Cooking Butt- Should I cut each piece down to even up weight before cooking?

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I am cooking about 26lbs of butt for a party on SUnday at 4pm. It is currently Saturday 7am and I need a bit of help. I have 3 chunks of Pork Shoulder that weigh about 6lbs each and 2 chunks that weigh only 3lbs each. I've never bbq'd a chunk only 3lbs before, but we had to go to three stores to find enough shoulder in the first place. We had to take what they had available.

Anyway...should I cut the big ones down to match, more closely, the weight of the little ones? If so...will it speed their cooking time?

I was going to get things started around 5-6pm tonite to have them ready by 3 or so tommorrow. Am I starting too early?

Looking for help soon...Thanks Gang!
 
The smaller "chunks" will cook faster. I think I'd put the smaller ones on later in the cook.

I've never cooked that small of a shoulder but I guess if you did cut the meat down to the same size, the only difference in the finished product would be more bark and shorter cooking time.
 
Steve - no, I don't think you are starting too early. Maybe you can give yourself another hour or two, but I wouldn't do more than that.

I also wouldn't cut the butts down... in my experience, the time to cook smaller pieces of meat is much more erratic. I once had a 4 pounder take 13 hours. Go figure.

I would just throw the 3 pounders on first thing in the morning - like at 5 a.m. That should give you enough time... and you have foil to speed up if it isn't.

Good luck.
 
Starting a new butt, even a 3 lb'r in the a.m. is introducting a fresh heat sink to your pit. I think I would prepare by adding extra fuel at that point. If you still have a temp at over 200 in the a.m., add a dozen or so unlit and leave the door open 3 to 5 min to help them get started. If your temp is under 200, add lit.

Good luck on the cook.

Paul
 
Good suggestions gang...Thanks!

How about this idea....Put all of them on at once (around5-6pm today). Then I'll be checking them a couple of times during the night. I'll leave my one meat probe in the smallest one. When it hits 185 or so I'll take it off and start monitoring the biggest one left.

Thought being that it might be safer to cook the small one until done then keep it warm somewhere than to risk introducing it early am.

Thoughts?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Steve B.
How about this idea....Put all of them on at once (around5-6pm today). ...
Thought being that it might be safer to cook the small one until done then keep it warm somewhere than to risk introducing </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
If you do it that way, the 3 lb'r might finish at a very strange time, like 2 or 3 in the morning. I would not want to have to deal with it at that hour. Also, from that point till it's time to pull it would be too long to keep it warm. You might need to go ahead and pull it and refrigerate, then reheat. If you refrigerate the 3 lb'r before pulling, you'll need to reheat it before pulling.

While I'm sure your plan would work, I would probably opt for the other. I don't think the new heat sink of raw meat will cause you a problem if you plan for it.

Paul
 
Great points...

I will be slapping the 3lbers on at around 3am and hope for the best.

aint this internet thing great?
icon_wink.gif
 
On a side-note...
I've found that I prefer a handful of smaller butts instead of a couple big ones, if I'm not foiling, because there's a lot more bark.
 
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