First overnighter coming up - Pork butt help

robnybbq · August 2012

I am planning on cooking ~ 10lbs of pork butt on Friday overnight (First time overnight). I would think 10lbs is enough for a bunch of adults at a BBQ party that will have other meats (burgers, chicken, etc) I am planning on lighting the egg at ~4:30. Putting the butt(s) on at 6ish.

Can I expect them to be done near noon on Saturday? Or should I expect to turbo them in the morning around 8:00 AM?

Should I cook a single 10lb butt or 2 5lb butts? If I do the smaller I guess I can put the butts on at 10:00 at night but I want them ready until around noon then I can FTC them. Party is at 2:00 and we have to drive there.

Any help to make me a star would be greatly appreciated. (If anyone is local come over and I'll supply the beer).

bertscampers · August 2012

I did a 10lbs butt 2 weeks ago. I started the fire at 2:30 and put it on around 3:30 pm. I pulled it off just after 9 am then FTC. We ate at 1:00 after a 3 hour drive and it was incredible. I went to bed around 11 and woke up at 6. The temp dropped 20 but no big deal. It was super easy.

Cheers

Budgeezer · August 2012

I recently did two 8 pounders and it only took 11 hours @ 250 dome temp. So figure about 1.5 hrs per pound of roast. So for a 10lbs butt you would be looking @ around 15 hours, if you go for 4 2.5 pound roasts you are looking @ a cook time of 3.75 hours. Hope that makes sense. Good luck and enjoy the journey.

Buckdodger · August 2012

Have had good luck doing my overnighters this way. Start the egg @ 8PM. Get the butts ready, I usually do 2 @ 8/9LBS. Stabilize the egg @ 250 dome, usually takes about an hour sometimes a little longer. Put the butts on @ 9 ish and figure about 1 1/2 to 2 hrs / lb. Make sure the egg comes back up to temp after the meat is on. Close the egg and fagetaboutit. Bring internal to 195* usually they are done around noon the next day. Wrap in HD alum foil and place in a cooler wrapped in towels. They will keep for up to 4 hrs. Unwrap, pull and ur ready to enjoy.

robnybbq · August 2012

So a 10lber should take ~15 hours (may make it putting it on at 8 - done around 11) and 2 x 5lber's should take ~7.5 hours (Means putting them on at 3 AM).

I really dont want to be the weird neighbor out loading the egg at 2:00 AM. They just wont understand.

Now to find a 10lb pork butt at the Grocery store. That may be close to impossible as all I have seen are 4-5 lb'rs there

OLD NORTH STATE BBQ CO. · August 2012

Go with the 10lbs overnight. Get a Maverick Remote thermometer to help you get through the night. If the cook is done early, do the towel/cooler thing, but I fire up some bricks or pavers in the egg and place them on a towel at the bottom of the cooler. Pulled my last butt 6 hours after I took it off of the egg and it was still burning my fingers.

Buckdodger · August 2012

If you have a Sam's club or Costco nearby they have butt's in the 8 to 10 # range, but they come 2 to a pack. Get bone in, have had better luck them.

robnybbq · August 2012

OK 10lber bone in.

I got the Maverick so I hope I can sleep.

Not question is to inject or just rub?

And when should I Pull apart the meat? Before I leave or at the party?

Buckdodger · August 2012

I just rub, Dizzy Dust coarse, and if it were me I'd pull at the party. That way the meat will stay moist.

OLD NORTH STATE BBQ CO. · August 2012

Definitely inject and rub. I always pull and chop (NC Style) at the location the BBQ is being served. Keeps it from drying out. You'll be fine. Pork Butt is one of the most forgiving cooks on the BGE.

Buckdodger · August 2012

FYI, iv'e seen threads on this forum that injecting adds fluid to the meat and it takes longer to get to temp.

OLD NORTH STATE BBQ CO. · August 2012

Buckdodger said:

FYI, iv'e seen threads on this forum that injecting adds fluid to the meat and it takes longer to get to temp.

Buckdoger is 100% correct. Your meat is going to hit a stall at some point during the cook. It may even drop in temperture for a little while. Don't freak out. The meat is sweating some of its moisture. Its going to stall with or without the injection. A drip pan with fluid can also delay the stall. Just stay the course and everything will be fine. An 8-9 lbs butt usually takes me approximately 13 hours at 250*.

robnybbq · August 2012

ok - 250 raised indirect will be it.

boatbum · August 2012

For lunch serving - I would do overnite. For Evening serving, it becomes either really late at night or really early in the morning. 1.5 per pound is a good planning number. My personal preference would be a single larger rather than 2 smaller.

Eggdam · August 2012

I have personally found that most of the butts I've done take closer to the 2 hour per pound mark @250 some. Make sure you leave enough time!

robnybbq · August 2012

If I add the butt at 6:00 PM and at 8:00 AM should the temp be in the 180's? What number (about) would tell me I am going to miss the party?

gdenby · August 2012

The Maverick will at least insure that you don't get a butt that is burnt, or left sitting cold in the morning. I'm a light sleeper, and when I used a Maverick, it was always nice to just be able to open my eyes for a second and check the grill temperature.

