12 pound Boston Butt estimate?

egghead43

I'm in charge of cooking a 12# Boston Butt for Christmas lunch.  This is only my 2nd cook on the BGE.  I did a 4 pounder earlier this week and it took right about 8 hours, with 6 hours around 250 and the remaining time closer to 350.  If I want to stay around 250, what's a good estimate for the amount of time it will take?  I'm guessing starting the cook around 6pm Christmas Eve, and it being done between 8 and 10am-ish.  From then, I can FTC it until lunch?

theyolksonyou

They're all different, but I'd cook closer to 275 and start around four pm then jack the temp as necessary in the morning. 12# is a big butt. I doubt it would be done in 14hr @250

Hi54putty

I would guess 1.5 hrs per pound at 275 cook temp. 

eggsurance_agent

I did a 9# last week at 250 and it took right at 15 hours.  I was surprised it took so long.

jtcBoynton

As for cooking time, there is a good amount of variability between individual pieces so take all times as rough.  

225º:  2 hours a pound

250º: 1.5 hours a pound

280º:  1 hour per pound

350º:  45 mins per pound

3bailey3

I just cooked a 9 pounder and it was was at 198 in 8 hours. It would go 225 to 300 if I did not watch close. When I tried to take it off it was falling apart. Going to have  for lunch tomorrow, how should I warm it back up?

eggsurance_agent

3bailey3 said:

I just cooked a 9 pounder and it was was at 198 in 8 hours. It would go 225 to 300 if I did not watch close. When I tried to take it off it was falling apart. Going to have  for lunch tomorrow, how should I warm it back up?

Did you keep it whole? If so put it in the oven at 200 or so to warm up then pull. If needed, apply some sauce after pulling and put back in oven for a few minutes.

henapple

I'd plan on 2 hrs per lb. If you're early just ftc it. It'll hold for 8 hrs if necessary. When it comes to butts... Better early than late. Fwiw, you can always foil to push through. 

pgprescott

henapple said:

I'd plan on 2 hrs per lb. If you're early just ftc it. It'll hold for 8 hrs if necessary. When it comes to butts... Better early than late. Fwiw, you can always foil to push through. 

Bingo!

JethroVA

What Dr. Henapple is referring to is the infamous stall that occurs in large chunks of meat where the temp of the meat plateaus (won't move upwards) due to evaporation.  Wrapping with foil allows it to "push through" as the good Dr. said, and continue increasing. 

egghead43

As it turns out, we don't have one 12 pound butt, we actually have 2 8 pounders.  They are pretty flat, so I'm not sure how well they're going to fit without some of each being over the platesetter.  My plan is still to put them on at about 4pm today, and hoping for around 14 hours or so at 250?

I put mustard all over them last night and put some pork rub on them.  I plan to throw some apple wood in there as well.  It's the small chunks of the BGE variety even though larger chunks probably work better.  Wish me luck!

GuitarEC

Did an 8 pounder earlier this week @ 275 and it took right at 10 1/2 hours - for what it's worth...

Eric "GuitarEC"
Metro Atl., Ga.

egghead43

GuitarEC said:

Did an 8 pounder earlier this week @ 275 and it took right at 10 1/2 hours - for what it's worth...

Eric "GuitarEC"
Metro Atl., Ga.

Thanks.  I was really hoping for one larger one, but we got 2 rather flat 8 pounders.  The good news is the butcher only charged us $2/lb.  Cooking it might be a challenge though.  We shall see.  I'm tempted to go around 250 since they're not very thick.

jtcBoynton

8 pound butts are typical size around here.  I haven't seen any over 10.5.  I am sure you could find one if you looked hard.  Cooking at 250º should be fine.  If they are not getting done, you can always increase the temp later in the cook to speed things along. 

egghead43

I just put them on.  My ET-733 is about half working.  The 2 of them are side-to-side and cover nearly the entire grate.

egghead43

If I plan to FTC both of the butts for a few hours, should I pull them off around 190?  I know the temp continues to rise after you let them rest.  They're at 84 degrees right now and I'd like them to finish up around 8am.  I'd rather not be woken up by alarms.  I'm hovering at a grate temp near 250.  I can't quite get the temp to stick.