I have been elected to cook for a crowd of about 100. I have an 18.5 WSM. I want to cook four butts two on each rack. My question is can I cook four butts at the same time in 9-10 hours at 250? Would this be at all possible? Could I cut my number of butts to three and still feed everybody?
Cooking for a crowd and I have questions.
- Thread starter JohnO
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Dale Nichols
TVWBB Super Fan
Well you did not say how big they are and 9-10 hours sounds just a little bit to short to me. Others will chime in.
But on the other hand if you plan on wrapping you might be alright.
But on the other hand if you plan on wrapping you might be alright.
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Charlie L
TVWBB Super Fan
If you are cooking for any crowd, especially a big crowd, start early. Build in a few extra hours in case you have any hiccups along the way. Butts can be wrapped in foil and a clean dry towel and held for hours in a dry cooler and will still be hot when pulled. I've held for 3 hours doing this and others have done 5+ hours.
I have not done multiple butts on my 18 yet but i know people do 4 butts on them routinely, although i'm not sure of the size butts they're cooking.
If you are cooking a large quantity, keep the following in mind: 4 butts will likely be 30-40 lbs of cold meat. It might take a cooker a bit to come up to temperature with so much cold mass so schedule accordingly. Taking the butts out of the fridge early and letting them come to room temperature will help with this.
Cooking temperature is a personal preference but i and many others do butts at 275 which will speed up your cook time a bit. again this is all personal preference.
I have a buddy that does lots of bigger cooks on a UDS and always cuts the butts up into pieces to get more surface area and thus faster cooking and more bark. I did this once and got very positive feedback. I don't usually do it but its an idea.
Keep an eye on the temperature differences between your grates, you may opt to rotate the butts top to bottom if the top is hotter to even out the temps. as it is, every butt will cook at its own speed.
Good Luck with the cook, keep a log and take photos so we can hear about the cook.
I have not done multiple butts on my 18 yet but i know people do 4 butts on them routinely, although i'm not sure of the size butts they're cooking.
If you are cooking a large quantity, keep the following in mind: 4 butts will likely be 30-40 lbs of cold meat. It might take a cooker a bit to come up to temperature with so much cold mass so schedule accordingly. Taking the butts out of the fridge early and letting them come to room temperature will help with this.
Cooking temperature is a personal preference but i and many others do butts at 275 which will speed up your cook time a bit. again this is all personal preference.
I have a buddy that does lots of bigger cooks on a UDS and always cuts the butts up into pieces to get more surface area and thus faster cooking and more bark. I did this once and got very positive feedback. I don't usually do it but its an idea.
Keep an eye on the temperature differences between your grates, you may opt to rotate the butts top to bottom if the top is hotter to even out the temps. as it is, every butt will cook at its own speed.
Good Luck with the cook, keep a log and take photos so we can hear about the cook.
ChadVKealey
TVWBB Pro
I did 4 butts (smallest was about 8.75 lb. and the largest was about 10 lb. even) on my 18.5 a few weeks ago. Cooking at about 240 (well, with my PartyQ set at 240, so really between 230-250), they were on for 15 hours. I added two chimneys of unlit about 9 hours in. I took 'em off, wrapped tightly in foil and put them all in a cooler with some old towels top & bottom and some warmed bricks underneath. They rested for about 3 hours and we still piping hot when I pulled them for dinner. We had about 60 people (many who had multiple helpings) and there was probably 1 butt's worth of meat left over, so you should be right in the zone for 100 diners. If you've got big eaters or not a lot of sides, things might get a little tight.
So here is my plan. Since my number of people has changed I am going to only cook three butts. I am going to follow Harry Soo's guide from SYD http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/pork3.html . What does everyone think?
In my opinion Pork Shoulder is not that expensive, at least in Central Ohio I can find it for about $12-$14 for a 8lb or so butt. For that cost I would rather err on having slightly too much then not having enough. If you are going through all the work for 2, spend the extra $12 or so and do three. I personally would do 3.
Are these 40 all adults? primarily men? a crowd of 40 that includes 15-20 kids is different then 40 men is my point.
Charlie L
TVWBB Super Fan
Agreed when ever you're on the fence about quantity, overestimate. Cost is nominal and there is very little extra work involved in cooking an extra peace of meat. It reheats well for left overs and the peace of mind knowing you wont run out is priceless.