first time smoking pulled pork for a crowd


 
T

Tyler Davis

New member
I have the "older" version of the WSM. I have had lots of success smoking single pork butts - seems to take about 11 hrs at my settings.

I have been asked to make lunch for 50 ppl after my church's Palm Sunday service. I have 4 butts (about 7.5 lbs avg pre-trimmed).

My questions are: what is the best way to arrange the butts on the racks? I assume I need to put two on the lower rack, and two on the upper rack. And space them enough that each butt is exposed to the smoke to build some bark.

What sort of temperature difference should I expect between the racks? I only have one digital probe, and I can swap it mid-cook, but I usually keep the upper grate temp around 240F - what temp will the lower rack be at that temp?

Also, how often should I re-arrange the butts? I usually plateau for 3-4 hrs at 160 internal - is this a good time to put the lower butts on the upper grate? Or is that too late?
 
You say older WSM but not sure what size it is. 4 that size will fit on top rack of a 22. If the are boneless I would tie them. That will allow them all to fit without touching and enough room for circulation

If you are forced to split between two racks because of an 18 model, the difference between racks will depend on the water bowl. Water used= bottom grate cooler. No water= bottom hotter

I would not bother moving around but just pull them as they are done. Temp difference may make an hour or less difference
 
OK, I just measured and it must be an 18" model. No way I'm fitting all 4 on the upper grate. I will definitely tie them with twine to make them more compact.

I was planning on keeping the water bowl full, since that's what I did in the past.

If the bottom will be lower, should I try to maintain the top at 275, or will that make the upper meat tough from cooking too fast?
 
Haven't used water but it seems most people who do struggle to get up to 275. I would run as planned and just know that your bottom rack may take a tad longer. If their is any difference in size put the smaller on the bottom and your timing may be close. Just be sure to test with a probe and don't rely strictly by the temp to determine when they are done

Good luck
 
I did a four butt cook on the 18" last weekend. It took longer than I thought for the smoker to get up to temps, and it wouldn't hold a 225 temp as long as I thought. If I had it to do again, I'd start with a full chimney of lit coals (I only used 1/3). I started it on Friday at 5:30 and added more coals on Saturday morning at 5:00. Pulled the meat for a rest at 9:30 Saturday. I had two butts per rack, with a little space between them.

I didn't check internal temps, never do with butts. Just cook until they feel like a stick of butter for your probe. My smaller ones were on the bottom rack, no water in pan, and they were done first. Yours will turn out fine.
 
Might want to do your homework and check out the site's info section. There's a wealth of info there and Chris has been smoking on a bullet probably longer than 99% of posters here.

I use the Brinkman charcoal pan that Chris refers to for a water pan and it usually takes me somewhere around 15 hours to cook that much pork. Here's a four butt cook that Chris documented:

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/pork2.html
 
Tyler,

One of the nice things about PP / Shoulder, is that if you foil it, it retains heat for a L-O-N-G time.

Plan to get the pulled pork done somewhere around 4 hours early, based on your usual times (with that much meat, it will slow it down a bit from a single piece, but not by a huge amount) Plus, with meat on both grates, they will probably not all be done at the same time.

Then, take a cooler with some old blankets or towels (some on the bottom, some to put over the top) and as the butts get done, wrap 'em up tight in foil and put them in the cooler. They should stay nice and warm until you're ready to "shred and serve".

MUCH better to be done cooking early and be able to serve on-time, and be relaxed when you do it than to get behind schedule and try to rush for an unknown amount of time with a bunch of hungry people (who you are trying to impress with your bbq-prowess) hovering around...

Good luck and let us know how it turns out
 
As far as timing, I was planing on starting Saturday at 8 AM and just staying up Saturday night till they're done.

Then pulling, saucing, refrigerating overnight, and warming in the oven prior to Sunday lunch.

I'll make sure to read Chris' article and use plenty of charcoal (got two new bags for tomorrow) to stay up to temperature.

Thanks for the advice.
 
I just did a very similar cook last weekend - I was cooking for 70 people with service scheduled for around 7 PM.

