Pork A different weather problem

[MidwestSmoker]

I am going to a New Years Eve party tomorrow night and I have promised to bring pulled pork tacos (carnitas). So I am getting ready to to load two pork butts into the Traeger at about 10 pm. As everyone knows we had bitter cold around Christmas, but my Traeger handled that fine (it was smoked prime rib, so it was a relatively short cook). Right now the temperature is around 50 degrees, so it should be no problem, right? But here is what it looks like where I live.

It's called an "atmospheric river" and it is expected to keep raining until at least 6 am. I am planning to load the butts around 10 pm, so we are talking at least 8 hours of continuous rain while it cooks. Will be interesting to see how it goes.

 

[Timmy]

This what I do if it’s going to rain or heavy snow. If it’s windy I tie it down with cinder blocks!

 

[MidwestSmoker]

I really should buy one of these!

 

[MidwestSmoker]

Here is an update. It rained till 9 am today, almost 14 hours straight! So it was raining the initial 11 hours of the cook. I have cooked in freezing weather and the pellet consumption increases somewhat, but nothing like this. It was like cooking with the Traeger in continuous running water.

On the cooking side, I decided to try something new on wrapping pork butts. Based on Timmy's and others suggestion, I once cooked it without wrapping. As expected the bark was terrific, but I wasn't happy with how much the butt dried out. So today I am trying something that might be an in-between solution: using a foil boat.

I will let you know how it works out.

 

[midwest]

Did you not have it covered at all? I assume as long as it's not getting wet the pellet consumption shouldn't change. On the other hand I wouldn't have tried to cook in a constant rain if I didn't have an overhang or tent or something. Hard to keep something warm when it is soaking wet.

 

[MidwestSmoker]

Did you not have it covered at all? I assume as long as it's not getting wet the pellet consumption shouldn't change. On the other hand I wouldn't have tried to cook in a constant rain if I didn't have an overhang or tent or something. Hard to keep something warm when it is soaking wet.

Yes, I need to buy one of those popup tents that Timmy uses. Until this time, I have cooked when it was raining, but the rain lasted less than an hour so it made very little difference. This downpour was something else. We often worry about pellet consumption when it is very cold, but that is nothing compared to what happens in continuous rain. Fortunately, I was well stocked with pellets and the pork butts came out excellent.

This is not the time the stores stock popup tents. I will start looking around when Spring arrives.

 

[RustyJake]

Yes, I need to buy one of those popup tents that Timmy uses. Until this time, I have cooked when it was raining, but the rain lasted less than an hour so it made very little difference. This downpour was something else. We often worry about pellet consumption when it is very cold, but that is nothing compared to what happens in continuous rain. Fortunately, I was well stocked with pellets and the pork butts came out excellent.

This is not the time the stores stock popup tents. I will start looking around when Spring arrives.

Search Amazon for 'market tent'
Should be able to find one there. I used a Coleman market tent before I my gazebo. Was easy enough for one person to out up and take down, so it wasn't a chore to use. That is important because for me, if it is difficult, I wouldn't have used it as often as I did.