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Two Butts on tonight - any gusses to how long?

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NCque
NCque Posts: 76
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
I'm cooking two butts tonight on my Med Egg. I think I can get them on w/o touching the sides or each other. I've cooked butts before and they've taken anywhere from 10ish hours to my longest 19.5 hrs. Have to have them ready by 10a.m. cst. tomorrow. Any guess as to when I should put them on? Do two butts cook faster than one typically or is it a guessing game with every cook? I usually cook at around 225 until internal is 200 deg. How high can I go w/o loosing the pulled pork feature?
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  • thirdeye
    thirdeye Posts: 7,428
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    How big are these guys? And what do you mean by "the pulled pork feature"?
    Happy Trails
    ~thirdeye~

    Barbecue is not rocket surgery
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  • Gandy Dancer
    Gandy Dancer Posts: 273
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    http://www.celticspiritbbq.com/methods/pulledpork.html Read this.
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  • NCque
    NCque Posts: 76
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    it's a two-pack from Sams totaling about 18lbs. i'm guessing that one is closer to 9lbs. and the other 7lbs. i cooked one before where i must have rushed it thru the plateau as it didn't pull very well. still tasted good but was not melt-in-your-mouth. the earliest i'm going to be able to get them on is about 5:30p.m. I'm hoping to have them done by 10am tomorrow. Think it can be done?
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  • thirdeye
    thirdeye Posts: 7,428
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    I would probably raise the pit temp to 250° or 275°. The recorded dome temp is higher than the actual cooking temp. When you are cooking at 200° and you want your product to be 200°, it takes a long time to get there. (plus it's easier to maintain a 250° fire than a 220° fire) Using these higher pit temps, mine that size usually take about 16 hours. I cook on a large, and maybe a medium cooks faster with the smaller dome. Either way, a few hours of resting in an insulated cooler is good for them.
    Happy Trails
    ~thirdeye~

    Barbecue is not rocket surgery
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  • Hungry Joe
    Hungry Joe Posts: 1,567
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    I just did the Sam's club pack that totaled just under 18 lbs and they took a little over 17 hours with a dome temp of 250 degrees. I used a DigiQ II to maintain my temps.
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  • NCque
    NCque Posts: 76
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    I can't explain it, but I think the medium generally does cook a bit faster. Seems like any recipe I follow tends to be a bit faster cook than the time recommended. The only exception however, is butts. I've probably done 15 of these things. I've even done two at a time before. I've never been this pressed for time before though so I've not paid that much attention to the details. I've just set the temp, thrown them on, and kept watch until I'm confident that the temp is there to stay - then I go to bed. (The egg is my kind of cooker!) thanks for the help!
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  • Avocados
    Avocados Posts: 465
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    When I do two butts about that size at 225 dome on my large it takes around 24 hours.
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  • NCque
    NCque Posts: 76
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    If mine take that long...we're ordering pizza for tomrrow :(
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  • NCque
    NCque Posts: 76
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    I'm hoping that they'll not take any more than about 15-16 hrs. If they do then lunch will have to be late.
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  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,776
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    i would raise that dome temp up to 250, and about 5 tomorrow make the descision to eithr raise or lower it depending on its progress. you can change temps earlier if you want to, its not going to effect much, i usually start with higher temps as high as 300 until the meat hits 140, then drop to about 225 thru the plataue, then back up to 275/300 til done, about 14 hours on average. i like heavy bark so the higher temps help me out.
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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  • NCque
    NCque Posts: 76
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    Hey thirdeye, I just followed your link and saw the Little Pigs Marquis wishing you happy 50th. That wouldn't be at 62nd ave in Myrtle Beach SC would it?
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  • Avocados
    Avocados Posts: 465
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    Naw, just bump your dome temp up to the 250-275 range and you should be fine.

    After the butts start climbing out of the plateau (around 170) you can push it up to 300-350 or so for more speed.

    You can pull it a little early in the 190-195 range and wrap in foil as it will clime another 5-7 degrees while resting.

