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How much time?

Hasenpheffer
Hasenpheffer Posts: 156
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
I will be doing a cook for the company I work for - 3 butts averaging 8-10 lbs each (24-30 lbs total) on my large egg. I know the standard 1.5 - 2 hours per pound answer, but seems like with this much meat mass it would take longer. Any thoughts, comments or opinions would be appreciated.

Comments

  • WessB
    WessB Posts: 6,937
    Hasenfeffer,
    Shouldn`t take you hardly any longer than if you were just doing one of them, I would guess around 18-20 hours at 230°-250° grid temp....HTH[p]Wess

  • GrillMeister
    GrillMeister Posts: 1,608
    Hasenfeffer,[p]I would factor in a 20 to 22 hour cook time. I've done many 4 butt cooks and it takes about 22 hours to get them to a 195 internal temp.[p]I try to always err on too much time, because if they finish say in 19 hours, I can still wrap in foil and keep them in a cooler where they will stay hot for hours.[p]If you guess on 18 hours and folks are hungry (and they will be hungry after smelling the aroma) they'll be upset having to wait a couple hours or you end serving it too soon and it will be a tough pull.[p]Just my two cents after about 100 butts.[p]Cheers,[p]GrillMeister
    Texas Pulled Pork Afficionado.


    Cheers,

    GrillMeister
    Austin, Texas
  • Smokin Bob
    Smokin Bob Posts: 239
    Hasenfeffer,[p]I'm not sure about others but I usually take 2 - 2.5 hours per lb. I usually don't go over 225 degrees though...
  • Dawgtired
    Dawgtired Posts: 632
    Hasenfeffer,
    I have only cooked Butts twice so I'm sure there is a lot more expertise out there than I can offer. I will say that both of my cooks turned out absolutely great. The reason I'm replying here is the second cook was similar to what you will be doing and I thought the same thing regarding the mass in the egg. I kept the temp at a stable 225 and after 24 hrs. the temp was still around 178. I cranked up the heat to around 290 for about 2 hrs. to get dinner on at a decent time. Once the meat hit that plateau I didn't think it was ever going to start rising again. I knew it would but I couldn't wait. I've seen where a lot of people pull it @ 200 but my family prefers the moisture when it's pulled @ 190. If you look @ the Naked Whiz's web site, there are some wonderful directions from Elder Ward and I can HIGHLY reccomend his rub. It's GREAT!!!!

    If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under.

    Ronald Reagan

  • Thanks to all for your help. It looks like the guestimated time table is about 18-24 hours which is what I was hoping. Last single 9 lb butt I did took 20 hours so I was a bit worried that adding more meat would expand the cook time. One thing I have noticed when cooking butts and picnics is that each cook is different. By that I mean the plateu time is always different even with similar size meats.

  • Hammer
    Hammer Posts: 1,001
    Hasenfeffer,
    It's not the number of hours it takes; it's the internal temp of the meat, re; 195/200. Whether it takes so long per pound is pure guess work, and past experience cooking butts or shoulders.
    The number of butts/shoulders you are cooking isn't a factor; each one's internal temp is; since most multiple butt/shoulder cooks cook a little different.
    Hammer