1st Butt

Q Addict, apologies if you aren't using the CG w/SFB. Can't remember for sure if that's what you're using.

If it the CG w/SFB, open the exhaust vent wide open. Open the SFB vent wide open. Now the temp in the main chamber should rise. Watch it carefully, as the temp approaches 220 start closing the SFB vent. You'll have to play with it to get the right amount of opening you'll need to sustain the heat. Just depends on the weather conditions, for one thing.

If you still can't get the temp to rise, try holding a fan or hair dryer at the SFB opening. Getting more air in there will speed up the burning process.

Your charcoal basket should have worked. Now we get into questions and maybe's. Did you remove the knockout in the end of the CG before you installed the SFB? Maybe your charcoal has gotten damp. There's been an awful lot of high humidity over the last few days and heavy rain in some parts of the country.

Did you let the butt warm up a bit before you put it on? If it was straight from the refrigerator, a lot of your heat is going towards heating that up. Your temp was a little low when you started, so that cold meat brought it down, I'm speculating.

Hope there's something in this is useful. And, that by the time you read this you'll have already figured out the problem. Do keep checking in.

Longmill

Stir your charcoal to make sure the ashes are dropping into the ashpan. Gently, you don't want ashes flying. If you can't get the temp up with both vents wide open, add more lit charcoal or lump. If your temp starts edging up more than you want it to, start closing the side vent. Leave the exhaust vent wide open.

If you end up with too much lit charcoal, use a shovel to remove some of it. BE CAREFUL! Put the coals in a metal container that's sitting on a non flamable surface.

It's normal for a good amount of variance between the stock therm in the lid and your grate temp. You want to be concerned about your grate temp. I wouldn't worry about what the stock therm shows. It's simply a kinda nice to know kind of thing.

Hope this helps, a bit. Good luck with your cook. Do keep us updated.

Longmill

Great job, addict! Glad to see everything came out well!

My, my that does look tasty! Glad everything worked out for ya. I cooked 2 pork butts this weekend that took 18 hours to complete.

I just finished my first box of Char Broil lump and really liked it. Very little ash. However, there was a lot of useless, fine stuff at the bottom of the box.
I just purchased another box at Home Deep Hole yesterday so we'll see how that one goes. To be fair, my first box looked like it was shipped on a mule train. The new one has no apparent damage.