I recently did six butts - about 40 pounds total - for a block party. They turned out great! I did three top and three bottom and was blown away by how well everything came out. The neighbors inhaled the stuff so fast my wife didn't even get any!
Here's the question part: The first butt was done at just over 16 hours and the next three came off within the next two hours. However the last two took just over 20 hours to finish. I pulled those two last and noticed that the meat seemed significantly drier and with fewer pockets of fat that the previous four. I assumed the first four cooked quicker because they had more internal fat. Is that right? If so, was there any way to have known this ahead of time and could I have done anything to get them all to finish closer together? They were all close in size so I don't think that was a factor. I got them all from the same independent grocery.
BTW - When I served this, I mixed the meat from all six butts across two large pans so if some bits were drier than other bits it would have been hard to notice.
Here's the question part: The first butt was done at just over 16 hours and the next three came off within the next two hours. However the last two took just over 20 hours to finish. I pulled those two last and noticed that the meat seemed significantly drier and with fewer pockets of fat that the previous four. I assumed the first four cooked quicker because they had more internal fat. Is that right? If so, was there any way to have known this ahead of time and could I have done anything to get them all to finish closer together? They were all close in size so I don't think that was a factor. I got them all from the same independent grocery.
BTW - When I served this, I mixed the meat from all six butts across two large pans so if some bits were drier than other bits it would have been hard to notice.