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Alright everyone... Cooking my first butt tonight

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ArchDeluxe
ArchDeluxe Posts: 31
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
So I'm going to need lots of help! The wife and I are having some friends over tomorrow night and I plan on showing off the egg. I have a 5.75 pounder and a 7.37 pounder... Should I put the bigger one on a few hours before the smaller one in order to pull them off as close to the same time as possible or just throw them on at the same time? I have one maverick meat and dome temp and plan to keep the temp between 225 and 250 and am counting on 2 hours per pound.

Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks and have a great holiday weekend everyone!
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Comments

  • Sabres Fan
    Sabres Fan Posts: 10
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    Put the bigger one on an hour or so before the smaller one and you'll be fine.
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  • civil eggineer
    civil eggineer Posts: 1,547
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    I have found that even the different sizes generally finish about the same time. Sometime the larger one will even finish first ... part of the butt mystery.
    Plan on 16 hours cook time, indirect at 250 dome temp then with 3 hours rest in a cooler. That will give you a little breathing room. Keep a watch on them every 3 hours throughout the night or Murphy's Law will smack you along side your head :laugh:. If need be ramp up the temperatures if your within 2 hours of eating. The plateau period (3 to 5 hours) can cause your butts to sit, or drop, in internal temperatures but let them be.
    Good Luck!
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  • Bacchus
    Bacchus Posts: 6,019
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    They could also cook in as little as 10-12 hours. I might start them tonight, then foil and cooler them when they reach 195 and they should be pleanty warm for Sat dinner guests.
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  • Fidel
    Fidel Posts: 10,172
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    My opinions:

    Put them on together. They will hold at the end for a few hours. Wrap them in two layers of foil, then in a cooler, then covered with newspaper or an old towel.

    And 250* dome temp will be much easier to maintain in general, and will have less of a chance of your fire dying.

    Let your fire stabilize for at least 30 minutes before adding the meat, then do not adjust the vents. If you do you will chase the temps all night. Trust the egg will come back to the set point. After an hour or so if it has not settled back in, make a minor adjustment and give it more time to settle.

    Wherever it settles between 240 and 270 will be fine for cooking your butts. Good luck.
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  • ArchDeluxe
    ArchDeluxe Posts: 31
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    Thanks everyone for the imput! I plan on putting them on around 11:00 tonight... Hopefully pull them off around 3:00 tomorrow afternoon and pull them apart around 6:00. I'll send updates as the cook goes on!

    Thanks again.
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  • Chef in the Making
    Chef in the Making Posts: 902
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    You might think of putting them an hour earlier this will give you some leeway in case they do not finish as planned.
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  • Rolling Egg
    Rolling Egg Posts: 1,995
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    Mr. Deluxe

    Heres my two cents worth. The most important thing has already been said. Whatever you do take the extra 30 minutes or so and hone in on the temp you want. I would suggest at least 250. I usually stay at 260. Have your platesetter grid and all on when your honing in. This lets everything get up to temp. After you have held that temp for about 30 minutes, Go ahead with your meat and drip pan. Shut the lid and dont open till you hit at least 190 on the internal temp. I go 200. My personal pref. Make sure you dont throw on the meat and start jerking around with the vents. Its gonna appear as though its struggling at 190 or so but thats ok. The cold meat is sucking up all that heat and when the meat temp rises you will be back where you started. It has took mine a couple hours before to make it back. Youll be up all night if you start moving those things. Or youll move it and get it back to 250 with the cold meat and youll wake up a few hours later and it will be up to 350 :woohoo: As far as the diff. size butts? I always have two diff sizes as my friends always are putting one on and they never get the same size I do. Go on with them at the same time making sure they dont touch and put the thermo in the small. Just like engineer said, butts have that mystery sometimes. When my small hits temp I foil it and put the thermo in the big one. The last time I did it the small hit 200 and when I stuck the 1 pound bigger one it was at 205. Go figure. Has some to do with where you stick it as far as hitting a pockett or something too I think. Anyways hope this helps. Enjoy and let us know!
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  • ArchDeluxe
    ArchDeluxe Posts: 31
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    Thanks for the two cents Rolling Egg! They are both on and holding a temp of around 260. Hopefully I get to sleep through the night and I'll give an update when I wake up.
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