Need help before I toss my grill

Had my 590 for about 3 years now, have cooked on it a few dozen times, all sorts of meats. Was never impressed but I kept reading, trying new things, pellets, rubs, you name it.

It's been covered up all spring and with the Holiday weekend here, thought I would try again. Bought a great looking butt, marinade on it for about 12 hours, and fired it off yesterday morning at 220 with fresh pellets. Cooked for about 5 hours until inside temps were in upper 160's, but had the same result as always. Even took off grill and wrapped in butcher paper for an hour to let it rest.

Nice looking result, but sorta tough meat, dry and not much flavor. Have tried injecting in the past, and that didn't seem to impact the results either.

Any thoughts before I dump this thing and go to a stick grill? I love the rec-teq ease, set and forget, etc, but not the results after the cook.

Honestly have had much better results with my propane grill and a couple of fire boxes of chips than the 590.

Thanks in advance for your help!
If you are more of a visual person.....

I've done this and it has turned out fantastic!
 
8lbs butt yesterday… 180 for 2.5 hours 225 until finished (16 total hours) just put in the time bud it’ll be what you are looking for. Pulled mine at 204 degrees.

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Yep agree 160F internal is for slicing not pulling and probably will be a tough slice of pork.

A Rt-590 or any other pellet grill is not going to give you the smoke of a stick burner, but you can walk away from it and the temp will remain relatively stable, which is a great thing for long cooks like pork butts, brisket, etc.

I have two smoke tubes I fill up and light on either end of my 590 to add smoke and have begun starting w/ a clean fire pot with a few (1/4 hand full) fresh pellets in it. Put the big chunk of cow or pig on the grate close the lid and start the 590 set for Low (180F). Smoke will billow out during the time the grill is coming to 180F. I let it smoke at 180F for at least an hour, more like 2-4 hrs, before bumping the temp to 225F for the remaining time.

The "intense" smoke "sticks" to the cool meat well and once the smoke tubes run out there is no need to relight them. (Got this from Mad Scientist BBQ).

Pork butts are pretty forgiving so wrapping seems to be optional.
 
I would try two things. Check your temperature probe to make sure your running at the correct temperatures. Second I really like to mix wood pellets and charcoal pellets I get a better smoke flavor.
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I'll just add to the advice about cooking to 200 by saying that cooking to 200 degrees is a checkpoint. At 200 degrees take another thermometer probe and stick it in the meat. If it easily slides in and out with hardly any resistance, it's done. If it resists and still feels tough, keep cooking.
 

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