pulled pork dilemma

ccoffey

Hey everyone, I have gotten great expert advice out here many times as a newbie and I could use a bit more. I was asked to enter a pulled pork bbq competition at my church so I did, then they asked me to cook an additional 10lb picnic because another guy backed out and they need the meat to feed everyone. So now I have to do a 7lb and a 10lb and have both ready by 5:30pm Saturday. I was going to do slow and low for the 7lb but now with the 10lb in the mix, I will either have to start butt crack of dawn early or the night before. If I start the night before, I am concerned about keeping constant heat all night. I would like both to be done by 3:30 Sat so I can do FTC for an hour or two before the judging. Now I am thinking Turbo, but then if I start the night before, I may miss the 160 mark to foil if it comes before morning. So much to think about.  Any advice or suggestions would be great.

Brisket_Fanatic

The egg will hold a consistent temp all night if you want to cook that way. Both should fit so you can cook them at the same time. 

CtTOPGUN

Cut the ten pounder in half and start it later or FCTC until 7#er is done.

   Jim

lousubcap

@CtTOPGUN has the key to success.  And more bark as well.  Start early that AM and you can always dial it up for the finish.

bgebrent

lousubcap said:

@CtTOPGUN has the key to success.  And more bark as well.  Start early that AM and you can always dial it up for the finish.

There's your plan.  Good luck and have fun!

ccoffey

Great suggestion @CtTOPGUN ! The 3 pieces of meat will fit fine that way and cook faster. Nice. Thanks!  How long typically does pork shoulder take per pound? Slow and low at 225-250 vs. turbo at 350?

lousubcap

Ball-park; at 225-250*F on the dome I plan for about 2 hrs/lb.  I believe that the turbo crowd plans for around 6hrs +/- for a 7 lb butt at around 350*F.  Regardless, go til the bone pulls clean or it probes like buttah-generally the low 200's*F.

Webass

ccoffey said:

.... Now I am thinking Turbo, but then if I start the night before, I may miss the 160 mark to foil if it comes before morning. So much to think about.  Any advice or suggestions would be great.

I no longer foil.  No difference in taste or time and I get a much better bark. I do spritz with 50/50 apple juice/apple cider vinegar every hour or so.  

rockymountaineggster

I only do turbo with no foil wrap. I've tried foil at 165 but can't tell a difference so I go without.  For turbo I figure about 45 min per lb. Bark can be less with turbo but it's still plenty for me.

ccoffey

Looks like I cant cut the 10lb in half @CtTOPGUN. It has a huge bone inside. 

onedbguru

ccoffey said:

Looks like I cant cut the 10lb in half @CtTOPGUN. It has a huge bone inside. 

With a good boning knife, you can cut the bone out if you would like.  What size BGE?    I typically start my PP at around 10pm after stabilizing the Egg at around 250-275. It should go until around 2pm the next afternoon, then FTC until ready to judge/eat.

Carolina Q

Cutting it in half doesn't necessarily mean it will take less time to cook anyway. I once bought two 5 lb butts and cut one in half as a cooking time experiment. I put all three pieces on the same egg at the same time, expecting the two small ones to be done much sooner. They all finished at the same time! A butt has a mind of it's own.

onedbguru

Carolina Q said:

....
 A butt has a mind of it's own.

I know some people to which this could apply. 

SmokeyPitt

I would just start them both around 5:30 AM if you don't mind getting up early.  Cook around 275 to start and bump it up if needed.  You probably won't need to wrap the smaller one at all.  The bigger one you may need to wrap and kick the heat up to get it across the finish line.  FTC the small one while the bigger one finishes.  

If for some reason it doesn't make it you can always chop the picnic as long as it makes it to 180 or so.  It might be cool to server both ways anyway.  

Mosca

The meat will cook to the narrowest axis. So a cylindrical 10lb roast will cook the same if you cut it across the cylinder to 2 5lb roasts, as long as the length is more than the width.

I would do what @SmokeyPitt said; I'd start them at the same time, pull whichever one got done first and f/t/c, then pull the second one and f/t/c it. One resting longer than the other won't make any difference.

4Runner

Start at the same time and pull when ready. Wrap and add a little liquid when done. Store wrapped and in the warmer.  Do the same with the other and serve an hour or two later.  No worries. 

Lit

A picnic will have the skin on normally. If someone specified a picnic are they looking for the crisp skin to eat? Cooked correctly the skin is about the best part. You don't want to foil it if they want to eat the skin. 

ccoffey

No they dont want the skin. I dont know why they selected the picnic.I always get the Boston butt. Anyhow, heres an update. The big one was making me nervous so instead of risking not being done, I turbo'd it overnight at 340. Internal temp was at 175 when I woke up. I had to reload the egg an hour after I was up (apparently lump burns fast at 340), put it back on with the 7lb one and here is a shot just before taking the 10lb (the one in the back) off. It was at 205 everywhere. Now waiting on the 7lb. Looking good so far. Thanks for all the advice. 

ccoffey

Oh, another question. How long can you FTC? I just pulled the 10lb off but there are 7 hours now until the event. The 7lb is the one for the competition, the 10 was just for extra food for everyone. 

lousubcap

Pre-warm a cooler with hot water, double wrap the butt in HDAF then into the cooler with dryer warmed garage quality towels and you are good for 8+ hours at least-and that's with an igloo cooler.  FWIW-

FarmerTom

lousubcap will steer you straight.  Believe him.  His advice has never failed me yet.  I haven't tried pre-warming the towels.  That would have to add to the hold time considerably.  I have had great  success with just a few wraps of HDAF and then wrap with 2 heavy towels.  Cant't imagine how much longer warm towels and a warm cooler would add to the hold time.  

ccoffey

Well guys, end result was Turbo on both, no foil on the 10lb and foil on the 7lb. Cooked both to 205. Kept them warm in double foil and an oven bag in an oven set on 180 until about 2 hours before the competition. Then FTC'd for 2 hours and shredded 30 minutes before judging. The 10lb came out dry but super tender. The 7 was like butta and moist because I conserved all the juices in the foil. Entered meat from the 7lb and tied for 1st place and after a tiebreaker took 2nd. The 7lb Turbo'd with foil was the crowd favorite. Everyone was talking about it. One guy had a professional wood burning smoker he towed behind his truck to the church and smoked all day there and the egg beat him. Not bad for my first competition. Thanks to all here. Couldn't have done it without your help. 

SmokingPiney

Good to hear it worked out for you, @ccoffey. Congrats on 1st place! 

JohnnyTarheel

@ccoffey .....  Great cook!!  Congrats on producing crowd favorite!!