Loquitur

Doc: Did you just pile those leg quarters on top of one another in the basket? Susan

So that's where those ads are coming from??? They pop up right in the lower corner of my screen. Are they emails? I haven't seen them in my mailbox. I might not mind as much if there were some hot guys inviting me over. Susan

Final result - they were fantastic!! I left the two unfoiled butts on until 4:55 when I was preparing to leave and they had just reached 195 and 196. I was surprised at how little drippings there were from 12 lbs of pork and was afraid they might be dry but there weren't at all. They were in the cooler until 7:30 and they pulled easily - still too hot for my hands but no problem whatsoever with two forks. Nobody could believe how easily a hunk of meat that size could come apart that way. My family, being born and bred in the northeast, is not accostomed to pulled pork and they loved it!! I made the Lexington vinegar sauce and mixed a little in just after I pulled it and served it with extra sauce on the side, a thinned out Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce and rolls. I loved the vinegar sauce but my family liked the concocted SBR BBQ sauce. They really went to town on it. I've already been informed that there is a standing order that I bring pulled pork to all family gatherings! Next time, I will do them at 250 grate and coat them with the SBR BBQ sauce when they are close to done so they will have a nice glaze on the outside. A horrible overexposed camera phone pic is attached. Thanks, Doc, for taking the stress out of what was a big cook for me. Susan

Wow - what a difference raising the temps made. The foiled one is now 197 and the other two are 184 and 187. I shouldn't have any problem finishing the non foiled ones by 5:00 PM when I will be leaving. Will post final results.

Do you think I'm impeding this cook by having to open the KK so much to manually monitor the temps? I first opened it after 5 hours, then 7 hours, then 3 times since. It doesn't seem like I'm losing heat because the temps bounce back immediately - even higher from the spike of air. But I'm not used to opening my KK often during a cook like this unless I'm grilling.

All 3 butts are still at 165 so I've raised the pit temp to 300 and I've wrapped one of them in foil We'll see how it goes.

Great suggestion, Doc. I will do so when I check temps in a few mintues if only to be able to report the results.

I think the cook is going fine except that my Stoker food probes have totally freaked out - they are reading high temps like pit probes. My Stokerlog has been showing "food ready" for hours!! So I'm monitoring food temps hourly with my Thermapen. Stoker is running the pit temps fine. I put the butts in at 5:00 AM right out of the frig and, because of the hour, didn't bring the KK up to temp first. It took a little over an hour for the Stoker to get the KK up to temp which was 225 pit 250 dome to start but I really liked this technique because I was able to set the probes without gloves and I didn't have to worry about taking too long setting up to prevent the temps from spiking. After 5 hours, the butts were at 155 but they have been in a plateau for a couple of hours now at 165 so I just raised the pit temp to 260. At this point, the pit temps and dome temps are the same. If they aren't out of the plateau by 3:00 I will up the temp to 300. If they aren't finished by 5:00 I will wrap them in foil and put them in the oven at my brother's house at 300 deg. We will have plenty of visiting and drinking to do before we eat!! I obviously have to calibrate my food sensors before I do another cook!!! Can't tell you how much I appreciate your being there!

Doc - I'm soooo glad to hear from you about this - one of the renowned "butt" experts of this forum. The tip about increasing the temp after ten hours is especially valuable since I wouldn't have a clue as to whether I was in trouble or not otherwise. I will post a lot of details about this cook since I searched the forum thoroughly and read at least 100 posts and didn't find my issues specifically addressed. I completely understand that that every cook is different and there is no way to exactly predict results but your experience is extremely comforting. Thanks sooooo much!!!!!

