Pork Butt


 
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DTinley

TVWBB Member
Thinking of smoking a couple of pork butts this weekend.

I have used lump chacoal for a turkey and some ribs. Worked great.

My concern is lump seems to burn faster.

I read in the cooking section that the person added hot coals to the WSM several hours into the smoke. I am assuming I would need to break down the WSM to add the hot coals.

It seemed like a 14 plus hour ordeal to smoke the butts.

Any suggestions would be awesome
 
For me butts average 16 hours.

As far as adding coal you don't have to add lit fuel. I like to add unlit as I go. I usually use charcoal. At 10 hours I take something and poke at the charcoal through the side door. To knock down the ash and to get the burning coals exposed then I add a couple of handfuls of charcoal. I do this about every hour until I have enough to finish the cook.

Since you are using lump you may need to start adding fuel earlier. Since it is lump you could probobly get away with adding more fuel since lump starts quicker than charcoal. You just want to make sure you add before you have too few pieces to light what you are putting in. For example at 10 hours when I start adding. After knocking down the ash I find roughly 1/4 of what I had originally put in the charcoal ring is left and burning hot. I just start throwing handfuls of unlit on top. I have read adding too much unlit at a time will drop your temps. I haven't had a problem using this technique.
 
The rate of burn of your lump is going to depend greatly on the size/shape of the pieces that your using. The smaller chunks will burn up faster, larger chunks will tend to extend that time. Whatever the case, when loading the ring, make sure it is filled to the point of overflow. On more than on occasion I've had it alomst touching my deep water pan (the brinkman charcoal pan). I've gotten up to 14 hours on one load of lump, it's possible, but more often than not, I have to add some during the cook.

When I add it, I usually just make a ramp out of the door and direct the charcoal to where I want it.
 
I use lump exclusively for my long cooks. When you put the lump in the ring get your hands dirty and make sure to fill as many spaces as you can (don't forget to bury a couple of pieces of your wood pieces). You can slightly overfill the ring. Just leave a little depression in the center to put your lit (you are using Minion, right?).

On my last cook the previous weekend it was minus 5 degrees when I started at 10 PM. Came up to temp within 30 minutes with 4 butts on (I put my meat on as soon as the coals have been lit - much easier to control temp). Went to bed for a nice sleep. At 7:30 in the morning she was still purring along at 240. Even though I still had a couple of hours of burn left I usually do add some more at that time.

I use a piece of re-rod to stir coals which I did in the AM. I did then top off with some more lump at that time. I use one of those cheap 1/2 alum pans that I have bent into a shape that will allow me to add additional lump into the ring through the side door (it will bend enough to actually go through the door). Stir around a little with your poker. Adding a lot of unlit lump on top of remaining coals will definitely cool off you fire. Either wait for it to take off again or fire up a few briquettes (I do use KFord to start my lump)and add to the top.

Don't be afraid to use lump. IMHO taste is much better that straight KFord. Have fun.
 
The burn time depends on the type of lump and how well you load the ring.

If you are using Cowboy, expect to add often.

Royal Oak lasts me 10-12 hours in calm conditions.

B@B 16 hours

Picnic and Wicked Good Comp 20+ hours.

What brand are you going to use?
 
I cook with Royal Oak lump and a piedmont waterpan and have gone 16 hrs without adding fuel. I leave the bottom vents at 10% and use the top vent for temperature control. Also in winter I use a wind break. I have noticed that without water and a dome temperature of 240 to 250 degrees pork butt cooks faster than when water was used. There is also a more pronounced bark without water that I like.
 
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