feeding ~30 people pulled pork - best setup for large?

NDG

I am hoping to purchase (2) bone-in pork shoulders tonight to feed just under 30 people this weekend.  My party starts at noon on Saturday and I am hoping to serve food around 3:00pm. I have never made this much pulled pork, so hoping you all can review my logic and offer suggestions.  My tools are a Large BGE, a BBQ Guru and a Grid Extender (from ceramic grill works - still never used it).  I understand I could put this on early and do the cooler trick, but I would really like my Egg to still be cooking when people start showing up.  Might be wishful thinking - but I want to show it off!   Thank you in advance.

1) will (2) shoulders at 7-10lb each be enough meat?

2) what is the best configuration (can I use extender?) to put on the large egg for this much meat?

3) If I put all 18lbs of meat on at 7:00pm on Friday night . . . do you think it is safe to assume it will be done between Noon and 3:00pm on Sat? 

RRP

1) yes

2) side by side

3) what temp?

NDG

you make it so simple!  I was going to set the guru for 250F overnight and modify in the morning based off the progress. . . watcha think?

NDG

PS my new rutland gasket is money - looking forward to this low-n-slow because all the smoke will be coming out the top - instead of billowing out of the side!

MOvikingsfan

I'm not so sure you will have enough pork IMHO. A raw 7-10 lb butt will only produce 4-7 lb of cooked butt. I sure hope you have plenty of sides. Even at 1/2 lb per person you will be cutting it awful close.

NDG

I was afraid of that . . . so maybe get (3) 9lb bone-in shoulders and put the third one on top of the grid extender?  I doubt all 3 will fit side by side at felt level.  Then my fear is that the shoulder on the top will reach 200F much faster than the two at felt level.  Hmmmm . . .. 

SmokeyPitt

I think your plan sounds good, and I agree with @RRP's responses.  

As far as the timing...if you are measuring at the grid you might want to go 230ish.  A general rule of thumb is 2 hours per lb at 250 dome (which is 220-230 grid).  Assuming you have butts around 8 lbs each, this puts you in your target.  Note the 2 hours per lb is just a rough guideline.  The nice thing with the guru is you can always make adjustments as you suggested to hit them within the window. If the butts are getting close to done you can bring the temp down and creep on on the finish. 

Just one other suggestion to throw out there.  You could always have the butts finish early and in the cooler, and then throw on some appetizers to show off the egg.  

henapple

Finish the pork early, ftc and throw some apps on to show the egg off. Abt's, pigshots, etc... Good luck.

NDG

Ok I will listen to the veteran suggestions of @henapple and @smokeypitt - After all, I wanna drink and have fun, not stress.  So I will show off with ABT's at party time and finish the pork early and keep warm with the foil/towel/cooler trick.  Thinking I put on two 9lb shoulders around 6pm on Friday and make plenty of sides along with the ABT's.   Thanks for talking me through this . . . .  

NDG

Last Q . . . pigshots or ABTs?

NDG

think I am doing MOINK balls - looks super easy.

henapple

Search both... Abt's, stuffed jalapeños. Maybe bacon wrapped shrimp?

SmokeyPitt

You can't go wrong with wrapping anything in bacon .  I have done moink balls and ABTs and they are both great.  I haven't done pig shots yet, but they look outstanding as well. 

BuckeyeBob

NDG, last time I did Pulled Pork on my Large, I did 3 7-9# overnight starting at 8:30PM and they were done by 10AM. I cooked all three on the grid in a triangle formation and they did great. A little crowded at first but as they cooked and shrank a little, it was no problem. I agree with the others that you would probably want to cook an additional butt because I don't think 2 is enough for 30 people. Just cook in advance and enjoy your party. Good luck.

Grillmagic

Go with 3 butts at the felt, you can do it!!!

NDG

lol - thanks for the words of encouragement - going 3 at the felt line!

@buckeyebob - I am glad you gave me your time-frame of 8:30pm - 10:00am for (3) butts that total ~24lbs of meat. I am sure I would have figured it out soon enought, but your cook time allowed me to realize my mistake.  I was incorrectly adding up every LB of meat on the egg, regardless of quantity and individual weight, and then I added 1hr-1.5hr of cook time based off the overall weight. My stupid brain was confused why your 24lbs of meat didnt take 24hrs to 36hrs!    

Correct me if I am still confused, but I will go with qty (3) pork butt/shoulders at 7-9lbs each and bank on pulling them anywhere from. 7 to 15 hours later.  Big range - but I have learned that every butt/shoulder has a unpredictable path to 200F !!

SmokeyPitt

You are correct- whether cooking 1 butt or 3 butts the time is about the same.  It may take a little longer if the butts are touching (but they will shrink), so just estimate based on the weight of 1 butt.  1.5 - 2 hours a lb roughly. 

NDG

Ok i got it now - thank you.