Trying first Butt on Kettle


 
GGross

GGross

TVWBB Pro
I've used the snake method for ribs very successfully and have a lot of confidence in the snake keeping the kettle between 225 and 250. I'm going to have a large gathering on Saturday for my sons graduation celebration from High School and was thinking of doing a butt however it would break the golden rule of cooking for others, and that is "Don't do first cooks for when entertaining and stick to what you know"

That being said here are my concerns/questions with doing butt on kettle. I find the snake I use for ribs is lasting about 4 hours and it's almost half way around the kettle so I wondering how long I need for a butt and how long I can get out of the snake. I guess if I run out of fuel I could re-fuel or wrap with foil and throw in the oven or move to gasser. I could also look at doing the day before and chop it up and re-heat for celebration.

I guess main questions are:
How long to budget for time of cook?
Internal temp for butt?
 
I started smoking meats on a Weber kettle too and used the snake method. My snake consisted of 3 briquets (2 as a base and one on top) and I would leave about 3 inches between the front and the end of the snake so it went much longer than 4 hours. I would add chunks of wood every 6 inches for the 1st 1/2 of the snake.

Everything else stay the same. The standard time to use is 90 minutes/lb. but as we all know that's just a suggested guideline.
Internal temp is approx 200 degrees but again, that's just a suggestion, the but is ready when you can stick a probe in and there's no resistance.

Remember to enjoy the cook. In my opinion, the process is as good as the food is.
 
I have done a Minion method never a snake as of yet but after reading a lot on this subject would do the snake next time out. I agree to do the butt the day before so you can enjoy the time with your son and family. If you you bag the pulled pork into the freezer you can reheat in the bag in a pan of water the meat stays much juicer that way.
 
Though I have not used the snake before I will comment on timing. I have learned from experience that when having large groups over to do the butts the day before. Just pull the pork, use a finishing sauce, and then reheat with some more of the finishing sauce. This allows you to enjoy the party and the cook. Good luck with the cook.
 
Once the "snake" has gone almost all the way around, just add coals starting from the first part of the tail that's still burning and go backwards. You can keep it burning indefinitely.
 
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