Boston Butt Size

Unknown

I'm going to feed about 12 college kids who are spending their spring break in Mississippi cleaning up a church and underprivileged kids camp. They are from New Hampshire, so the least I could do is feed 'em some good Southern bar-b-q.[p]Question is, I'm going to feed them Thursday at about 6. If I put a two 5 lb. boston butts on at 7:00 AM it will barely get finished in time for me to let it sit a while and let me pull it.[p]Could I get a 10 lb. butt and start it the night before? Or should I just cook it the day before and reheat it? I kind of wanted it fresh and warm right off the grill. I'm thinking about 2 hours a lb. at about 225 to 250.[p]thanks for the help

Borders

Matt, I'm still kind of a novice, but here's my experience. A 5lb butt, whether one or 2 SHOULD take 10 hours, but there are tons of variables, such as starting temp of the meat, changes in temp during the cook, water in the drip pan or not, etc. I cooked three 4lb butts for 20 hours, w/water in the drip pan for instance. It took the full 20 hours to get them there. Arguably, that should have only taken 8 hours.[p]You should be able to pull it off on the time schedule you give, but I'd be cooking at a dome temp of 250(maybe more at the end), w/no water in the drip pan.[p]As an alternative, if you start the night before, and as a result finish early, you can put them in foil, wrap w/a towel and put in a cooler. I did this with a brisket for 3 hours and it was still smokin when we had dinner.

bigmikej

Matt,
I usually cook 1 or 2 7-8 pounders (they come cryovaced from costco or sam's) at a time. At the temps you state, I would start between 8 and 9 PM the night before. Mine always take at least 20 hours. THis also gives you some breathing room if your fire goes out in the night. If they finish early, you can wrap in foil, then old towels and place in an empty cooler to hold warm. I have held for up to 5 hours with no loss in quality.

Unknown

Matt,
I'd go with a larger butt and start the night before as well... I recall reading a post about larger vs smaller butss and cook times... as I recall it said butts 6lb and under take about 3 hrs a lb and 6 lb and over about 2-2.5 hrs a pound... I forget why and really have never tested it for myself since I usually get 8 lb'ers. Anyway.. go overnight and leave yourself some time for a mishap... just in case![p]Brian

Unknown

Should I get one with or with out bone? You can get them without the bone, right? Does it cook different/quicker/slower?[p]thanks

QBabe

Matt,[p]I believe that the bone-in ones impart a better flavor to the meat....[p]Tonia
:~)

QBabe

Nardi,[p]I'm not sure about the "why" part either, but I once cooked a tiny little 2 lb butt and it took just as long as a 5 lb one...the 2hrs/lb rule definitely did not work. Same happened on a tiny 3 lb brisket I tried....[p]Tonia
:~)[p]

Doug

I have cooked 3 butts in my Medium egg ... Even at -5 F outside it seems to take about 2.3 to 2.5 hours per pound to get it up to 190-200F. My shoot for 205-210 for my egg temp. If you are cooking hotter it should take less time. I always try to stay below 225 for BBQ, but that is jsut me. Good luck with your work.

Unknown

Matt,[p]I just did a similar feed up here for what was the equivelant of forty kids. I'm glad I did it ahead of time as I spent the ensuing time prepping sides for the rest of the meal.
If I had to do it again, I wouldn't change a thing - do it ahead of time as others have suggested. [p]One method I would use is to preheat half a dozen bricks to about 220 in the oven and place the bricks in a cooler with the pork to keep the pork hot during transport and such. Saran wrap as others have suggested will work well.[p]I started exactly 24 hours early by trimming and prepping the butts (I remove the skin), and adding rub. About an hour or so later I started the fire, and after the fire settled down, I put the pork on the smoker (a WSM) and let it crank thru the night. (temp did get as high as 280 twice during the cook). Butts ended up coming off about 4 hours before serve time which left plenty of time to pull, finish my sides, and transport everything to the feed site. [p]A regional note on the New Hampshire kids - vinegar or mustard based sauces won't work well - a quick 'generic' mix you could throw together would be roughly one part honey to two parts either KC Masterpiece or Sweet Baby Ray's, maybe with some butter melted in and grind in a little black pepper. (if ya can't get either of those sauces, get some other sauce that is kind of a sweet molasses base with some tomato - that sort of thing) [p]As far as the pork, them granite state kids probably have not seen much if any pulled pork nevermind what I hear is a classic pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw on cheap white bread - pork sliced on a plate be more what they're used to if they be from New England.[p]Cole slaw here in New England is primarily mayonnaise based - not vinegar. Never having seen a real pulled pork sandwich for myself, I have come to like putting pulled pork on what we call a 'bulkie' roll with mayo-based coleslaw and the forementioned sauce - If you are bent on serving them a sammich, my 'twist' on this southern jewel may sit well with them Yankee kids for lunch. [p]Do the pork early, arrive at the site with food early, and enjoy. [p]