Multiple Butts & Cook Time

[R. Cook]

Okay, I am smoking 25 pounds of pork butt for the 4th (yes, i know it is still two weeks away, but they need to be my best for the extended family!). I like the smaller butts around 3-4 pounds a piece that are pre-trimmed. I like them becaause there is more surface area to absorb smoke and to develop great bark. To get to 25 pounds I will do 6 of them.

I typically use a 2 hours per pound benchmark and I have never had a bad pork butt (knock on wood), but I have never done 6 at once either. I have only done 3 at once, and they turned out great.

So I am worried about my cook time. I typically take the largest butt, say 4 pounds and smoke for 8 hours. If I have 6 butts totaling 25 pounds, I know my bechmark won't cut it because 25 pounds will not cook in 8 hours.

Any suggestions out there?

Also, I usually finish the butts in the oven. I put them in a pan and cover with foil for a few hours. Another also...I am transporting them to the in-laws and we won't eat them for two days after cook time so I will need to refrigerate and re-heat in oven. Thoughts????

 

[Doug D]

The only difference in time it should take to cook one, two, or six 4-pound butts at a given temperature is the extra time it takes the cooker to get to that particular temperature against the larger overall mass of cold meat. Once cooked, I would pull it all and chill it as quickly as possible in shallow pans. Your reheat options are pretty much your choice-- whether you use a warming oven, gentle microwave, or crockpot, pork butt is almost as good as when first pulled.

 

[R. Cook]

Thanks, Doug. I will give that a whirl. I had typically left the meat out for a half hour to cool, but I guess the juices will stay more in the meat if immediately cooled? That is great.