Smoked Pork BBQ - Part 4 - Smoking begins

It's 5AM and the butt is now in position. The charcoal is arranged just how I wanted it and the wood junks are on top of them smoking away. Of course, right away the first problem comes up. After only 5 minutes, the temp has spiked to around 300 on the meat side and the fuel side is going like gangbusters. It's producing a lot of smoke, but also a lot of fire.


Not too worried about it though, this is exactly what happened the first time I tried this, except the temp actually spiked even higher. I'll monitor it for the next 20 min before dozing off for a nap. Once I get into a groove, all will be well.

UPDATE: It's now 5:20, the temp has come down to 250 (the goal is 200-225), and there's tons of smoke moving through this thing. The pork now begins absorbing flavor. Yum!
UPDATE 2: It's now 6:20, the temp has come down to 230. I added a few more coals and wood chunks. Things are going fine now but the temp needs to drop just a smidge more. This process will continue with wood and coals being added about every hour or so. I'll post another pic around 10AM when the meat starts looking crusty.