How NOT to cook a brisket...

http://www.wrcbtv.com/story/32436470/woman-cooking-brisket-in-bathtub-starts-fire

Smoked Pork Butt

Today I'm making my favorite -- smoked pork butt!

Here's my approach:

Purchase a 6-8 lb Boston Butt (bone in)

Inject with the following mixture:
1/3 cup apple juice
1/3 cup white grape juice
1/4 cup white granulated sugar
1-1/2 Tbs salt
(warm the mixture in microwave 30 sec - 1 min to better dissolve sugar and salt)

After injecting, pat dry with paper towels and then apply a dry rub:
4 tsp seasoned salt
2 tsp dark brown sugar
1-1/2 tsp white granulated sugar
1-1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/8 tsp dry mustard
1/8 tsp ground cumin
1/16 tsp ground ginger

Smoke at 225-250 F until internal temperate of at least 190 F is reached (typically takes about 13 hours).

Shred and serve!

Apply sauce to individual servings. The meat will have good flavor, so don't overdo it on sauce! I've tried making sauces, but haven't created anything I like better than Sweet Baby Ray's Original.

My preferred wood for smoke is apple, and I often pour some apple juice in the water bath pan as well.

You can speed this process up by wrapping the butt in foil when temperature stalls around 165 F, but my preference is to leave it on the smoker untouched until finished (don't even open the lid to peek). I typically reload the can of wood chips once during the process, which keeps the smoke rolling for about the first six hours.

Modifications for Improved Burner Operation

Using the smoker on breezy days, I sometimes experienced issues with wind gusts extinguishing the burner flame. To remedy this issue, I built an air intake plenum of soffit venting, with baffles inside, and attached beneath the burner pan.

I also installed three baffles around the burner inside the pan.

Testing on a windy March day yielded good results!

Test Firing

About six weeks after beginning the project, I was ready to test fire the smoker. I started out with a very low flame and gradually increased the gas and eased it into the smoking temperature range of 225-250 F. I was pleased with the stability of the temperature and ease of control. I used a digital thermometer to verify the accuracy of the smoker's dial thermometer...I found the dial thermometer's accuracy lacking, but deviation from actual temperature was consistent, so it is useful for managing temperature of the smoker by converting (200 F on the dial is about 225 F inside the smoker, 225 F on the dial is about 250 F inside the smoker, etc.).

Finishing Touches

A couple of finishing touches included a large dial thermometer and a lift handle for the lid. I placed the thermometer in the lid, with the probe at the level meat will rest on the upper rack of the smoker. The handle was easy to find at my local hardware store. The thermometer was ordered from amazon.com.

Insides Complete

With racks and burner in place, the remaining internal component was a water bath / drip pan. I struggled to find a pan of adequate diameter, so settled on a Behrens 3 gallon steel utility pan that is 16-1/4" diameter and 4" deep. Angle brackets bolted together to form a "U" shape and screwed to the inside of the barrel made for perfect mounting of the water bath / drip pan.

These photos show all internal components installed, including the juice can for holding wood chips that sits directly on the burner.