Planning for a Super Bowl smoke

[va_connoisseur]

I am looking for some advice. I recently did a smoke for my cigar buddies where we did 33 St.Louis cut spare on my 120 gallon reverse flow. I want to do something different for the Super Bowl.

My thought is doing 12-15 racks this time and adding 4-6 eight pound shoulders/butts. My questions are:

1. Is that a good substitute or will I be low on meat?

2. Being February in VA, should I expect for 10+ hours for the shoulders?

3. I am staying away from bone-in, as it reduces meat yield and imho increases cook times. Thought?

 

[pops6927]

Yes, you should expect 10-14 hrs on the butts including stall.  You also have to  calculate shrink, and how are you serving the butts, sliced or chunks or shredded?   What was your serving size on the St. Louis spares, or what satisfied most people on average; i.e. ¼ rack, ½ rack, ¾ rack, or 1 apiece?  Bone-in or out is negligible.  The bone actually helps cook the meat as it heats up quicker.

 

[humdinger]

I agree with pops on the bone-in vs boneless question. I always prefer bone in.

I'm not sure what kind of eaters you're hosting (cigar club = big eaters to me) but I think 15 racks and 5 butts (8lbs each) should be enough. I've found that when pulled, pork shoulder goes a long way. Especially if you offer buns, cole slaw, etc...

Also try to just cut the ribs into servings of two or three bones a piece for people to eat in addition to the pulled pork. That way they're not making a meal out of just the ribs.

Just my two cents.

 

[bruno994]

If your going to have a few sides, sounds like you should be good on food.  Throw in some appetizers, like bacon wrapped pork loin medallions, stuffed chicken breasts, some ABT's, chips and dips, etc., you should be good.    

 

[va_connoisseur]

Thanks for all the assistance. We are planning on cutting the ribs into 3-4 bone per serving. There will be sides and desserts done by some of the other guys. I will be sure to take some pics.