2 butts vs 1 - how much more time?


 
M

Mike aka Sewer

New member
Hey guys!

I normally only cook one butt at about 250 for roughly 12-15 hours. I am going to be cooking for twice the amount of people next month and I will need to cook two butt's, so my question is, how much will that add to the total cooking time? I know specific time is hard to gauge but since I would like to have these done before the party starts, I need to roughly have an idea of how much more time I will need to plan for.

My other question, since there will be twice the meat in the cooker, should I use a clay saucer instead of water-pan?

Any info you could provide is appreciated!
Mike

PS I use the 18 model of the WSM.
 
I've used my 18.5 WSM twice now for pork butts, both times I did 2 butts at the same time totaling about 17.5lbs both times. Both times took about 12 hours total. The first time we did all the cooking in the smoker. The second time I got a later start than I wanted and took the butts off the smoker at 8 hours into the cook and 165*, wrapped them in foil, and finished with 4 hours in the oven at 225* until the oven beeped that the meat was at 190* and all I had to do was pull the pan out of the oven and set it out in the garage, thanks to having a cold garage in the winter, and went to bed. After waking up in the morning I shredded the butts and was surprised at how easy it was to do with cold meat. Both times turned out tasting great and both times we also did "extra" meats on the smoker- pork loin first time and chicken the second- to eat while finishing the butts. I use clay saucers and have never used water in the pan. I've got 2- 12inch saucers stacked together and wrapped in foil. Works for me. I also recommend the injection recipe in Weber's Smoke cookbook, tastes great!
 
boy , i cant add anything to that. id say steves got you covered. ditto for me on the clay saucer....good luck , bro. hope those butts come out good. take some pictures !
 
Mike, short answer is that two butts just make the cooker take longer to come up to temp, and if you know your cooker, sure, go with no water.
 
I cook 2 all the time in a WSM22.......my cook time has been about 12 hours give or take.

Timing vs. cooking only one is virtually unchanged, once the cooker comes up to temp (may take a few minutes longer to come up to temp).

I've been using an empty/foiled pan with no worries. I also do not foil unless I blow the time and need to finish quickly, which I hate to do.
 
Excellent guys, thanks for all the info. It sounds like I'm not doing much in variation to what I currently do with 1/2 the pork. If anyone else would like to chime in, I'm all ears!

Thanks again!
 
"...increasing the amount of meat cooked is not about increasing cooking time—it's about starting with more hot charcoal so the cooker gets up to 225-250°F as quickly as possible after the meat is added, and it's about starting with more unlit charcoal so your cooker has enough fuel to operate at 225-250°F for the estimated cooking time." http://virtualweberbullet.com/cookingtimes.html
 
Dwain Pannell said:
"...increasing the amount of meat cooked is not about increasing cooking time—it's about starting with more hot charcoal so the cooker gets up to 225-250°F as quickly as possible after the meat is added..." http://virtualweberbullet.com/cookingtimes.html
Click to expand...

Very good point, Dwain, and I learned early on with my 18.5" bullet that starting with the prescribed 20-40 lit briquettes meant for up to an 18 hour cook to get a full load of four butts tender. I like 12 hr cooks much better. ;)
 
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