So I was able to limp through my cook. I'm cooking lunch for a small hockey team today. Two 8lb pork shoulders. Knowing this thing stuggled to get to a decent temp on Thanksgiving, I put the butts in early. 23 hours in advance. Like I said, temp was consistent 197-210. The highest temp I recall seeing was 214 and lowest 189.
The good news... you can cook a pork butt low and slow at 200 degrees. It just takes time. I put them on at 2pm yesterday. 15 hours (7am) I wrapped them in foil and put them in the oven at 235 too push them up to 203 degrees. They came out of the oven at 9am and frankly looked and felt really nice. I wrapped them in plastic, foil, and towels and they are resting in the cooler until 1pm. I threw a large pan of beans on the cooker this morning.
I'm glad I was able to limp through and still come out with a good product.
The turkey's on Thanksgiving weren't so fortunate. I really pressed the DANGER ZONE (145 degrees in 4 hours). I ended up finishing the breast in the oven and it turned out good. The bird didn't fair so well. I ended up throwing it out because it took 6 hours to get to 145 degrees.