Holey SMOKES this was my best TWO ever! I paid an arm and a leg, $3.19 lb, for boneless butts from from upscale grocer, and took home two - 4.75 and 4.78 lbs. I tell ya what, it was worth it! On at 6:30 this morning, snake method, hickory chips and apple chunks. I used 50/50 brown sugar / white sugar, plus salt, pepper, and chipolte powder rub overnight. At 5 hours in I stuck in the probe - 138 degrees. HUH???? With the snake I was holding a solid 250 degrees till then. Getting worried, I threw on some more charcoal and opened the vents, and got it up to 350 pretty quickly. Once we got to 175 I threw both butts into a foil pan, covered them tightly, and put em back in till we hit 203 degrees. I pulled them off 8 hours and 1 minute in. They rested in the foam cooler with blankets for an hour, then I shredded them with claws.
Let me say - the BEST, the BEST I've ever done. The meat was soft, tender, flavorful, and the crust was amazing! There was half a sandwich baggie left, and I think that's because people don't want to take the scraps from the pan. Every year we do a party on the fourth, and I tell my wife and guests burgers and dogs are not BBQ - so I insist on smoking some pork. Every year they rave about the it, but this year - hot dog, this was some good stuff. I had several guests go out of their way to compliment it!
What would I do differently next time? Maybe start a little earlier, and or run it a little bit hotter. I did the snake 2 wide by 2 tall... maybe go three tall next time. I bet if I did 275 all day long instead of 250, I wouldn't have had the 350 degree freakout.
Never the less.... Hot dang that was some good 'cue. Man. Thanks again boys, I appreciate the advice!