How much rub and how much wood for 72 Butts?


 
B

Bryan Rice

TVWBB Super Fan
Hi All,

As you might have read on this other thread, I have been in charge of smoking 72 pork butts over the course of six days at Burning Man this year.

If you haven't seen the above thread, we are building custom smokers out of 55 gallon drums that will resemble the WSM in function and design (we hope).

Does anyone have any idea how much rub I am going to need? I am not sure if I am going to just order Texas BBQ rub or make it myself (depends on time), but roughly how many pounds of rub do you think I should have on hand?

We will be smoking over the course of 6 days. I can get Oak and I can get Cherry. Right now, I have ordered a half cord of each. Do you think this will be enough? I will most likely NOT have charcoal, but will be burning the oak down to coals, and then putting them into the smoker.

I have never smoked more than two butts on the weekend, so I am diving head first into this one.

Any help would be much appreciated.
 
Since I always make rubs I'm not sure by weight as I go by volume. Of course what you use depends on how much you apply but using what I do as a guide you'll need about 42 cups.

You should be good on the wood.
 
Bryan--

Fuel management is critical. You'll need to pre-burn as you suggest; you'll need to keep enough going so that it's available when you need it but not so much that you burn it up before getting it into the cooker. Pre-burning takes time, of course, but you should be able to figure the flow you need rather quickly once you get your first couple burn piles going.

Bring plenty of HD foil (other than for resting the meat, you may need to foil while cooking either to protect the meat (depending on heat control issues) or to speed it up), and a couple sprayers for water. They can come in handy.

Good luck. I'd join you if I could but the dates don't work for me this year.
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Bryan
I would highly suggest using charcoal along with wood. Burning wood down to coals uses a large volumn of wood and is very time consumming, not even considering the cost of burning straight wood. Charcoal is cheap.
Jim
 
Thanks for all the advice - I need it!

Kevin - I will bring lots of HD foil - that is a very good thing to remember. Too bad you can't make it - that would have been awesome.

Jim - I put in a request for some charcoal - not sure yet how much I am going to get, but I have taken your suggestion to heart.

I will take as many pics as possible and let you know about all the ups and downs afterwards.
 
Hey Bryan,

One of my neighbors is going to burning man (he goes every year) and I told him about your butt adventures. He wanted to know what "Camp" you are in so that he could come by and get some p.p. Although, with 70+ butts cooking, I'm sure his nose will lead him
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Jim - I put in a request for some charcoal - not sure yet how much I am going to get, but I have taken your suggestion to heart. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Hopefully plenty, but even if just some it would be very helpful offering stability and continuity. Jim's caveat on wood being time consuming is of course spot-on. That part of it can be frustrating, such that it becomes tempting to rush the process. It can be tempting to make the pre-burn piles bigger in an effort to get usable fuel sooner--that won't work and you end up consuming too much wood. It can also be tempting to add wood to the cookers too soon--but then you end up fighting instability, a major PITA. If you use some or all wood for fuel it needs to be in as fuel-stable a form as you can get it before it goes into the cooker. That has to be the focus: you want to manage the cooker by air intake adjustments to stable fuel, not fight flaming wood inside the cooker.

I'm sure you've thought of all this already, don't mean to be schoolmarm-ish. It's pretty much an endless, cycling head-game--an exciting kind of cook for me and, I suspect, for you too. I so wish I could be there.
 
Phil - This is what I am told: I will be in small section entitled "Smoker's Corner" that will be part of "The Q" camp. This will be located at 330 & Esplanade. This doesn't mean that much to me - but as you suggested your friend should be able to follow his nose! Tell him to say "hi".

BTW - we are GIVING AWAY all the Pulled Pork sandwiches (no slaw though - mayonnaise in the desert is probably not a good thing) . Burning Man works on a "gift economy" and part of the whole spirit of the thing is to give something to the festival - and we are giving away pulled pork as our "Art". The guys I am camping with describe it as doing "Performance BBQ". They see grilling and bbq-ing as an art form that is no less distinguished than metal sculpture, costume design, or any of the other creative endeavors in which Burning Man is rife.

Kevin - You are not being schoolmarm-ish (unless you are wearing heavy black shoes and have your hair tied-up in a tight bun in the back). This is really happening, so all the advice and considerations you can give me are MORE than appreciated. Once I am out in the desert, I will only have what I brought with me and my ingenuity to deal with whatever situation may arise.

Every point you and everyone else has made I am taking VERY seriously.

Any other tips or thoughts from anyone? I would love to hear them!
 
Bryan--

I was thinking about bacteria while replying to another post and thought of you--
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--your circumstances at Burning Man, actually. Bring a bottle of cider or white vinegar with you (something with 5% acidity) and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide (3% solution), along with a spray bottle for each (I use pump sprayers made to atomize olive oil because they fit well in my knife case for travelling; at home, cheapo garden sprayers).

The combo--one sprayed on top of the other, in any order--is extremely effective at killing pathogenic bacteria. Great for knives, cutting boards, prep tables, containers, even as a produce wash. Spray one then the other then wipe off. Easy, cheap, food-safe, no disinfectant smell. It's most effective when the two are sprayed separately, not combined in one sprayer first.
 
That is really great advice Kevin. I will be making a massive shopping run after I land in Reno and before I drive to the desert in a rental car.

I will have a bunch of apple cider vinegar on hand for sauce, and I will pick up hydrogen peroxide as part of my shopping list.
 
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