Thomas Mooney typed:
> Got 3 butts (22 lbs.) on the WSM for a friends party this weekend.
> Everything's humming along fine. Temperature's steady at about 225º.
Vents
> are fine-tuned. Open the access door from time to time to throw on another
> chuck of apple.
>
> I'm about to run to the grocery store and decide to check the cooker before
> I go. I look and there's the access door laying on the ground and it's
like
> staring into a blast furnace. The temperature is off the scale.
>
> Long story short: things are back under control - seems to be no harm done.
>
> It's a good thing I decided to check when I did. Whew!
>
OK,
A couple of weeks ago, on alt.binaries.food, I teased you guys with an
experiment and said that I'd post the results when I had time. I still don't
have time to do a full report, but in a nutshell, here it is:

I started 1 chunk of pork, about 8# cooking in my Kamado at about 350 with a
couple of short lived spikes up to 375, until the internal temperature was
about 195. Removed the butt from the grill, re-set my damper and door for
low-and-slow, wrapped the shoulder in foil to rest.

Put the second butt on the grill at about 325, with the temperature still
descending. About an hour and a half later, it was about 225 and holding
steady.

I went in and "pulled" the first one (higher and faster) and was amazed at
how juicy it was and how easily it pulled. It did have a nice smoke ring.

Many hours later, the alarm went off and the internal temp was 195, so I
wrapped the second one in foil to rest for about an hour.

Both were rubbed with the same rub, freshly ground Penzey's Four Peppercorn
Blend, a little salt, Freshly ground Jamaican Allspice, Cayenne pepper, onion
powder, granulated garlic. I'd mixed a bunch in an old "Old Bay" jar, since
I don't measure anything and I wanted to eliminate that variable. Both sat
on the counter for about an hour and a half before going to the grill.

When I pulled the second one, it pulled a lot easier, and was much more
juicy. The first one was much better than any I've ever consumed in a
commercial BBQ place, but, in *MY* opinion, and that of a couple of the
"samplers" the second (low-and-slow) was more tender and juicy.

To eleminate another variable, my new Redi-Chek was set for alarm 10 degrees
above and below the target temperatures (350 and 225) and I never heard the
alarms, so I guess the spikes or lows were not bad. Don't need no $250
automatic controllers!

I think I'll stick to the low-and-slow, just because there's more beer and/or
sleeping time, but I won't worry about high spikes when and if they happen.
Of course, YMMV.

BOB