Pork butt overnighter

[jmitchell418]

Good morning! I'm 11 hours into an overnight 10# pork butt smoke using Royal Oak hardwood lump charcoal (red bag from wally world). Bought it because I've read good things about stability and long burns time. I started with a full and packed charcoal ring and about 10 larger chunks in the chimney. Spread them on top for the Minion method and 30 mins later pork went on at 11pm last night. Using foil wrapped water bowl with water. Temps stabilized at about 250. I only got 5 hours out of it and was awoken at 4am because wsm temp measured at the grate dropped to 219*. I dropped a few handfuls into the ring and get to sleep until 6:30 when low temp alarm went off again. I completely filled the ring and mixed the hot coals around and temps have been holding 230* since. Butt IT has been creaping up from 154* to 162* since 4am. I thought I'd get longer (7-8 hours) out of a full ring. Since this is the first time using a WSM 18" for pork butt, is that type of burn time normal? Seem like more babysitting than I've read about! Thanks for any tips!

[LightningBoldtz]

I think the best tip here is, use briquettes when it comes to smoking on a WSM lump is too unpredictable.

[Kneab]

I've never used lump in my 18 WSM.
Only Stubb's briquettes. A full ring of that gets around 10-12hrs before needing a refuel. I do use the RO lump for regular kettle cooks as my wally world has the 16lb bags mismarked at $9. It does seem to burn fairly quickly.
How well does your door fit?

[jmitchell418]

I've never used lump in my 18 WSM.
Only Stubb's briquettes. A full ring of that gets around 10-12hrs before needing a refuel. I do use the RO lump for regular cooks as my wally world has the 16lb bags mismarked at $9. It does seem to burn fairly quickly.
How well does your door fit?

I invested in the gasket kit to seal the lid and door tightly. I'll look into the Stubbs briquettes. Read a lot of good things about them. I did a trial run with KBB and found that they ashed over so much that the temp nose dived after only 4 hours and it practically went out. That's the reason I switched to the Royal Oak.

[kettlebb]

Do the next one with Stubbs. I wouldn't ever use lump on a long cook. In my 22" kettle with the slow n sear I went a little over 8 hours using Stubbs before needing to add fuel.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jmitchell418]

Thanks for the tip! Stubbs next time for sure!

[HoosierKettle]

Something else that works well is put it in the wsm for a good 5-6 hours until bark sets, wrap in foil pan and place in the oven at 225 overnight. Cheating a little but works and is really easy.


Sent from my iPhone using Weber Kettle Club mobile app

[kettlebb]

I think if I was in a bind and had to do an overnight cook I'd do like Hoosier said.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jmitchell418]

Something else that works well is put it in the wsm for a good 5-6 hours until bark sets, wrap in foil pan and place in the oven at 225 overnight. Cheating a little but works and is really easy.


Sent from my iPhone using Weber Kettle Club mobile app

Funny you mention that.... I popped it in the oven at 255 an hour ago.. But I didn't wrap it. I left it on the rack as if it were in the smoker the whole time.

[jmitchell418]

After 13 hrs in the smoker and another 3.5 in the oven, the pulled pork was awesome! Nice finishing sauce recipe I found on another forum to add a nice tang with some heat too! Good dinner!

[TheDude]

I rock KBB in my 18.5" WSM and get 10-12 hours, no problem. May have to poke around after 7-8 hours, but rarely have to refule.

[jmitchell418]

I rock KBB in my 18.5" WSM and get 10-12 hours, no problem. May have to poke around after 7-8 hours, but rarely have to refule.

Hmmm... Worth me trying it again. Have a whole bag to use up. I'll give it a shot. You're using the Minion method or another?

[TheDude]

Minion. I dig my coals out from one side of the ring. Usually light 8 or 10.