Cooking 2 butts

Harry

This may be a duplicate - my apologies if it is.[p]I wanted to cook a 7 lb. Boston Butt today, but could only find smaller ones. I ended up with 2 - 3 3/4 butts. If it takes 20 hours to cook one 7 pounder, how long should I expect it to take for 2 - 3 3/4 pounders?[p]Thanks,
Harry

Tim M

Harry,[p]I am going to guess and say between 11-12 hrs. I usually figure 3.5 hr per lb if over 6lbs and around 2.75 hr under 4 lb. The internal temps will rise pretty fast then stall - so don't be alarmed. Figure a couple hours to cool and pull.[p]Tim

Harry

Tim M,
Just what I needed to know. Thanks.
Harry

Char-Woody

Harry, I always use a rule of thumb on butts, and that is 2.5 to 2.75 hours per lb with a dome temperature of 220 degrees. Use your largest butt for the measurement and the second one will cook right along with it. So 2 Butts @ 3lbs each would take around 7.8 to 9 hours to reach a internal of 200 degrees F in the meat. [p](I am assuming this time frame as I have never done two small butts):-)[p] If its one chunk of meat wieghing in at 7 lbs it would take around 18 - 20 hours. You can wrap in foil for about 20 minutes to half hour at the end of the cook, or pull it right away. It will continue to cook in the foil from internal heat.
Use a drip pan under the meat to collect the fats rendered from the meat. It is considerable so add water to the pan to keep from burning and charring the fats. I keep my meat up over the drip pan with a second level grill or adaption.
Hope this helps a tad bit..great eating.[p]BTW.. the reason for the variable times and ratios is that some butts cook much faster because of the difference in the textures of the meat, fats vs lean. No two butts are created equal..
Good luck...Char-Woody

Harry

Char-Woody,
Thanks, I'm going to put it on later tonight, the will probably get it off awhile before lunch tomorrow. Right now I've got the Egg going, but it got up to 400 degs. and I'm trying to cool it down.[p]Seems like when I want to do steaks at 800 degs I have trouble getting the temp. up; and when I want to slow cook, I have trouble getting the temp. down.[p]That's what makes it interesting.
Thanks again,
Harry

Tim M

Harry,[p]Cooling the Egg down is hard - if not physically impossible to some degree. The trick is to not let the Egg get above 50-75 deg of your cooking temp or it is too hard to get down and the longer its above the desired temp - the harder to get that ceramic to loose its heat, and that ain't easy to get it to do fast. Plan ahead and do the low temp stuff them up it to full.[p]If you can't get temps up - you need more fuel in the box or the grate is not letting enough air to the fire. A hole might be clogged or it needs a good stir to get the ash to drop thru.[p]Tim