    I usually am not in a hurry and want mine to take 20-24 hours.
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  • thirdeye
    thirdeye Posts: 7,428
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    I think it came from Anderson SC.
    Happy Trails
    ~thirdeye~

    Barbecue is not rocket surgery
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  • mb168
    mb168 Posts: 265
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    I think every butt cook I've done took almost exactly 16 hrs to hit 195 regardless of if it was 1 or 2 butts and I usually buy 8-9 pounders.

    But while you're here thirdeye I have a question for you. If time wasn't a factor, would you try to start the cook at a low temp, 220-230ish maybe, until it climbs out of the plateau, and then bump the temp a little. I guess I'm wondering if there is benefit of purposely keeping the temp low to let the conversion take as long as possible or does it not matter, when its done its done and the temp will start climbing.
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  • thirdeye
    thirdeye Posts: 7,428
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    If time wasn't a factor, would you try to start the cook at a low temp, 220-230ish maybe, until it climbs out of the plateau, and then bump the temp a little. I guess I'm wondering if there is benefit of purposely keeping the temp low to let the conversion take as long as possible or does it not matter, when its done its done and the temp will start climbing.

    Well, that is a good question.... I would agree that the results you see in overall quality when rushing through the plateau (with higher temps) are not as good as when you ease through it. The conversion process likes steady temperatures and plenty of time. Some pit masters claim that the closer you can keep your pit temp to the boiling point of water, the better the barbecue will be. That is a little low for me, and it's hard to control those temps too.

    I personally don't have a problem with starting at lower temps like you mentioned for a few hours, but I'm usually doing it for good ring formation more than anything. For butts, I will ramp up the temp about hour 3 or 4 to that 250°-275° range, usually letting the cooker decide where it is happy. (unless the Guru is wired up, then I pick the number) I cook at that temp until the internal is over 170°-180°, then make the call to finish as-is, ramp up the temp and hot finish or wrap in foil and finish.

    So, now you're thinking "he's not practicing what he is preaching", well you are kind of right. When I recommend cooking temperatures (or some other technique), I respectfully try to size up the person asking. If it is a younger cook or someone new to barbecue, I will give them a middle-of-the-road advice because first and foremost I want the cook to come out successful. I hate to see them have problems like having the fire go out. Later, after they get some pit time under their belt, they can play with different things to fine tune their cooking.
    Happy Trails
    ~thirdeye~

    Barbecue is not rocket surgery
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  • mb168
    mb168 Posts: 265
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    I was just wondering if there was any reason to try and prolong the conversion.

    Since getting a digiQ I've been holding a grate of 230 until it passes through, so it's usually the next morning when I wake up that its started back climbing, and then I bump the temp up to 265 or so. Most of the time when I'm doing a butt, I have no specific time that it really needs to be done other than dinner that night, and I've also been wrapping it in foil for a few hours in a cooler so I'm really shooting to pull it from the egg mid day. If it takes a little longer, so what, I have plenty of time, so no worries.
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  • NCque
    NCque Posts: 76
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    Thanks for all y'all's help. I've got a little pit time under my belt and I guess the butt is about my favorite thing. I usually try not to go over 225 - but, at the same time, I'm usually never in a hurry. I've only had the fire die one time but caught it early before the meat went bad. got it started back and never had a problem. I'm cooking these for a birthday party tomorrow for my niece who is turning 7. We have an all-out shindig for birthdays here. gonna be feeding about 25 people. I tend to get a little more nervous when feeding so many.
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  • NCque
    NCque Posts: 76
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    I heard about the digiQ at eggfest this past yr. what's everyone's opinion about them? worth the money? been a while since i've been on here so i'll have to search some archives.
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  • Basscat
    Basscat Posts: 803
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    I had the temp get away from me one time on an all nighter. Temp got low and I opened things up and turned off the alarm on the Maverick, but unfortunately fell asleep, and when I woke up a couple hours later, dome temp was 400. Closed the vents down again, and never got below 300 before the thing was done. Had a butt cooked in a little under 8 hours and it was fine, don't know that I could tell the difference in a side by side comparison. Bark may have been a little tougher, but it pulled fine. I still try to stay at 250ish, but if I was in a hurry, 300-325 would work just fine, I think. And there's always the foiling option, but I like bark too much ever go there... :) Hope things go well for you!
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