2 x 7lb pork shoulders tomorrow - grease putting coals out?

[vertigo]

I've got a couple of 7lb pork shoulders going in the PBC tomorrow morning, but I am concerned about the amount of grease that will be dripping off and onto the coals. I've seen a few people on Youtube complaining that the grease put their coals out, is this something I need to be concerned about? I always get a good fire going before I put the meat in, but this will be my first time running pork shoulder.

[RonB]

I don't have a PBC, but the first thing I would do is to trim the exterior fat very closely - no more that 1/8" to 1/4".

[vertigo]

I have most exterior fat off and I have removed the skin on both. They are both trussed as well, if that would make any difference.

[Mr. Bones]

I don't (yet) have me a PBC to play with, but...

Perhaps a startlin' confession (gasp!!!), but I always jus' season mine, smoke 'em til I like th' bark, then plop 'em in a disposable aluminum pan, for the duration of the cook.
I foil th' top later, when, or if faux wrap'/cambro is desired/required...
Mess contained, juices retained, for any desired/required usage(s), at present, or later...

If there was a need, or demand, fer bark on th' bottom of my butts, reckon I'd set up a drip pan below the cookin' grate.
That'd solve the grease on coals problem, if one arose/existed...
Plus I'm an ol', ridge-runnin, stump-jumpin' Mizzurrahh hillbilly, an' would never intentionally waste all those great hog renderins..., there's scores of magic cooks left in that goody, when gathered/re-utilized. Waste not, want not.

[Oakgrovebacon]

I am with you on the foil pan! Use them most of the time. Glad to here that I am not alone in that method.

[Jerod Broussard]

No problems here running more than 20 pounds of butts. The STALL may kill things, not the grease. May need to crack the lid when the stall hits.

[fzxdoc]

I agree with RonB about trimming the fat. Good call on the trussing, especially if you're hanging them from the rebars. It adds a bit of insurance against gravity taking over during the cook.

If you overfill your basket and get a really good light on it at the beginning, you shouldn't have any problems. I've done 3 butts at the same time in the PBC without the drippings putting the fire out.

You may want to consider moving the butts to the grate once they reach 160°F or so. They start to loosen up after that and the risk of falling is higher. FWIW, I never wrap my pork butts, just let them ride all the way to 203°F or probe tenderness. That bark is pure pork heaven.

Kathryn

[JPGators17]

Since you don't wrap, do you do anything to catch drippings to add back once it's pulled, for added moisture/juiciness? I feel like, while bark is diminished when wrapping, the juiciness factor is amplified. Don't have enough comparative cooks to be sure yet though.

[JPGators17]

Also fzxdoc I assume your cooks are in the 275 range, right? I have a guru on mine, so I was going to shoot for a steady 250. Your thoughts on what difference, if any, that might make?

[fzxdoc]

I don't catch the drippings, JPGators17, because the pork butt has so much connective tissue that the juiciness is always there anyway.But if you want to have moisture to mix back in, then foiling after 170°F or so would work nicely.

I think your cook will be extended of course by cooking at 250°F, and the stall may last a little longer. I'm guessing 7+ hours at 250°F as opposed to 5-6 hours at 275-290°F.

Kathryn

[AdamJG]

I've done two butts on the grate with no issues..just let it do it's thing!

[vertigo]

It's going great! No issues at all, got a great fire going, put the butts on, it settled in at 275 and has been humming along just fine. I foiled them and moved them to the grate at 160 as suggested and they're at 176 right now. I am excited! Thanks everyone!

Now, when these are done I have a couple of chickens to do up, I suppose I'll have to add charcoal. Can I just dump some over top or should I light a bit in a chimney to assist? I want to run the cooker at 350ish to get that crispy skin.

[Mr. Bones]

If it were me, given th' scenario, I'd add some unlit, dump lit on 'em to get temps up quickly to 'chicky territory'...
Others will likely offer more informed an' sagacious advice directly.
(I ain't got a PBC), but can cook a lil' bit, now an' then... sometimes, even well!

[rototiller78]

vertigo if possible, after your pork shoulders are done and you pull them out of your PBC, I would perform "ash management". After long cooks on my PBC, ash piles up quite a bit and we all know that too much ash doesn't bode well for fire/heat management. Yes, I would recommend that refill your charcoal basket back to full so that you can run it to mid 300 degree range that the chx(s) like to cook in.

[fzxdoc]

I like to add hot coals from a full chimney to avoid the dreaded white smoke and flurry of ash that often happens when cold coals are added. Of course you can wait until the smoke clears before adding the birds.

Kathryn

[kmhfive]

Congratulations on the cook so far! Post pictures when you can.

[hogdog6]

Looking forward to pics of your cook.