I LIKE BIG BUTTS AND I CANNOT LIE......

[cpfitness]

But sadly my supermarket didn't have any big butts.  they had one 3 lb but and a bunch of "half picnics" in the 3.5 lb range.  So i bought the 1 butt and 3 of the picnics.  My question to you great folks is on cooking time.  In the past, I've done all of my pulled porks using Whole picnics in the 10lb range and man oh man they took FOREVER.  I'm talking 18+ hours.  Since these pieces are cut down and much smaller, can i expect quicker cooking times or since i've still got 12lbs of meat absorbing the heat can I still expect a long smoke?   I have to decide between firing up tonight and going overnight and simply getting up early and knocking it out first thing.

 

[bear55]

Yes you can expect a quicker cooking time.  I wonder at what temp you cooked your 10 lb. butt at to take 18 hours.  I cook my butts at 235 and foil them at 165 taking them to 203-205 for pulling.  I always rest the butt in an empty ice chest for at least an hour and 3 hours won't hurt.  I don't think you need to start your cook tonight, I would not.  Just get u[p early and get started.

Richard

 

[stewyc]

Hello I am looking for a few sugguestion a about smoking five 15-18# pork butts for my sons scout banquet. I have smoked a lot with my 7 rack gas smoker in small portions. I am planning on using a very large wood smoker pit. Mind if I pick your brains on this?

 

[sopchoppy]

Use your favorite rub and put it on heavy. Smoke 6 hours @ 250. Take off and double wrap in hd foil, back on the smoker for 6 more hours. This is how a competition bbqer does it. Fall apart tender and juicy.

 

[cpfitness]

Hello I am looking for a few sugguestion a about smoking five 15-18# pork butts for my sons scout banquet. I have smoked a lot with my 7 rack gas smoker in small portions. I am planning on using a very large wood smoker pit. Mind if I pick your brains on this?

stewyc, great questions but I kinda wish you would have started your own thread since this is such a new thread and i'm trying to decide what I need to do in the next couple of hours and dont want confusino on who the answers are being given too!

 

[cpfitness]

 
Yes you can expect a quicker cooking time.  I wonder at what temp you cooked your 10 lb. butt at to take 18 hours.  I cook my butts at 235 and foil them at 165 taking them to 203-205 for pulling.  I always rest the butt in an empty ice chest for at least an hour and 3 hours won't hurt.  I don't think you need to start your cook tonight, I would not.  Just get u[p early and get started.

Richard

Those butts in the past were probably done at closer to 225 but they were on a cheapo smoker that definately had some temp fluctuations though if anything it would be a spike in temps.  I'm definately leaning towards going more the "hot and fast" kind of thing because it's pulled pork, it's pretty impossible to totally screw it up!!!

I had read somewhere that certain lower quality meats or with preservatives just take longer to cook and break down.  I have a stickburner and it seems like my best smokes are when I allow at least a full 1-2 hours to let the damn thing get burning good and clean and heated up so my temps get steady.  I'm worried that if I get up at 6, I wont get them on until 7:30-8 and my guests are arriving at 4pm  Kickoff is at 6:30 so I have some leeway though

 

[cpfitness]

hugely disappointed in the advice from this site.  it is now 10 of midnight on the super bowl and i have 2 butts STILL IN THE OVEN.  I put them on the smoker at 7am because I was advised that since they were smaller I wouldn't need to go overnight with them.   The moral of the story is sometimes you gotta trust your gut!!!!  Pork shoulders have a lot of fat and take forever to break down.  This was one of the best smokes I've ever done interms of managing temps and smoke, yet the meat didn't finish.  From now on,I'm smoking pork at 275 because "low and slow: at 225 is too dam slow!

 

[dirtsailor2003]

Don't bash the site there's a wealth of information here. I run my smoker at around 265-285 when I do pork butts. I figure 1 1/2 per pound of the heaviest hunk of meat and then add an additional 2 hours for rest and pulling etc... His is to reach an IT off 200-205. I've never had a piece of meat not hit within a hour of my predicted time. Smaller cuts under five pounds I've had reach that IT in a hour per pound running the smoker at the same temps. Have you checked your therms for accuracy? Even at 225 you should've hit IT at no more than 3 hours per pound.

 

[cpfitness]

Not bashing, just voicing some disappointment in a drunken stupor! My therms are dead on accurate. I won't hesitate to run my smoker hotter next time I do butts. I usually run em around 225. I ended up finishing these in the oven. Luckily I took 1 of the 4 off and we chopped it up as roasted pork and everyone loved it