for supper.
 
It's such a tough call Jerry. So many variables: slight breeze/no wind, wind/breeze direction in relation to vents, type and brand of fuel - briquette/lump, how tightly packed the coal is, etc... I think you did everything correctly. You might want to wait 2 hours for the temps to settle before going to bed. Do you use a remote thermometer like an ET-73? You can set a high and low smoker temp; an alarm will sound if things get too hot or cool. And, concerning bbq in general: it's gets easier each time you do it.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Do you use a remote thermometer like and ET-73? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well, my birthday is in June so may answer to this question is "not yet"
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Jerry, nothing wrong with 260. I do butts in that range all the time.They turn out great. The secret is consistent temp. Try to keep the fluctuations down. You'll turn out great product.
 
Agreed, Paul. The pork was fantastic. I used the Chris Lilly recipe and I was blown away. My only issue was the finishing time of 7 am.

I guess my other option is to cook a little hotter and start it early AM instead of doing it overnight. My goal was to have it ready around supper time.
 
Jerry, I usually do big butts (9lb or greater)so by the time I'm done it's a good 12 -14 hours.I've done them during the day and I'm just too impatient. I tend to want to rush it. Rather do an overnighter. Try one . You'll get comfortable with it after one or two. I like getting up in the morning to that great smell of smoked pork. I pull them off when they are tender,wrap in foil and a towel and let sit in the cooler for a couple of hours
 
If I am planning on pp for supper I put the butt on at 5 am, if lunch I put on at 9 pm.

I use the foiled pan with clay as well and if I set the bottom vents at 15-20% my lid temp stays around 230, if 25-35% lid temp stays around 260 as yours did.

Just my thoughts!
 
I just did two 9 pounders this weekend in about 7 hours. But I like my butts at low 190s and not 200 like some. I also had company so I wrapped them and put them in the oven when they got to 160 to hurry the cook. Pork was perfect doneness wise just lacked some obvious flavor from not being on the smoker.
 
it seems like sometimes my butts take 14 hours and sometimes quite a bit less. I think it just depends on the meat to some degree. I always plan for the worst so no one is waiting. I have held them in a pre-heated cooler with towels for over 5 hours before. When I took them out to pull they were still too hot to touch.
 
Some great answers here..........to settle in below 250, I'd shut the vents down to about 10%.............for me anyway, 25% is too open and will yield a temp > 250.

I agree with Glenn......I do overnight PP cooks if I'm planning on having folks over for lunch......if it's an evening deal, I'll get up early in the morning.

No matter how you play it, always give yourself 2-3 hours+ of cushion; you never know when you're going to plateau and your PP may not finish exactly when you think it will. You can always foil and cooler/rest it for a while until your guests arrive.......beats pulling it out early before it's done the way you want.
 
25% on all vents is too much for my unit as well. I usually just barely crack all three which yields about 230F when the outside temp is around 30....This is just the way I like to do it. At an average of 230 the 8lbr's take about 14 to 16 hours. Once i get up in the morning I can judge my time-lines and bump the temp up if needed. I also use water in a Brinkman pan.

I normally give the system a little longer to level off before going to bed, usually about two hours....You will know when she's steady.

Also I used to get up several times during the night to check on it. Even though I have a couple of remote, alarmed, thermometers now I just shut them off because I have enough confidence.

I almost always foil and cooler rest a couple hours too.
 
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