Boston Butt cooking times??

tampaegg

I want to cook a Boston Butt for the big game. I have a 9lb Boston butt(bone in), but not sure how long I should smoke it for?
I have only cooked a butt once before. That time I cooked it for 3hrs @ 250 and the wrapped it in tin foil and cooked it all night at ~250. The problem is that it was ready in the morning and the game isn't until the evening. Should I wake up early and do it all day? what should my total cooking time be? thx

llrickman

well its best to cook to temp and not time especially with butts. You can expect 1.5-2 hrs per lb.

My suggestion would be start them around 11pm get your fire going good for an hour or so before get it stabilized at 250 put the butt on and cook till its about 200 internal 195-200

take it off the egg, wrap tightly in foil, then wrap in a towel and place in a cooler till your ready to pull.

I have left mine wrapped in the cooler for 3 hrs and when i pulled them they would still burn my fingers

I have done 8lb butts that have taken 12 hours my last 8lb one took 16


Its gonna be some good eats

tampaegg

So you don't wrap it in tin foil until after you take it off the grill?

outrageous

lot of people do the turbo butt deal. cook at 375. normally takes around 7-8 hrs but cook to temperature of 195-200 then pull. if finished earlier, can wrap up and wait on crowd for game.

Crimsongator

At 240-250 dome you can estimate 2hours/lb of cook time. Things can vary but this is a rough estimate. Wrapping in foil will certainly speed you cooking time.

I would put it on around 9 tonight and let it go without foiling. If it isn't in the high 170's to low 180's by 11 tomorrow you can wrap it in foil and finish it. You can hold it for a few hours and pull it when needed.

llrickman

I don't wrap in foil till im done but that's my feeling that i get better bark on it by not foiling till done but again that's just my preference

I also rub them down with mustard then put on my rub. I just seems to hold the rub so much better and doesn't change the flavor at all

Rolling Egg

Your going to hear all sorts of variations on how to cook a butt. Slow, fast, foil, or no foil. I imagine if you polled everyone on this board you will find that most cook at 250 dome until done. Your butt should fall between 1.5 to 2 hours per pound. If I were cooking for the super bowl tomorrow night and I had a 9 pound butt, I would light my egg at 10 and get it completely stable with all grates and stones or platesetter, whatever is going to be in there while you cooking. You should have a stable, clean burning egg by 11:30 at least. I would then throw the butt on and wait for the temp to come back to 250 and stabilize. Keep in mind that when you throw that cold mass of meat on there your going to loose 50 to 75 degrees and it might take it an hour or more to come back to 250. Try to resist tinkering with the vent for at least this long. Most of the time the egg should come back to 250 as the meat temp rises by itself. Using this time your butt will be done between noon and 5. If it gets done at noon, double wrap in HD foil and place it in a cooler covered in a towel. It will still be hot at 5. Also dont for get to calibrate your dome thermo if you haven't already. Good luck!

Crimsongator

The foiling was to help finish if the butt was lagging behind. Since he would like to eat at the superbowl I suspect he would sacrifice a little bark for timely finish.

Rolling Egg

Staying outta my Wal-mart? :woohoo:

Crimsongator

Yes and no. I stay out unless I am in the area :pinch:

Rolling Egg

I haven't seen any lump in Athens since late summer last year. University Dr. did have a butload in lawn and garden. I'm burning Cowboy from Star all winter. I have 7 bags of wicked on that group order coming next week. Never tried it. We will see.

Crimsongator

I tried to look for some in Athens just so I could find ONE sale bag to harass you about. No luck.

Rolling Egg

:woohoo: :woohoo: Nickname you spoon. Always trying to stir stuff up :laugh: :laugh:

Crimsongator

That distinction already belongs to a DIFFERENT egghead. Come to think of it maybe more than one :woohoo:

texasAUtiger

llrickman wrote:

well its best to cook to temp and not time especially with butts. You can expect 1.5-2 hrs per lb.

My suggestion would be start them around 11pm get your fire going good for an hour or so before get it stabilized at 250 put the butt on and cook till its about 200 internal 195-200

take it off the egg, wrap tightly in foil, then wrap in a towel and place in a cooler till your ready to pull.

I have left mine wrapped in the cooler for 3 hrs and when i pulled them they would still burn my fingers

I have done 8lb butts that have taken 12 hours my last 8lb one took 16


Its gonna be some good eats

I second everything he just said. My last 8.5 lb butt went 16 hrs to reach 195 internal at 250 dome.