4 butts for son's grad party


 
J

JSMurrell

New member
Ok fellas,
I've done a few butts on my 18.5 WSM. Only one at a time, they always turn out great. My wife asked if I could do 4 butts for our son's graduation party. I thought, Heck Yeah! Cool. Then I thought, uh oh, I've only done 1 at a time, not 4. So, I like to smoke em with apple wood around 225. Just did one today, well, it started last night, and it was around 11.5 hours for 7lbs. Can I expect the same time for 4 butts?
 
I've smoked four butts (bone-in) before, but I think I pulled them after 10 hours, foiled them, and finished them in the oven. The time consuming part is prep and shredding. Cook time isn't really that different, although I used lump to ensure at least 250° in the 18" WSM (with H2O in pan).

Great link, Chuck! Never would have thought of that.
 
6 years ago I cooked 4 for a fishing club picnic. Here's my log. Sorry about the length but this was done on an 18.5 WSM. Maybe it will help. Also, I pulled the pork ahead of time and reheated at the picnic. I got lucky and the folks liked it - me too.

ISAA Butts 35 LBS. untrimmed

Thursday, July 21, 2011
7:11 PM

Cooker: WSM (11th cook on it)

Notes: Food Lion Boston Butts (Their weight is 9.37, 9.23, 8.28, and 8.25 LBS. , untrimmed). Last night I trimmed the fat and rubbed with the Bob Lilly rub and then I applied more just before they went on the cooker. I took off 3.5 lbs. of fat.

I calculated the times for each Butt and at 2 hrs/lb. the big one will take 19 hrs.. That should be plenty of time if I run at 225⁰F. Based on past cooks it could take only 17 hrs or less. I'm going to cook Thurs night and Friday, let them sit in foil for a couple of hours and then pull them. We'll reheat at the Q. That means I want to finish them by at least 6 PM on Friday. If I put them on BY 7:00 PM on Thursday night they will be ready well before 6.


Time Cooker Target Temp Cooker Grate Cooker Lid Temp Meat Temp Ambient Action Taken:
Temp Temp
6:55 PM 225⁰ +/- 31⁰ 92⁰ clear Meat on with oak and Hickory (3 to 1). Vents 100%
7:30 PM 190⁰ 190⁰ 31⁰ Put on the Fattie.
8:00 PM 199⁰ 215⁰ 32⁰ Adjusted 3 lower vents to 25%.
8:10 PM 200⁰ 213⁰ 31⁰ 91⁰ Adjust 3 lower vents to 50%
8:30 PM 200⁰ 213⁰ 32⁰ 91⁰ Temp not climbing. Adjusted 3 lower vents to 100%
8:50 PM 213⁰ 235⁰ 50⁰ 91⁰ Adjusted vents to 50%
9:05 PM 229⁰ 260⁰ 62⁰ 91⁰ Adjusted vents to 20%. Lots of smoke.
9:43 PM 225⁰ 227⁰ 245⁰ 91⁰ 87⁰ Tweaked vents.
10:30 PM 233⁰ 245⁰ 121⁰ 83⁰ Closed vents to about 15%, Pulled Fattie at 10:20
10:50 PM 221⁰ 222⁰ 132⁰ 83⁰ Opened vents a little and then some more.
11:23 PM 227⁰ 235⁰ 141⁰ 82⁰ Closed 2 vents a little. Went to bed.
2:30 AM 205⁰ 220⁰ 161⁰ 79⁰ Low cooker temp alarm awakened me. Opened vents to 100% and stirred coals. Temp rebounded and put vents to 50%. Added charcoal and had to open vents.
3:10 AM 230⁰ 260⁰ 161⁰ Adjust vents to 50%
4:25 AM 226⁰ 250⁰ 163⁰ 79⁰ Opened vents a little.
6:30 AM 231⁰ 252⁰ 169⁰ 78⁰ Cleared ash from front vent. Went to bed.
8:40 AM 235⁰ 251⁰ 172⁰ 78⁰ Woke up Nearing 14 hrs cook time
10:55 AM 232⁰ 235⁰ 182⁰ 86⁰ Added charcoal. Vents at 100% 16 hrs cook time.
12:35 PM 255⁰ 265⁰ 189⁰ 88⁰ Added hot charcoal and removed one butt which was at 200⁰. Moved one lower butt to top. Two butts on lower rack at only 165⁰ 17.5 hrs. cook time.
1:05 PM 250-275⁰ Pulled second butt. 18 hrs. cook time. Moved butt on lower rack to upper.
1:15 PM 274⁰ 340⁰ 173⁰ 90⁰ Added hot charcoal. Over 18 hrs cook time
1:45 PM 258⁰ 335⁰ 179⁰ 91⁰ Removed body, Charcoal grate and ring and emptied ash. Lots of charcoal. Vents 100% open.
2:57 PM 267⁰ 340⁰ 190⁰ 94⁰ 20 hrs. cook time
3:55 PM 265 285⁰ 197⁰ 94⁰ 21 hours cook time
5:00 PM 265⁰ 285⁰ 199⁰ 94⁰ Removed last 2 butts from the cooker and into the cooler. 22 hours cook time.
 
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I did two boneless butts today. They went on at 6:00 AM and I pulled them off at 6:30 PM. WSM grate temp was very close to 225F except for about half an hour after I added more charcoal when it dipped to about 190F until the new coals caught. Also for the last two hours the temp was slowly rising and I let it. It got to about 250F at the finish. I used a mix of peach, apple and some half-burned cherry that was still in the smoker when I cleaned it out. This is the first butt I've done without any nut wood. I liked the result. The smoke flavor was there without drowning out the pork.

I've done four at once before but that was years ago and I don't recall how long it took.

My advice when cooking for people who are going to expect to eat at a given time is to shoot for being done with the cooking at least six hours ahead of time. Let the meat cool to 170F internal, wrap with aluminum foil and hold in a good cooler. With four of them in there they'll stay warm for a very long time. For a group that size I'd probably do the cooking the day before and reheat the day of the gathering.
 
Thanks fellas. Good tips by all. By the way, the butt I did yesterday, made awesome pulled pork sandwiches with Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce and a blob of coleslaw on a pretzel bun. Today was smoked pork soft tacos with carnitas sauce. Good lord that was good eating. Lots of leftovers too which my wife loves so she can make different dishes. I love my WSM.
 
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