Large Butt - out of my league

Hawkeye

Done a few smaller butts with pretty decent success but I am concerned I can bite off more than I can handle.  Having a bigger group tomorrow night so I had butcher get me a larger cut.

Picked it up an hour ago and it is nearly 13 pounds.

I need some advice from more experienced eggers to help me work through this project.  Need to serve tomorrow night.

Mattman3969

I would prolly cut it in half and cook at 350 straight thru. Rub with you favorite rub, you can use mustard as a binder or not because it really doesn't make a difference. Some use oak or hickory for smoke but I am partial to a mix of apple and cherry. If you split like suggested you can estimate about a 5-6hr cook.

jllbms

I'd start it at 0600 at 225 and monitor the temp. By1400 if you're not at say, 160, wrap it in foil and crank the temp to 300. Other Eggers may have better ideas, but that's what I'd do. Hopefully you have a probe.

Little Steven

Are you tentative about an overnight cook?

Hawkeye

Thank you for the comments.  I do have a probe.  I am a bit tentative on an overnight cook but I am not opposed to getting up very early and this group will not want to eat before 8pm at the earliest

Hawkeye

Is cutting it in half purely to expedite the cook or is there some other concerns with a butt of this size

Little Steven

If you clean out your egg, get it stabilised at 250 for an hour or so and put the butt on about 11:00 pm you will be rewarded

Hawkeye

Egg is cleaned out and loaded with lump.  If I start it at 1100 and do NOT cut it in half, what would you estimate cook time to be

Little Steven

It's hard to say. Butts sort of have a mind of their own. That said, they are very forgiving so if say by noon tomorrow you can crank the heat. That big it is probably longer than it is thick so the hours per pouns is out the window. That is the way I would do it but I have never done a turbo butt.

Foghorn

Hawkeye said:

Egg is cleaned out and loaded with lump.  If I start it at 1100 and do NOT cut it in half, what would you estimate cook time to be

You can make sure it is off the grill at least an hour before you eat after you assess it in the morning and throughout the day.  During daylight hours tomorrow you can raise the temp as high as 350 and if that isn't enough you can foil it.  While I turbo most of my butts they are usually in the 7-8 pound range.  At 13 pounds I would (based on supposition and no data) want to go lower for a good portion of the cook to minimize the temp difference between the outer surface and the center of the meat. 

Mattman3969

Hawkeye said:

Is cutting it in half purely to expedite the cook or is there some other concerns with a butt of this size

Purely to expedite the cook plus it will give you more bark if you are into that kinda thing. I am a turbo'r but at the same time LS is shooting you good info for the low and slow side. It's up to you to decide which way to go.

lousubcap

Cook plan hinges on the amount of BGE supervisory adult beverages you desire to write into the script >-

Chris_Wang

Are you positive there aren't two butts in the package?

xiphoid007

I go turbo, but for a butt that size, your bark may become char for the amount of time it takes to get tender.

I second the notion of beginning around d 250 and cranking later in the cook. Pork butt is pretty forgiving and can tolerate the high temps later.

You could probably go turbo and foil once the bark gets where u want it. This would also speed the cook. However, there are many on this forum that would have me shot for suggesting such a thing and you shot should you dare listen. . . X_X

DMW

Could be a butt with part of the picnic attached. Can you post pics?

Hawkeye

You guys have all been great, trying to take it all in.  Yes I will post pics shortly

Hawkeye

It is one butt, not two in a package

Chris_Wang

Hawkeye said:

It is one butt, not two in a package

10-4

bettysnephew

Hawkeye

Iowan??  We do have a few big pigs inside the borders, just check the state fair in August.

SGH

Hawkeye said:

Picked it up an hour ago and it is nearly 13 pounds.

I need some advice from more experienced eggers to help me work through this project.  

First let me say that im not a experienced egger. That being said you may want to ignore this and seek council else where. How ever I have cooked a few butts so I will share my findings. You have several options here. Let me point out a few of them.

First you can cook it whole between 225-250 for the entire cook with outstanding end results.

Second you can split it in half and cook at 225-250 for the entire cook with almost the same end result.

Third you can cook it whole at 225-250 until the internal temp reaches 160. At this point you can really start getting up on the heat if the need arises to meet a target finish.

Fourth you can split it in half and cook it at 300-350 with very good results.

Fifth you can cook it whole at 300-325 with very good results. On a butt this size if you chose to turbo I would recommend not going over 325 to help avoid drying the outside out and also as not to scorch the outer layer.

They all produce a fine end product. As far as cutting them in half it is only to speed the cooking process. It does nothing to improve the quality of the finished product. Again you may wish to consult others as im not a egg pro but I hope that I have at least provided you with some useful information. Good luck my friend.

Mattman3969

@sgh - you sir sound like a pro and I appreciate all that you add to this forum.

Hawkeye

Yes, I am an Iowan, grew up in Iowa City

SGH

Mattman3969 said:

@sgh -  I appreciate all that you add to this forum.

Thank you for the kind words my friend. But I speak the truth when I say that my cooking on the egg is very limited when compared to others on here. However I have spent most of my life cooking bbq. Again thanks brother.

SGH

Hawkeye said: Large Butt - out of my league

 

No sir. Nothing is out of your league if you put your mind to it. Especially with all the assistance and good advice that you can get here on this forum. Its just a little larger of a cut and takes longer to cook. No big deal at all my friend. The procedure is the same, only the time is different. Also I see that you are from Iowa. In 1995-1996 I worked in Cedar Rapids building the Cedar River Paper Company. Would like to see it again some day. I have some real fond memories from my time spent up there.