Alton Brown's PID-controlled Flower Pot Smoker

I saw Alton Brown's segment on Brined Pulled Pork, and thought "That sure looks good, but I bet it'd be better if the temperature could be controlled to within .1 degrees C. I'm going to do that! Here are the source videos that go the ball rolling:

I then modified the plans I found over here: I thought it was silly to have all the electronics hanging above the water, and given the issues the author mentioned with heaters burning out, it made sense to have it be a separate box, with plugs to plug in whatever heating elements one might want.

One issue I had with the smoker was that the heating element's thermostat would actually cycle the thing on and off even when set on high, making the PID controller useless. So I took the heating plate apart, removed the thermostat, and that fixed things just fine.

Alton Brown's Brined Pulled Pork

PULLED PORK in a FLOWERPOT SMOKER, ALTON BROWN 

Makes 8–10 servings. Prep Time: 20 minutes Inactive Prep Time: 13 hours Cook Time: 11 hours

BRINE: 8 ounces or 3/4 cup molasses, 12 ounces pickling salt, 2 quarts bottled water

6–8 pound Boston butt

RUB: 1 teaspoon whole cumin seed 1 teaspoon whole fennel seed 1 teaspoon whole coriander 1 tablespoon chili powder 1 tablespoon onion powder 1 tablespoon paprika

Combine molasses, pickling salt, and water in 6-quart Lexan (Cambro) bucket. Add Boston butt making sure it is completely sub-merged in brine, cover, and let sit in refrigerator for a minimum of 8 hours. 12 hours is ideal.

Place cumin seed, fennel seed, and coriander in food grinder and grind fine. Transfer to a small mixing bowl and stir in chili powder, onion powder, and paprika.

Remove Boston butt from brine and pat dry. Sift the rub evenly over the shoulder and then pat onto the meat making sure as much of the rub as possible adheres. More rub will adhere to the meat if you are wearing latex gloves during the application.

Preheat (AB’s flowerpot) smoker to 210 degrees F. Place butt in smoker and cook for 10–12 hours, maintaining a temperature of 210 degrees F. Begin checking meat for doneness after 10 hours of cooking time. Use fork to check for doneness. Meat is done when it falls apart easily when pulling with a fork.

Once done, remove from pot and set aside to rest for at least 1 hour.

Pull meat apart with 2 forks and serve as sandwich with coleslaw and dressing as desired.