When cooking 4 butts?


 
S

SteveK

New member
Hey all!!

I have question with a 4 butt cook? When I turn and flip end to end...should I rotate top and bottom grate as well? I've done a 2 butt before, but only used the top rack. I've read that the 2 racks have different temps....so I was curious if I should rotate between racks as well?

Thanks,
Steve
 
You could. Or you could compensate by putting the smaller 2 of the 4 on the bottom. Ultimately, internal temp is what will determine when you take them off; one can only attempt to make multiple roasts reach the same internal at approximately the same time.
 
I'm with Doug, one of the true WSM-Meisters.

I put the two smaller on the lower grate and begin checking internal temperatures near the end of the estimated cooking time (2 hours per pound + 2 hours cushion). Often the smaller ones on the bottom grate finish very close to the larger ones on the top grate, occasionally a bit sooner, depending on if they are a lot smaller than the two largest on the top grate.

When any one of them hits 190-192° (average from several spots) I remove it from the grate and foil-and-cooler it to rest for 4 hours. The remaining butts usually follow pretty quickly.

Rita
 
I agree. An additional problem of rotating between the cooking grates is the time the lid is off and the temp spikes and flucuations that occur. I've done 4 quite a few times and have not rotated top to bottom.

Be prepared for the pit to take some time to get into target range for cooking. You will have a huge heat sink, the meat, which will suck up a lot of heat. Compensate by having your butts at room temp when you start and maybe using hot water, assuming your are using water in the pan.

Good luck on your cook.

Paul
 
Yep! Me too! Learned that trick right here a few years back.
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Have fun!!
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Bill
 
I was going to ask about timing on 4 butts as I am throwing them on tonight for a graduation party tomorrow, but Rita Y answered my question - Thanks!
 
Hehe - you too, huh? I'm in MN as well, and will be attempting 6 butts starting Friday mid-day for a Saturday afternoon graduation open house. Should be interesting :)

Where in MN are you?
 
Dave, I weigh my 4 butts after trimming well and often use the combined weights divided by 4. As you probably know, cooking time is estimated for the weight of one butt, not the total weight of all 4. You can also just use the weight of the largest butt to calculate an estimated maximum time in the 250*F range, give or take about 25 degrees. Most of my butt cooks have finished fairly close to the estimate. Your mileage may vary.

Have fun!
Rita
 
When cooking such a large quantity like 4 butts on the WSM, about how long does it take for the cooker's temperature to reach 225F?
 
If you're doing minion, with warm tap water in pan, 4 butts at room temperature, and vents open at 100 per cent, probably 1 hour, but more than one hour if above variables change.
 
Mike:

Yet still retain the cooking time of 2 hrs per pound of meat (assuming all 4 butts have the same weight) with up to 2 hours added to the total time?
 
Thanks for all the tips!! I planned on the heat fighting me with the extra meat...so I planned on doing tap-hot water and room temp meat.

Rita, is there a reason/tip for resting them 4 hours?
 
When I have done four at one time, I did not rotate grates. I agree with the others, that the least amount of time you have the smoker uncovered, the better. Just flip them, sop them and let 'em smoke! Nothing better! .....David
 
TJ,

My best guess is that it will take 1 to 1.5 hours to get the temp in the cooker to 225. Maybe Steve can tell us how long it will take. I probably wouldn't bother to flip or rotate until 10 hours into the cook, at which time I would baste with apple juice. Pork butt is very difficult to screw up.
 
Steve, I've found that the general consensus from the pros here is to rest butts a minimum of 2 hours, but a 4-hour rest is better. The larger the chunk of meat, the longer the rest period. I have less juices remaining in the foil after a 4-hour rest than after a 2-hour rest. The meat will re-absorb more with the longer rest, IMO.

For safety reasons you'll want to continue to check the meat's internal temp so that it won't fall below 140°F before refrigerating.

When the meat reaches 190°, I foil it and either put it back (foiled) into the WSM (which I've snuffed) or wrap it in towels and place it in a preheated cooler. It will stay hot longer in the snuffed WSM, which is an advantage if you are planning to pull and serve it within 5 or 6 hours.

Rita
 
Took me less than an hour to get up to temp. I used hot water in the pan. 3 of the butts took 18 hours and the last one took 19 hours to get to 190.
 
I just cooked 4 on Thursday night, Put the two smaller on the bottom, and they got done a full hour earlier than the top two. It also took no more than 20 minutes to get up to temp, but it was real hot that day.
 
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