Welcome to the EGGhead Forum - a great place to visit and packed with tips and EGGspert advice! You can also join the conversation and get more information and amazing kamado recipes by following Big Green Egg to Experience our World of Flavor™ at:
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Pinterest  |  Youtube  |  Vimeo
Share your photos by tagging us and using the hashtag #BigGreenEgg.

Want to see how the EGG is made? Click to Watch

Butt on BGE

Tarheelinva
Tarheelinva Posts: 1
edited December 2011 in Root
Going to cook first Butt on my new BGE this evening. I've read many of
the discussion on recent Butt cooks. Looks like maintaining 240-250
DOME temp, fill fire ring with charcoal, don't worry about the "plateau"
and allowing roughly 2 hrs per pound to reach the 195 sweet spot. Any
other advice for the first timer

Comments

  • bigguy136
    bigguy136 Posts: 1,362
    Don't stress over it. After all the reading and help from pthers here, my first butt is 16 hours in and looking good. Maybe a drip pan with solution to keep drippings from burning?

    Big Lake, Minnesota

    2X Large BGE, 1 Mini Max, Stokers, Adjustable Rig

  • Hungry Joe
    Hungry Joe Posts: 1,566
    I find having a six pack of my favorite brew on hand helps. Other then that you should be good to go. I think it's nearly impossible to totally relax on a maiden overnighter so plan on getting up at least once in the middle of the night to check your temperature.
  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,162
    +1 with bigguy136 on the "don't stress"-and don't spend too much time chasing temps-270+/- 30*F works as butt is very forgiving. Allow for at least an hour of wrap and pack in HDAF and couple of towels in a cooler once off the BGE. (That wrap and pack setup will hold temps for a good 4 hours if needed before pulling).
    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.
  • Are there any exceptions to the 2 hour per pound rule? Does this break down for smaller butts? I did a 4 pound boneless butt last weekend at 225 and it took over 14 hours to hit 195.

    I am going at it again this weekend with a 7 pound bone-in and am not sure how to judge the time. I will try to raise the temp a little base on the above advice, so should I just ignore my last smoke and stick to a 2 hour per pound estimate?
  • Hungry Joe
    Hungry Joe Posts: 1,566
    Each piece of meat can be different. One time I put 3 pretty equal size
    butts on around 8 PM. All of them were around 8 # or so. The next
    morning one was ready to come off by 7 AM. The other two came off
    around 1 or 2 in the afternoon. That is an extreme example but reading
    these forums for years I've seen enough stories to come to the
    conclusion that you never really know until its done.
  • I cook by temp and leave a 4touch hour window before serving. Just pull and rest in a cooler
  • bigguy136
    bigguy136 Posts: 1,362
    Are there any exceptions to the 2 hour per pound rule? Does this break down for smaller butts? I did a 4 pound boneless butt last weekend at 225 and it took over 14 hours to hit 195.

    I am going at it again this weekend with a 7 pound bone-in and am not sure how to judge the time. I will try to raise the temp a little base on the above advice, so should I just ignore my last smoke and stick to a 2 hour per pound estimate?




    I put on a 7 lb boston butt at 11:00 PM and grate temp of 225°. At 3:00 (16 hrs) I was at 158° so I bumped up the grate temp to 265°. Now at 17.5 hours, I'm at 178°. I have another 2 hours before I need to pull it so I hope it gets done in time.

    I'm using a Stoker and the grate temps are fairly consistent

    Big Lake, Minnesota

    2X Large BGE, 1 Mini Max, Stokers, Adjustable Rig