Advice on Pork Butt

mcclinj said:

Hello everyone, I smoked my first butt two weeks ago and overall I was very pleased. being my first attempt at using my Dragonfire kamado smoker....I think I added to much charcoal because I could not seem to control the temp no matter what i did to the dampers. I ended up removing charcoal (prior to adding the meat) and got the temp to approximately 200-230 for about 7 hours for a 7lb pork butt. This was done much earlier than my estimated 2 hrs per pound that I had read. Also, I smoked the majority of the time with the fat cap up, but switched at what I thought would be the 1/2 way point. Eventually, the fat cap stuck to the grate and removed itself from the butt.....I thought this was going to be a disaster, but I added more rub to the exposed meat and it barked back up. So, my questions are

1) Did I get lucky with the 7-8 hour smoke time, or is the 2hr per pound time estimate over doing it at the 200-230 temp range. (I think it spent the majority of the time at 218)

I can do most butts say like an 8 1/2 in 9 + hours, but it involves raising the temps up to almost 300º after I wrap in foil

2) Did I do something wrong to make the fat cap remove itself from the butt. Should I grease / Pam the grate to prevent sticking?

Remove the fat cap to begin with, or atleast 70% of it, but I always pam the grates

3) I'm doing an 8.5lb butt tomorrow....should I plan on 10-12 hours, or longer.

See answer 1

4) How much Charcoal is necessary to reach the 200-230 range. Originally, I filled the whole "bowl" up to the line, but it was way too hot.

This will take some practice due to all smokers being different. Go back to 3/4 pan or a bit less. Plan on adding more coals around 3 1/2 to 4 hours into the smoke.

I appreciate the help everyone, and look forward to the day where i can help and give out advice too. I'll try and get some pictures for Qview

-John

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