Multiple Pork Butts on a Large Egg

PAGA Boy · July 2009

I have had several successful pork butt cooks on my large egg. However, I am having a party of about 50 people coming up in about three weeks and my wife would like me to have pork to show off the egg.

I am estimating that I will need to cook 5-6 butts (down here in Georgia I have had trouble finding butts bigger than 5-7 pounds). I usually cook a butt on a V rack with a drip pan underneath on indirect heat.

My challenge is how to cook 5-6 butts at the same time and if it is possible. Has anyone tried doing this and if so how did you do it and how was the result?

I thought about cooking several days before (i.e. a week of butt cooking) and just putting the meat in the fridge...but I prefer the freshness of eating the meat the day it comes off the egg.

Any help would be appreciated.

Firetruck · July 2009

Celtic wolf has some shots of his large with 6 butts on all at once. I think it just requires some rotating. Maybe he will chime in later or if someone has his post saved, they can show you. I changed computers and don't have it anymore.

Good luck.

TRex · July 2009

Will you be having any sides with the pork? Will you be serving it as sandwiches? I think you may be overestimating how much you need. My dad and I have cooked pork for 50 people three times, and each time we did three 7 lb butts and had plenty of leftovers. Of course there were plenty of sides as well (beans, slaw, etc.). It depends on how many big eaters you have as well.

But, as a quick and dirty calculation:

Assume each person each 1/3 lb of pork:

50 people x 0.33 = 16.5 lbs (this is how much you need rendered)

So, assuming you lose about 30% of the weight during cooking, you need 16.5 x 1.3 = 21.5 lbs of pork to start with.

So, on the low side, you could go with three 7 pounders, or, if you wanted to be safer, you could go with four 6 pounders.

What I recommend is setting them up in a tee-pee style to start, then, as they start losing volume, you can reposition them so that they aren't touching (or are touching less). With this setup you may need to plan on 2 hrs per pound, depending on how good your air flow is around the meat.

With all that meat, I have found that the cooking level temp can be significantly lower than the dome temp (by as much as 75 degrees), so make sure you take a temperature measurement near the meat just to see what the actual cooking temp is.

You may even want to start with a dome temp around 275 - 300, for maybe the first 8 hours or so, then back it down a bit. But the last cook I did with three butts, I found that a dome of 300 was giving me a grid temp of 225, so, again, just make sure you know what temp you're actually cooking at when you have all that meat on there.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

Jason

Celtic Wolf · July 2009

Not trying to dispute TREX, but the typical loss is 40%

You are going to need 22 pounds of raw product for this cook at 6 pounds each you are looking at 4 butts.

If you have the Grid extender or the adjustable rig from the ceramic store you will be fine. If not stand them on edge. They may take a bit longer to cook the latter way so plan accordingly. Time this cook to the largest of the butts and start checking temps according to the smallest.

Just so happens I will be cooking 24 butts today. Can I can I do it on 4 eggs? Yepper I can.

Ohh and that picture Firetruck mentioned..

Doug in Eggmonton · July 2009

I fit 6 8 pounders on my large. It was a bit tight but like CW I put them on on levels and they cooked just fine. Here they are on their way out.

They were done (205F) too early for the "5 or 6 hours in the cooler" trick, so I kept them in a 160 degree oven in heavy duty foil until it was time to pull and serve. Internal temperature stayed up around 190, and the meat was beautifuly moist and tasty.

Doug

Multiple Pork Butts on a Large Egg

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