4 butts on 18.5"


 
B

Benji Whitehead

TVWBB Member
I need to make pulled pork for 40 hungry baptists this weekend. I think 3 butts might be enough but I'm probably going to do 4 to be safe and have leftovers. I've never done 4 on my smoker before. I've taken out the water pan and use a clay pot base, will that have any impact on the usefulness of the bottom rack? Will it take longer to cook 4 butts compared to 2? Also, the weather forecast for Friday night looks rainy. I thought about putting the smoker in my detached garage to stay out of the wind/rain. I'll leave the garage door cracked open and run the attic vent fan I have overhead to clear out the smoke.
 
I've done 6 butts on my 18.5 no problem. I cant speak to the clay pot base question as I have used a dry foil lined water pan but your cooking time will extend a bit. Butts act as pretty good heat sinks but I did a charcoal refill about 3/4 of the way through the cook and I took the butts off when they were done and had a LOT of unburned charcoal left. I didn't want to chance of running dry but I think I could have made it on a single very full charcoal ring.
 
You may burn more fuel than normal since all that meat will act as a heat sink. Other than that a 18.5" is fully capable of cooking #4 butts at once.
 
I have done 4 on my 18.5 several times. I rotate the meat top to bottom mid smoke. Otherwise not much different. Personally I use my pan with water.

Mike
 
Bryan B said:
Matt, how did you get 6 on? Is that the teepee method? If so, plz explain.
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I guess it was more of a clover leaf method if you can understand what I mean. It was tight but I got 3 on the top and 3 on the bottom rack.


I did post a couple years ago about this, and it seems I used a full water pan, not dry and the total smoke session went 22 hours for 6 9lbs butts. I guess my memory is not what it used to be.
 
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so here's the scoop.

got started trimming and rubbing them down. first two went great. opened package for the next two and there was an "off" smell. And there was some kind of slimy stuff near the bone. Not good at all!! I sent my wife to the store to get two more and put the first two on the bottom rack. she came back and we trimmed the other two at a rapid pace. then the great rub debacle of 2013 happened. I'm a Stubb's guy. From day one with my WSM it's been Stubb's Bar-B-Q rub for every cook. Nobody has it anymore. I had a bottle of it (but it's even changed to a different formula and looks different) and a bottle of their new "Pork" rub. Ran out of original on the first two butts. Wife opened the new pork rub variety, smelled it and said "NO"! I had a bottle of Bad Byron's Butt Rub that I'd bought on a whim a while back so we rubbed down the other two butts with that. Got it all on the smoker by 8, now I'm waiting on the temps to come up and my heart rate and blood pressure to go down. If I had a beer I think I'd drink three or four right now!!!!
 
An old sergeant told me many years ago: it ain't how bad you (mess) up, it's how fast you recover. Sounds like a good recovery.
 
Dwain Pannell said:
An old sergeant told me many years ago: it ain't how bad you (mess) up, it's how fast you recover. Sounds like a good recovery.
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I love that quote. It reminds of a similar one that I tell my son, "It's not how many times you fall down, it's how many times you get back up that matters".
 
4 AM check, 8 hours in and they look great. Nice bark developed on all four. Temp was 250 at the top vent. I stirred the coals, shook the ring, added some unlit, basted with apple juice and apple cider vinegar. Now I'm back to bed. Haven't checked meat temp yet. Will check at 8ish AM.
 
7:30 am. Looking good. Rotated racks. Temps were 170 on three butts and 180 on another. Temp was 260 at vent. After stirring coals, rotating meat, checking temps, basting, etc, the temp jumped to 350. Closed bottom vents. Gonna check again in about 20 mins and readjust vents.

Photo: http://instagram.com/p/dHPYEjRWyc/
 
Wanted to get them to 190-195. Two smaller butts were done at 16 hours. Two larger butts were done at 18. Let all rest in a cooler for a couple of hours before pulling. Freakin delicious. Everybody was happy. I liked the Bad Byron's Butt Rub so it looks like Stubbs is out. We had a good relationship but then he changed.
 
benji whitehead said:
so here's the scoop.

got started trimming and rubbing them down. first two went great. opened package for the next two and there was an "off" smell. And there was some kind of slimy stuff near the bone. Not good at all!! I sent my wife to the store to get two more and put the first two on the bottom rack. she came back and we trimmed the other two at a rapid pace. then the great rub debacle of 2013 happened. I'm a Stubb's guy. From day one with my WSM it's been Stubb's Bar-B-Q rub for every cook. Nobody has it anymore. I had a bottle of it (but it's even changed to a different formula and looks different) and a bottle of their new "Pork" rub. Ran out of original on the first two butts. Wife opened the new pork rub variety, smelled it and said "NO"! I had a bottle of Bad Byron's Butt Rub that I'd bought on a whim a while back so we rubbed down the other two butts with that. Got it all on the smoker by 8, now I'm waiting on the temps to come up and my heart rate and blood pressure to go down. If I had a beer I think I'd drink three or four right now!!!!
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I know how you feel with the rub....I did 3 butts Friday and ran out of rub as I started dusting the third butt. It was a home made rub and I can't even remember where I got the recipe. Rubbed as much as I could and threw them in the smoker. Oh well!
 
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