Memo from the "I Should Have Known Better Dept.": SYD Injected Pork Butt


 
Chris Allingham

Chris Allingham

Administrator
Staff member
Got a special occasion coming up in the next couple of days, so I'm getting a jump on making a bone-in pork butt using the SYD Injection Recipe on my website.

Now, I can forgive myself for the fact that I've recently moved to a new home and done most of my WSM cooking to date on warm, calm days. Today is the first day where I've cooked and had wind kick up...note to self, I need to urgently make a wind break.

The other problem is that I used some leftover charcoal that doesn't burn as hot or as long as my usual Kingsford, and I didn't start with enough of it. After five hours, cooker temp had dropped to 180*F. A hot chimney of K got temps back up, but I'm still fighting the wind.

Hopefully I will learn from my lessons today.

We’re off…weird iPhone color balance, looks much better in person.

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Halfway there?

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looks great so far, and your next to last line is key - we’re always learning right? It seems every grill or smoke session I find something I should have done differently. Fortunately wind has not been an issue for me due to my smoker location. We’ve seen enough of your cooks that we know it will end up delicious.
 
Chris Allingham said:
Got a special occasion coming up in the next couple of days, so I'm getting a jump on making a bone-in pork butt using the SYD Injection Recipe on my website.

Now, I can forgive myself for the fact that I've recently moved to a new home and done most of my WSM cooking to date on warm, calm days. Today is the first day where I've cooked and had wind kick up...note to self, I need to urgently make a wind break.

The other problem is that I used some leftover charcoal that doesn't burn as hot or as long as my usual Kingsford, and I didn't start with enough of it. After five hours, cooker temp had dropped to 180*F. A hot chimney of K got temps back up, but I'm still fighting the wind.

Hopefully I will learn from my lessons today.

We’re off…weird iPhone color balance, looks much better in person.

View attachment 99796

Halfway there?

View attachment 99797
Click to expand...
Looks good so far Chris, cant wait to see the end result.
Here in NW Ohio wind is almost a constant. I had to learn to use my WSM in it so far without a wind break. Ive also operated it in the winter without a sleeve but our winters can be a bit more mild throughout the area as well. If I remember right you are running an 18" WSM. Makes me wonder if there is much of a difference between the 18 and the 22 when it comes to cook stability in windy conditions and whether or not internal volume acts as a counterbalancing heat sink.


My regards to you, and here is looking forward to you savoring that first bite when you get it finished.
 
The sun’s going down, it’s still windy and getting cooler outside, the cooker is still running at 250F but heading downhill, and the pork butt is sitting at 162F. I was shooting for 170F before wrapping, but I pulled it off the cooker, wrapped in foil with a few tablespoons of dark brown sugar and apple juice, and moved it into a 275F oven. Planning on taking it to 195-200F.

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Since I built my wind screen, I set it up EVERY time! Wind can kick up anytime around here. You got through it, that’s the important thing!
 
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