Well, looks like this is one of those "if ain't broke don't fix it" learning moments in life. I've been smoking pork shoulders for years. Same cut, same size, same results. I've done these in blazing heat, snow and ice, and even in the middle of a tornado outbreak. At this point, I trust the process and it never lets me down. So for reasons outside of this mortal realm, I did something different. Don't know why, just did. I decided to leave the water pan empty. Ran at 275* for four hours which much hotter than I like but shoulder's forgiving. Went to bed at 2:30 up at 8, fire was choked out with the temp at 200*. Oh well, I have it in the oven at 225* so we'll see.