Need help with timing - long

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This weekend (Saturday) is a big event here in NJ known as the Hunt - It's a steeplechase horse race/tailgate event. The organizers do not allow grills at the event but I want to smoke some butts for pulled pork sandwiches.

My plan was to put the butts on the WSM on Friday afternoon and then wrap them and put them in a cooler to take over to the races when they come off on Saturday morning. If I am planning on leaving my house about 8:30 a.m, what time should I be getting started on Friday afternoon (probably 3 butts)? Or should I do the butts ahead of time and just reheat Saturday morning before we leave?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

JK
 
What are the weights of your butts (each)? To be safe with your time I would allow 2 hours per pound of the heaviest butt you are going to cook, plus an extra 2 hours for insurance. If you wrap them in double foil, towel them, and put them in a cooler, they will stay hot for hours on end.
 
You know, I wonder about this 2 hour/lb rule of thumb. I don't have much experience smoking pork butts, but the two I've smoked both took closer to 3 hours/lb. Both were smoked at 225-250F (grate temp) to an internal temp of 195F. The first was 5.5 lbs and took 16 hours, the second (a picnic, not a butt) was nearly 6 lbs and took a full 18 hours to reach 195F. Both were excellent, moist, and pulled easily.

Looking at my smoking log, the butt was at 186F after 11 hours (2 hrs/lb * 5.5 lbs). Maybe it would've been fine at that point, but the temp levelled off at ~185 for almost 3 hours before starting a quicker climb to 195F.

What are other's experiences with 6 lb butts?
 
Since you are leaving at 8:30 am, I would smoke and put in the fridge and then reheat. It will probably take around 12 to 16 hrs to get past 190 deg. and no need taking chances.

Especially when you are providing the meat for a bunch of folks.
 
All of the butts I cook seem to be in the 7.5 - 9 pound range and they have always taken right at 2 hrs a pound. Having said that, I keep my temps between 245 - 255 and tend to cook to an internal temp of 193 or so. Also, I wonder if the larger butts take less time to cook per pound than smaller ones (like a 5 pound butt taking 3 hrs per pound, and a 9 pound butt only taking 2 hrs per pound).
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Mike Cox:
[qb] All of the butts I cook seem to be in the 7.5 - 9 pound range and they have always taken right at 2 hrs a pound. Having said that, I keep my temps between 245 - 255 and tend to cook to an internal temp of 193 or so. Also, I wonder if the larger butts take less time to cook per pound than smaller ones (like a 5 pound butt taking 3 hrs per pound, and a 9 pound butt only taking 2 hrs per pound). [/qb] <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Hmmm, something strange here. 5.5 lbs x 3 hrs = ~16 hours. 9 lbs x 2 hrs = ~18 hours. Could it be that they all just take 16-18 hours, independent of weight? /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif
 
I think the 2hr/lb rule is pretty applicable to butts that are 7-10 lbs (I have never gotten one that was more than 8.5 lbs. so someone else can feel free to correct me if they have a different experience with larger butts.) Also, this timing seems to be most accurate for me if I'm cooking at about 240? at the grate.

I think the issue with the smaller ones is that they still need the time to break down all the connective tissue. That seems to be more of a time issue than a weight issue. So, the avg cooking time per lb for the smaller pieces of meat is longer.

Of course, in the end hours per pound don't mean anything since "it's done when it's done", but it sure is nice to have some idea, isn't it!! /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

Rich
 
When I do butts they always seem to take at least 2.5hr/lb.

And don't forget to allow for some "pulling" time. I did 50lbs of butts once and it took me about 4 hours to pull it all.

Unless your experienced at doing "just in time" cooks, it would be easier, and less stressful, to do them earlier and reheat.
 
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