The butts were boneless, so I tied them to hold shape. I filled the charcoal ring with unlit K-Comp and 6 fist sized wood chunks and fired them up at about 2 AM with 25 or so lit coals. Water pan was foiled and empty. The meat went on at about 2:30 AM. Cooked at 225-240 (it was cold and breezy out.) Bottom rack meats went up a little quicker in the beginning, but by 155*, they had evened out. After a 1 hour stall at 2 PM @ 165*, I put them into disposable aluminum pans (individual), added 1/2 cup of mop sauce to each and sealed them up tightly. At 5:30 PM, all 4 of them were in the 200-205 range, tender and moist. I put the pans as is (still foiled tight) into a faux cambro and pulled the pork at 7 PM. It pulled perfectly and easily served the entire crowd.

I had given myself plenty of time (16 hours) for the cook and ended up about an hour earlier than expected, likely due to the pan and foiling, but to be honest, the results were great and I'll follow the same method again next time.
 
So I see that both of you guys get my point.

I learned it the hard way, when I started with my WSM and got cocky. I was punished by counting on my past timing and ran aground of a 7-pounter that plateau'd FOR-EVVVV-HHHEEEERRRRR at about 170.

Luckily, (or unluckily depending on how you look at it) I was only cooking for about 10 family members - but they were all milling around impatiently with that hungry look in their eyes.... Gawd! it was painful...
 
Yeah, Ron. I get your point as well, and it's done when it's done.

Regarding holding and giving myself enough time, I try to consider residual cooking and my time table til serving when pulling off the cooker. The difference in just 10* of pulling off at 190* vs. 200* and holding hot for any length of time can make a BIG difference in the final product, especially with butts that are on the lean side. (Don't forget the finishing sauce!)

Timing is everything, so I'd just as soon not cook overnight for a supper the next day if I don't have to. Folks seem to be more patient at a midday bbq, and I'm not a nightowl, anyway. I don't mind the challenge of cooking overnight for a midday bbq one bit, but if for supper, reheating is awful tempting. Like I said, I'm not a night owl.

Awesome pulled pork with no time table to serving is a cinch, and there's no guesswork if cooking to refrigerate and reheat for serving later.
 
Success! Had enough pork for probably 70 ppl, so the yield must have been very high (lean shoulders without much fat cap to trim)

Great smoky flavor and tons of bark.

Took 11 hrs on the nose, same as a single butt for me. Now that I know I am so consistent, I could time it to serve hot the same day.

Thanks for all the advice. Now who wants leftovers?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Tyler Davis:
Success!...Took 11 hrs on the nose, same as a single butt for me. Now that I know I am so consistent, I could time it to serve hot the same day. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Congrats on your success, Tyler, but don't get too cocky.
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Sometimes it seems like my cooker is gonna take forever to get up to temp on four butt cooks.

I'll give it to ya though. Your quick cook demonstrates what I've learned in the last year or so. Cooking by grate temp results in shorter cooks.....that is, as long as the probe isn't in the outer perimeter of the grate.
 
Dave, don't understand your logic how cooking at grate temp makes shorter cooks since as you say"the meat is done when its done" Why would the temp at the grate or the lid really matter other than as a guide
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by paul h:
Dave, don't understand your logic how cooking at grate temp makes shorter cooks since as you say"the meat is done when its done" Why would the temp at the grate or the lid really matter other than as a guide
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</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Measuring temp at the vent lets you know you've got a fire going because it's getting air that's first out of the cooker....from around the sides in the hot zone...in the stream of circulation, but not where the meat is. However, it's tricky to get a good grate temp if the grate is full, which is quite common on an 18.5" wsm. I suggest trying to position the probe just BENEATH the grate, but not under the meat, and not in the hot zone. (In all honesty, it can be a pain to do sometimes on a 18.5" wsm, depending on how the butts or brisket fills the grate.)

So anyways, nothing wrong at all with going by the vent if you know it's significantly higher than the grate temp. Most folks evidently just don't end up compensating enough though, because I seem to notice a trend that folks that measure at the vent post longer cook times than folks that go by grate or the gauge, and this just confirms my own experience.

Other than not compensating enough in temp target range, the other thing is that I want to get the cooker hotter before I go to bed when not going by the vent. Hard to sleep when my Maverick isn't even reading 200*. I suspect others are no different, and I hope that answers your question.
 
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