Smoked my first pork butt this weekend. I found a half boneless pork butt at Aldi. I seasoned with coarse pepper, seasoned salt, garlic and onion powder. Smoked it for about 6.5 hours with pecan. The pork had an awesome flavor, but was not as pull apart tender as I would have liked. I used a pork finishing sauce, but modified the recipes I found here to add a little of this and a little of that. I REALLY agree on how good it is. I have always been a fan of vinegar based sauces.
However, I had some trouble with the temperature suddenly dropping from about 240 degrees down to 180 - 170 degrees. I am not sure why as I still had a good amount of charcoal going in the ring / basket. I opened the vents wide open (I always keep the exhaust wide open) but it still bounced (literally) between 220 and 180. I finally pulled the pork off, put it in the oven at 225 and took the WSM "apart". I shook the basked good to knock off ash, and added 1/3 of a chimney's worth of lit charcoal. The temps ultimately stabilized around 265 270. That is probably why it wasn't as tender as I would have liked.
But, the bark was good, the pork tasted good, and the finishing sauce REALLY complimented everything...so I call it a success and just another learning lesson. However, does anyone have any suggestions on my temp bounces? This was my first time using my new Thermoworks smoke and I am really impressed with that thermometer. It was definitely a good investment.
However, I had some trouble with the temperature suddenly dropping from about 240 degrees down to 180 - 170 degrees. I am not sure why as I still had a good amount of charcoal going in the ring / basket. I opened the vents wide open (I always keep the exhaust wide open) but it still bounced (literally) between 220 and 180. I finally pulled the pork off, put it in the oven at 225 and took the WSM "apart". I shook the basked good to knock off ash, and added 1/3 of a chimney's worth of lit charcoal. The temps ultimately stabilized around 265 270. That is probably why it wasn't as tender as I would have liked.
But, the bark was good, the pork tasted good, and the finishing sauce REALLY complimented everything...so I call it a success and just another learning lesson. However, does anyone have any suggestions on my temp bounces? This was my first time using my new Thermoworks smoke and I am really impressed with that thermometer. It was definitely a good investment.
