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Long, slow cook - can it be split over 2 days?

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Unknown
Unknown
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
I've read up as much as possible on doing a long, slow cook on a boston butt, however one thing I didn't see is whether you can split the cooking over two days. We are up in the mountains and have such fun things as bears and mountains lines around, so an overnight cook is really out of the question.[p]So if I'm going at 250 for 16 - 20 hours, can I cook the butt for 10 hours one day and finish it up on the second day with no adverse results?
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  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
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    Patrick,
    the problem is, if you take it off, cool it, and then put it back on at 250 or so, it'll take a long time just to get to the temp you pulled it off at.[p]i don't know if there's any issue interrupting the plateau, either. never done that.[p]i wonder whether the thing smells like food to a bear or not. all that smoke, etc. and the smoke goes straight up. not like leaving a piece of meat on the picnic table. [p]the tradition of barbecue is that you stay up all night and drink while tending the fire anyway. why not do that and scare away any interlopers?
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
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  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
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    Patrick,
    ...or do smaller 5# butts started at 6 am, for 10 hours or so, ready afternoon
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
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  • BlueSmoke
    BlueSmoke Posts: 1,678
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    Patrick,
    I'd look at it "the other way around", thanks to Stike's "smaller butt" suggestion: how long you can cook translated into what size butt will cook in that time.[p]For example, if you lay your fire the night before and fire up at 5 a.m., you could have temp stabilized by no later than 6. In 12 hours (i.e. at 6 p.m.), divided by 2 1/2 hours per pound you could cook 4.8 pounds of pork.[p]Better yet, why not fill the firebox to the brim, fire up and stabilize at 250 right before bedtime "the night before". A couple 4-pound butts on at 5 a.m. will be ready to pull around 3 p.m. And you'll still have plenty of coals for ABT's or whatever else tickles your fancy.[p]Ken
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  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,754
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    Patrick,
    dont know much about the lyons, but bears dont seem to bother the smoker where i am. i think if they did, you would have problems with them knocking it over even when its not lit as there would still be a bbq smell in the egg
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
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    BlueSmoke,
    thanks for noticing my smaller butt.
    i've been working out.
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
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  • Unknown
    Unknown
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    Thanks guys for the suggestions. I'll go with a 5# and do an early start. Which leads to another q: can you cook two 5# in the same amount of time as 1 5# or is it more like cooking a 10#?
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  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
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    Patrick,
    space them apart, and there's no real difference.
    you DO get more of a recovery time (putting in 10# of cold meat vs only 5#) before the egg is back to temp, but that maybe adds half an hour to an hour.[p]
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
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  • Gretl
    Gretl Posts: 670
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    fishlessman,
    Our neighborhood shares a bear(s) who apparently only likes birdseed, because I have done many overnight cooks, and have grills and utensils around my BGE that probably smell pretty good to bears. No problem. Now that I've said it, I'll probably be eaten.
    Cheers,
    Gretl
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  • BlueSmoke
    BlueSmoke Posts: 1,678
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    stike,
    Lookin' good -- you a Winter? LOL[p]Ken
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  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,754
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    gretl,
    thats my experience too, ive had a birdfeeder knocked down and a cooler get emptied, but they have left the smoker and kettle alone. the coyotes dont touch it either
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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  • Gretl
    Gretl Posts: 670
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    fishlessman,
    You can add bobcats to that list of critters who ignore Big Green Eggs! Just this morning, my two sissy housecats went ballistic in the kitchen. Right on the other side of the glass in the breakfast room was a bobcat! That explains the sudden absence of chipmunks from our front garden. I don't miss them at all, may they RIP.
    Cheers,
    Gretl (who just bought 25 huge jalapenos for a big batch of ABTs for a party on Saturday!)

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