What To Do? Butt v Ribs


 
E

Eugene A

TVWBB Fan
Hello, Everyone:

I'm going to take the plunge. I've decided to cook for a group. If everyone on the invite list shows up, I'll have 15 people in attendance.

I wanted to do ribs, a combination of pork spare ribs and baby back ribs. My wife wants me to do pork butt.

I'm ok with ribs, i.e., I know I can do ribs and I know the timing. The last time I did pork butt I had issues with timing and internal temp.

Here are my questions: 1. If I go with ribs, for 15 adults how much do I get? I was figuring four racks of pork spare ribs, and maybe two or three racks of baby back ribs; 2. If I go with the pork butt, I'm figuring two 5lb butts, or thereabouts. With the pork butt I'm figuring somewhere around a ten-hour cook. From what I've been reading here and in other forums if I go with a ten-pound butt or bigger the cook time could approach the 12-14 hour mark.

I feel comfortable with the ribs. I'm willing to try the pork butt (Plan B is to get one of the guests to do a food run to Sonny's BBQ). Does it make sense to go with two smaller butts instead of one large one?

The other consideration I had (I didn't tell my wife) is to do a pork butt on the WSM, and do the ribs (either pork spare ribs or baby back ribs, but not both) on the kettle.

Since this will be my first "crowd" gathering where I can show off what I've learned so far, I'm thinking "K-I-S-S." So, do you suggest/recommend the butt or the ribs?

As always, thanks for the advice.
 
I would think with 15 people you should be good with one 6+ pound butt and 2 each of the spares and BB. You gonna have sides too, right?
 
You can do the butt overnight and then wrap it in foil and a blanket, then leave it in the cooler while the ribs cook. It should be ready to pull just before serving.
 
Im a fairly big eater and I normally have about half a rack maximum with sides and what not. I had a 4th of July party last summer and I think I did 4 racks of St Louis cut for 10 people andx we had at least 1 rack left.

I would think that 4 racks total and 1 decent sized butt would be plenty for sure.
 
Most caterers figure 1/2 pound of meat per person. Since ribs have bones, you can bump it up to 3/4 lb per person. I do this when I cook at the fire station (big eaters) and I always have plenty. If you don't want a long cook for a large butt, you can do two small ones, The time should be based on individual weight of the butts, not total.

And as mentioned, you can do the butts ahead. I have held them in a cooler wrapped in foil then covered with towels for 4.5 hours and it was still very warm when I unwrapped. I have heard others on here say they've kept them even longer

Man, don't do the Sonny's thing. I bet you can out cook them on the WSM and the Kettle with no problem. The (sonny's) by my house always produces dried out barbecue.
 
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From my experience, what little there is, a butt feeds a lot of people. I made a 5 pound butt and it fed 6 people for 2-3 servings with lots of leftovers. Also, don't go by the time guidelines as definite. Give plenty of time for that thing to cook. I've had butts go 3-4 hours past the rule of thumb of 1-1.5 per pound. But that's without foiling. Foiling will make the time go much faster if you're in a time crunch.
 
I do quite a few family events with 15-25 people and agree with the "Pearson Rule" -- Half rack with sides per person is usually plenty for a ribs-only soiree. A good-sized pulled pork sammie is 1/3 lb. I typically do a brisket, too, just to give everyone the full experience. Then I eat leftovers for days. Not so bad.
 
Like everybody else said, butt AND ribs.

A 8-9lb bone-in butt will cook in 12-14 hours at 250F, and can be held intact in a cooler with towels for as long as it takes to cook the ribs. Should be easy to work out the timing from there.
 
Don’t forget the sausage, the last party I did that size I did one 9 pound butt and a one pound hot sausage cheese filled fattie plus some rope sausage. The pulled pork turned out great but everybody talked about the sausage, all I did to that was put some wild Willie rub on it and cook it in the WSM for about and hour.
 
An 8 to 9 pound butt will cook in 7 to 8 hours easily at 250 if you foil at 160 did it last weekend great results.
 
Not sure why you want to do both backs and sides. This just adds to your timing challenges. I'd start a single large butt on the bottom rack around 8am (foil it about 6hrs in/Texas Crutch) and add 4 racks of skewered ribs on top. Toss a dozen cobs of corn on while the meat rests (break them in half when done) and you're good. Mix up a pitcher of sangria or Collins and enjoy the night.
 
I just did an 8 pound butt last weekend and it ran 9 1/2 hours foiled at 160 but it wouldn’t pass a probe test or fork test until it hit 112, came out great though. Lots of good advice here leave yourself more then enough time for the butt as you can keep it wrapped as stated it will stay warm for a long long time and do your ribs on your schedule.
 
Thank you, EVERYONE, for your suggestions and advice. I think we've settled on just doing pulled pork. Since I've been working so far with smaller butts, in the 5-6 pound range, I'll go with that. I'm going to try two butts. They can both fit on the top rack. The last time I did pork butt, I let it go for around 8 hours, and it only hit 177 degrees. I had excellent sliced pork. This time around I'm prepared to let 'em go for up to ten hours which, I feel, should be sufficient. If not, then I'm figuring wrapped and in the oven for finishing.

I do have one question, though. If I go the oven/wrapped route, do I poke the probe through the foil, or do I wrap the foil around the probe already in the meat?

And, again, THANK YOU, EVERYONE, for your kind words, advice, suggestions, encouragement, etc., etc., etc. All of it really helps ease the bbq jitters.
 
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