I had a similiar situation on an overnight cook Fri. Had one small butt, a "whole pork leg" on top and a brisket flat on bottom. Used full to overflow coals with 20 lit on top and started at 5:30 p.m. By 7:00 everything was stable at around 250. Refilled large brinkman with water at about 9:00 and temp was stable at around 250. Vents were between 25 and 50%. At 6:30 a.m. The coal was almost all burned and the pitt temp was less than 200. Checked all meat temps and they were around 160. Added extra fuel and finished at 11:00 with meat around 195. I assumed the meat was ok since it was 160 when I got up. Have tried some of everything and am showing no ill effects.
I wonder, but don't know why all the fuel burned. Obviously it got too much oxygen and burned too fast. The night was mild but some breeze probably picked up. I cooked in a fairly protected area of a carport. In retrospect I probably should have had the vents less open ?
The whole pork leg was interesting. It included the large ball joint bone and my guess is it was a picnic shoulder without the skin - a fresh ham ? It did not have as much fat as the butt and came out a little dry, but was still ok. I would not select this cut again for pull pork. Might work well for slicing. Both the butt and the brisket did well.
I wish I had the experience that Konrad has to be able to do these overnights and not have my fuel consumed.
Constructive comments are welcomed. /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif
Paul
