2 small butts vs. 1 large one


 
M

Matt M.

New member
I've heard that adding a second piece of meat to the WSM won't substantially add to the total cook time. If this is the case, then can I take a large 9-10 lb. pork butt, which would take 15-20 hours to cook, split it in half and cook the two 4.5-5 lb. halves in faster time?

I did a single 4.5-5 lb. butt in 8.5 hours this past weekend with excellent results. Just wondering if splitting one large one in half would let me avoid an overnight cook. The plan is to keep one for myself and give the other away to another family here in the neighborhood. Any disadvantages to splitting? Your thoughts? Thanks!
 
Yes it will shorten the cook, won't exactly double your bark but you'll have more bark. Disadvantage - short cook, I love my long cooks. I'm the opposite of most, rather than splitting a 9-10 lb butt I'll go buy another one for my cook.
 
Oh I look forward to doing some long cooks in the future, just not ready quite yet. Would rather get several short ones in to get some good experience first.

How much longer do you think the second small one would add to the total cook time that I observed for one?
 
Matt - Assuming I understand your question correctly, adding more mass to the smoker will not cause longer cook time for the food. I.E. it takes the same amount of time to cook one 5# pork butt as it does to cook five of them.

Although it may take just a bit longer to get up to temp, and the fuel usage will be increased, it will still cook at the same amount of time per lb of meat.
 
Mitch - yeah, you got my question right. I'll be putting 10 lbs. of meat on the smoker one way or the other... just trying to figure out if two 5 lb. butts will cook in half the time of a single 10 lb. butt. Sounds like it will due to the larger exposed surface area. Thanks!
 
I've cooked multiple pork butts and the time was within normal variance of doing a single piece of meat.

As for surface area if you hypothetically said your 10 LBS butt was about 9X7X4 then the total surface area is 254 SQ In. Then if you cut it in half on the longest length to create 2 4.5 X 7 X 4 butts then the total surface area is 310 SQ In. However if cut such that the 2 pork butts were now 9X7X2 then the total surface area of those 2 pork butts would be 380 Sq In.

You could do that ad nauseum all the way till you had a rack of "Boneless Country Style Ribs" which are surface area rich, little mini pork butts that cook in about 3-4 hours.
 
Thanks guys!

For cooking two small butts simultaneously, would it make any difference if I cooked them both on the top rack vs. one top and one bottom? I don't think there'd be much difference, but thought I'd ask just in case.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Matt M.:
For cooking two small butts simultaneously, would it make any difference if I cooked them both on the top rack vs. one top and one bottom? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
If they'll fit I always do them on the top rack just because it's easier to deal with during the cook. Now that I think about it, I don't think I've ever used the bottom rack...
 
Interesting....FWIW, I use the bottom rack almost exclusively...I prefer cooking with water in the pan, and the steamy and more mellow smoke profile of the lower rack...I only use the top when I load up the WSM
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....pretty unconventional
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