If the meat doesn't finish as fast as you need, you can always up the dome temperature, and/or foil the butt. That will put it in turbo mode, and drop a lot of time.

I thought injection helped some, but it was a big mess. I only tried it a few times, so there may be ways to make it more effective.

What I do at this point if I think the PP doesn't have enough flavor is to stir in more rub, or more warmed injection mix/sauce to the pulled meat.

If you can keep the meat above 140F, don't pull till you get to the party.

lousubcap · August 2012

All good info above-for you injectors-cover the target meat with a saran wrap and inject through the wrap-keeps the stray shot clean-up very manageable.

OLD NORTH STATE BBQ CO. · August 2012

robnybbq said:

If I add the butt at 6:00 PM and at 8:00 AM should the temp be in the 180's? What number (about) would tell me I am going to miss the party?

Good question, but you're probably not going to like the answer. I've had the stall occur as low as 165* and as high as 182*. So it all depends. If you maintain 250*, anticipate 1.5 - 2 hrs per lbs, and plan on sticking it in a cooler with some heated pavers you'll be sitting pretty. Pavers are of course optional. Most guys just stick them in a cooler without the pavers. I guess it aldepends on the quality of your cooler. If I hade a $300 Yeti cooler, I would definitely not use pavers.

Dave in Florida · August 2012

I would do a single and plan for 2 hours a pound. What if that butt decides to take 2 hours a pound instead of 1.5? If it is done sooner, you can always FTC and it will hold for several hours. I would rather it be done and resting in a cooler, then on the egg still cooking while everyone else is waiting, or eating other food and not enjoying my Q.

Buckdodger · August 2012

Dave in Florida said:

I would do a single and plan for 2 hours a pound. What if that butt decides to take 2 hours a pound instead of 1.5? If it is done sooner, you can always FTC and it will hold for several hours. I would rather it be done and resting in a cooler, then on the egg still cooking while everyone else is waiting, or eating other food and not enjoying my Q.

Good advise....and WAR EAGLE !!!

robnybbq · August 2012

I need to leave home at noon to get to the party and planning on eating at 4. I will not be able to light the Egg until 5 on Friday. Then an hour to 1.5 hours to get it to settle in and burn off (This is what my egg takes) so the earliest I can put the meat on is 6:-6:30 if all goes as planned. That gives me at most 18 hours of cooktime plus a lump reload in the morning sometime as I know I will run out - It just does.

Maybe I should go for two 7 or 8 lbers and get some leftovers.

calracefan · August 2012

Or you cab raise the temp slightly, I think you might can start it at 250 for over night and check in the early morning and if needed bump your temp up to 275-300 for finishing.The 2 smaller ones will probably cook a little faster!

robnybbq · August 2012

Pork butt or pork shoulder?

QDude · August 2012

I don't think it will take 2 hours per pound. I usually do 2 ten pound butts at a time at around 260 degrees and they have never taken more than 14 hours to complete. The last two only took 10 hours to be done.

boatbum · August 2012

Not sure why you need a lump reload. What kind of Charcoal are you using? What size Egg? Are you piling well up to the top or a little above the firering?

I can easily run 18 hours - have gone longer on a load.

lousubcap · August 2012

Sounds like you are wrestling with a few too many variables-you have a fixed cook/finish window and a known FTC time of at least four hours plus. With the calibrated dome around 260+/- I always see 1.8-2.1hrs/# for butts. Given the cook window (and allow time on the finish end) you can decide what size or sizes to cook within the parameters. Remember you can dial up the dome to around 300-320*F (see turbo butts) to punch it home if approaching a time crunch.

Lump load-take it up into the fire ring (big pieces on the bottom) and you should not need a reload (although I do recall you seem to experience a faster lump consumption at a given temp than most of us). Good luck-and enjoy the journey.

robnybbq · August 2012

Yes too many variables.

I know I need the meat done by noon the latest.

So if I go back 2 hours per lb to lets say 7:00 the night before that would mean 8.5 lbs to play it close to safe.

I do not want the meat to be done at 5 AM either as we will not be eating until around 4 and I want some sleep.

So maybe 2 x 7 or 8lbers would work. Do you that is too much meat for ~20 people (maybe 1 sandwich each) as a compliment to all the other BBQ food that will be there?

My other thoughts are to ditch this idea all together and just bring some salads or possibly a appetizer instead. This is very intimidating.

lousubcap · August 2012

Two 7-8Lb butts will give you plenty of pulled pork with left-overs to enjoy after the party. Given each butt will cook as a stand-alone hunk of pig, each will also behave independently of the other. Not unusual to have two roughly same weight butts finish a couple of hours apart. So if you go with two monitor each as you get close to the finish line.

Budgeezer · August 2012

My other thoughts are to ditch this idea all together and just bring some salads or possibly a appetizer instead. This is very intimidating.

I would say forge ahead with your plan, as stated above pork butt is very forgiving it will all be worth it in the end. Good luck and have fun.

robnybbq · August 2012

My concern is the butts not being done in time or being done way too early. I know I can turbo then if they are stalling but if they are done at 8 AM they will not be so good at 4 PM.

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