Here they are

Gorgeous pix, Smokeylips! What color is that KK and where did you get the cabinet? Susan

I need to cook 3 four pound boneless Boston pork butts and be ready to travel with them wrapped in a cooler by 5:00 PM tomorrow. Wish I could post the picture I took of them with my camera phone but I apparently need some software I don't have to get them from the phone to my computer so I'll try to describe them. They were well trimmed by the farmer's market where I bought them so there isn't much fat on them. I would have preferred bone in butts but my only choice was these or the whole shoulder and that big thick skin on them was making me nervous. I've tied them so they have a round and compact shape kind of like an eye of the round roast you would see in a supermarket. They've been brining for 24 hours and I will be applying mustard and a rub shortly. My plan is to put them on at 5:00 AM and cook them at 225 Stoker which will be about 250 dome. Is 12 hours enough leeway to be confident they will be ready for the cooler at 5:00 PM? It seems like plenty of time to me but I've read about small butts being unpredictable in terms of how much time they need. Any other advice? Being new to charcoal, I have little experience with pork butts and want them to be really good for my extended family. Susan

Condolences to you and your family. May he rest in peace.

Thanks, Firemonkey, for giving temps to start with. I'm definitely going to try the wok soon. I've seen/read about some interesting techniques such as using a small amount of lump and putting the wok directly on it, using a chimney of lump and putting the wok on top of the chimney, cutting a tomato cage to act as a wok support, using the wok at a higher level in the grill with a Guru to fan the flames and the "spider" device for the big green egg which offers two distances from the lump for the wok. I understand what you mean about the high heat. I start my steaks and burgers on the sear grill at 600 dome and have to move really fast to turn them with welding gloves on up to my elbows. I suspect that the wok itself shields enough of the heat to make it workable. Those who do it seem to really like it. Susan

I'm interested in using a wok on my KK. I see on the BGE forum that there is an accessory available that holds the wok but I can't tell from the pictures how high it is sitting in the grill or what kind of temperature is being used. Would a wok on a ring work OK? On the sear grill or lower grill? What kind of temps - as a rough idea? Also, what kind of temps, roughly, would I need to maintain a simmer in a cast iron pan on the main grill? Susan

T Rex: I was so distracted by the lovely pix of the Boyz I forgot to ask my question. How do you know when the ribs are 1 hour from done and its time to apply the sauce? Susan

The Boyz are soooo sweet - I just love them!!!!!!! The ribs look awesome too. Doesn't look like you suffered much of a learning curve at all. Susan

Re: STILL LOOKING

Awesome stuff!!! Cook_Shack: Thanks to you and your son for the cleaner recipe. I made up a batch yesterday (with the Simple Green) to clean my KK and other misc patio items and it was incredible!! I've never used any cleaning products other than those found in a supermarket and this is so far superior its ridiculous. It took sap off my gas grill with no elbow grease required. And, my KK is sparkling in the sunlight again. I just love it!!! Susan

Interesting questions, vkl. I sometimes leave the lower grill in to hold the drip pan if I'm doing an indirect cook. Other times I put the drip pan directly on the deflector, depending on how much drip I expect. I'm currently storing my grates and accessories in my gas grill but that is out of here tomorrow. I have a new deck box that should be big enough to hold them but we'll see. I'd love to know what our other members are doing. Susan

Re: Two in a case

I'm new to charcoal cooking and my favorite charcoal so far is Royal Oak. I think it definitely has a smoky flavor by itself, much more so than the Wicked Good and Cowboy, which I've also tried. I'm hesitant to add smoke wood to my cooks because I've had that acrid taste before, which isn't pleasant. My father recently brought me a bunch of small apple wood chunks which I will be experimenting with now that grilling season has arrived in the NE. Susan

Re: lighting the grill Here's another vote for Rorkin's torch, which I use as well. One of the great things about this model is that is has an igniter which you can see in the picture half way down the torch, so you don't need a flame to light it. You attach a small cylinder which costs a couple of bucks at a hardware store (and lasts a llooonnngggg time),turn the knob on the cylinder and hit the igniter and you immediately have a big strong flame shooting out the bottom. And its just the right length for the KK so you don't have to bend over to reach the charcoal. You just need to be careful not to light too much charcoal for a low temp cook because it gets hot really fast. Susan

What an awesome gift!!!! Lucky you!! We'll be waiting to hear all about it.