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Pork on, power out, party tomorrow

New large BGE owner here. Last weekend I put the obligatory spatchcock chicken under my belt. Tomorrow we're hosting a HS grad party with up to 100 expected guests. Crazy for cook #2? Game plan is to cook 30 lbs boneless pulled pork. I put a homemade rub on last night. Put the 4 butts on 2.5 hours ago and 15 minutes later the storm rolled in, killing power and taking down small branches.

From start of cook to start of party is 18 hours. Is there any chance it won't be ready? I've been keeping the dome at 250 but can fire it up if necessary.

Pictures when the power comes back on, I promise.

Comments

  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    Welcome to the forum.  Where ya @? 

    Last time our power went out (Hurricane Issac last year), it was out for almost a week.  Egg ran almost non-stop.  Fortunately we have a standby generator, but we were feeding a bunch of neighbors.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
    You didn't say how big the butts are, but assuming they are 8 pounders or so, they should take 12-16 hours so you should be fine. That said, butts sometimes seem to have minds of their own and can take more or less than the "average".

    If you finish early, wrap them in foil, then a bath towel and throw them in a cooler. They'll be fine for 4-5 hours and will still be too hot to pull with bare hands. If you finish late, tell the kids to suck it up. :)

    Don't forget about the "stall" where the butt temp will stay at the same temp (maybe even drop a bit) for what seems like forever. This is usually around 170-ish. Once it comes out of that, it shouldn't take that much longer.

    Relax. Hard to screw up a butt. Good luck!

    I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

  • D_Train
    D_Train Posts: 47
    @nolaegghead

    I'm in the Minneapolis area 'burbs, home of (mostly) bad BBQ. I hope it doesn't come to that. We don't get hurricanes obviously, but I did lose power for 3 days once. Wish I had the egg back then.

    @Carolina Q

    Thanks! They are 7-8 pounders, and I did plan on 1.5-2 hours per pound, so it's good to hear confirmation that I'm on the right track.

    Looking at the weather map, round 2 may be on its way.
  • Yeah no worries man. No power = all sorts of new friends when they smell that pork. Just keep a close eye on it. If need be, foil it up at the end of the cook. It's always a safe bet to start a little early and foil, towel, cooler it for several hours to not only let it rest but also to maintain until feed time.
    LBGE 2013, SBGE 2014, Mini 2015
    Columbus IN
  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    Buddy of mine just flew back up to Minneapolis today...cooked up turkey and tri-tip fajitas for him earlier this week, plus some venison brats he made and brought down.  He lives in Cottage Grove - hope is power is on...

    yeah, looks like you're on the right track..and it's hard to screw up butts, you'll be fine.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,170
    One additional thing to keep in mind-each butt will finish when it's ready (bone pulls clean is the best indicator) and the smaller one may run longer-so check them all as you get into the 190's and don't be surprised at the order of finish.  Enjoy the party and congrats to the graduate.
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
  • thetrim
    thetrim Posts: 11,352
    Good luck.  Sounds like a fun time!!!

    =======================================
    XL 6/06, Mini 6/12, L 10/12, Mini #2 12/14 MiniMax 3/16 Large #2 11/20 Legacy from my FIL - RIP
    Tampa Bay, FL
    EIB 6 Oct 95
  • YEMTrey
    YEMTrey Posts: 6,829
    I just did this two weeks ago for a graduation party.  5 butts totalling around 50 pounds on my XL Egg with the AR.
    The most important thing I took away from this cook, make sure you are using a drip tray with an air gap!  I forgot to put the drip pan underneath on my cook.  50 pounds of butt has a lot of fat dripping off of them.  I had a grease fire going by the end of the cook and it torched the edges of the meat around the edges of the Egg.
    The Egg did a phenomenal job.  Other than human error on my behalf, the cook was delish.  I'll never cook without a drip pan again.

    Best of luck to you.
    Steve 
    XL, Mini Max, and a 22" Blackstone in Cincinnati, Ohio

  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    Yikes.  That's about 10 pounds o fat.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • YEMTrey
    YEMTrey Posts: 6,829
    Yeah.  It was quite a challenge to pull the butts off the grill. Had quite the mess.  You Egg and you learn.
    Steve 
    XL, Mini Max, and a 22" Blackstone in Cincinnati, Ohio

  • Wolfpack
    Wolfpack Posts: 3,551
    Try to keep them separated a little if possible- wont affect cooking times that much but gets you more of the delicious bark
    Greensboro, NC
  • D_Train
    D_Train Posts: 47
    Success!  And pictures as promised.  Thanks for the all the advice.

    We were panicking at 6am when the power was still out and the forecast for the day called for rain, but power came back on 1 hour before the party and the sun came out.

    Oh yeah, the pork.  We had a lot of compliments on the pork and a lot of interest in the BGE.  Someone said it tasted like Dixie Blue's.  I think that's a compliment although the BBQ joint they replaced wasn't anything to write home about.  The first three butts cooked for about 16 hours so the 1.5 hr/lb formula was spot on.  The last butt cooked for another hour and a half.

    I had to make a redneck rain cover (golf umbrella stuck into end of shovel leaned against the egg mates) because the rain was so persistent through the night that it seemed to be cooling the ceramic.  I also was surprised that the vents needed to be open pretty much 100% to maintain 250.  I had to refill with lump a couple of times.  I also got soaked from going out to check temps.

    Sunday I tried my first reverse seared ribeye and grilled Caesar salad thanks to this site.

    Next up might have to be ribs.
  • Nsdexter
    Nsdexter Posts: 195
    Looks good!
    HFX NS