Help needed on Pork Butts

[jbomb]

I am cooking 4 Pork Butts for a friend's party. They are all around 10lbs.

The party is accually on Saturday but I have to cook them on Thursday. I figure I can make it to where they finish late Thursday night. I would like to keep them as fresh as possible obviously. Would you suggest that I leave them in tact untill Saturday and let my buddy pull them then sauce then up as he wishes? Or should I go ahead and do it then he just has to heat it all up?

Then second thing is I really prefered he get smaller Butts. But with the holiday weekend going on he couldnt find any that were smaller. Not Sams Club not the local grocery or meat markets. They are bone in. I was wondering if it is would be advised to cut them in half? I thought I could find the bone and cut them as close as possible to halves as I could. Would this be a bad move on my part? I realize it would probaly make them cook at different times seeing some have bone and some don't. And what would the time differance be between them approximatly? I would use a thermometer but would maybe start the longer cooking Butts earlier than the other to get them close to the same ending time.

Any help is greatly appreciated. After a few summers of just messing around this is the beginning of my second summer of really trying to give a big effort in smoking meat. I had pretty decent success last year and am kind of nervouse becasue I have had friends asking me to cook for parties and don't wanna look like an idiot. I am still a very big beginner still eager to learn as much as possible. So thank you for your time and help. I can always us it.
Thank You.
J

 

[ronp]

I would leave them whole, the bone will be obvious when done and just pull out.

I would also pull them and ziplock in bags and let him reheat and add whatever sauce he wants.

Hope this helps.

 

[travcoman45]

Smoke em, pull em, vac bag em rewarm in a pot of low boilin water till the hit a minimum 140°.

I'd just smoke em whole, I wouldn't cut em up.

 

[bassman]

In the past, I have done the butts two or three days in advance. I let them rest in a cooler for a few hours then pulled the meat. Stored in Sam's Club steam table pans in the fridge then reheated the day of the party. Came out fantastic. Did the same with the brisket the day before the party.

 

[jbomb]

Thank you all for the help. I am about to throw them on right now. I really appreciate the help.

 

[smokingscooby]

Don't forget the pics. should have some good ones around lunch. lol

 

[bigbaldbbq]

I would pull them, and then put them in the fridge. A day or too and they will still be ok. Reheat, sauce, and serve. None of the guests will know the difference.

 

[reichl]

I agree. I personally think butts taste better the next day anyways

 

[bman62526]

Jbomb, I do this all the time. First off, you can cut them in half and never tell the difference once their done, except for that you will have more yummy bark if they are halfed, because you increase the surface area! Also, they don't take as long...I usually cut off 2 hours cook time, if I cut one 9-10 lb. shoulder in half.

As far as pulling, I believe this is the best method - as far as the results you get and how easy it is.

So you foil around 165, or so - then when the IT hits 195, you pull them out and do the cooler trick...after a couple hours, open up the foiled butt portions and the bone will lift out with a finger...cut those butt halves into quarters and let them rest about 20-30 min. At this point, ALL of the "gunk" (lots of fat, connective tissure) will EASILY pull right off, leaving just the good stuff.

Now you can finish pulling/shredding and then bag it for reheating later - OR - you can leave the meat in big hunks after removing all the fat, and on Saturday, put them in a roaster covered with foil (little juice or finishing sauce added at this point...just a little) and reheat them that way....and then pull/shred.

Good luck!

 

[jbomb]

I did cut them in half and they are all cooking within 3 to 7 degrees of each other.

Got them going good around 9 it is now 2 and they are all close to 158 degrees.

Just a little longer till foilling. They have a wonderfull bark on them. I am taking pictures and will try and put them on when I figure out how. Thank you all for the help.

 

[jbomb]

Sorry it took so long to get back to this if anyone cares LOL. But everything came out great. I did cut them in halves. The only thing is it could have had a bit more smoke flavor. I don't know if it was from the cooking times being droped so much by only having 4.5 to 5 lb pieces where I am use to haveing around 7 to 8lbs. So I got to 165 much faster. But it was very very tasty. Thank you all for your help. I think I have figured out the picture deal here so I am trying to upload.

Oh and the advice of putting them in bags and sucking out the air and adding just a bit of juice was money. It worked great.

 

[the dude abides]

Great picts Jbomb. Those looks excellent. Glad everything turned out well for you.

 

[bigbaldbbq]

It looks like you nailed it. Good job!

 

[bmudd14474]

Looked like they turned out good. You are correct on the smoke flavor. Since you cut them in half you took away time for the smoke to penetrate.

 

[isutroutbum]

Great lookin' butts. Awesome bark!

Best,
Trout

 

[9manfan]

Nice looking butts there, very nice bark,,,,,,,,,,