How many are too Many butts for an Amerique??

When you plan your cook time, keep in mind it could take 2.0 - 3.0 hours just to come up to 225 degrees with that big of a load. Once it comes up to temp I would recommending rotating your shelves at least every three hours or so because the bottom will cook much faster than the top.

I once cooked a 30# fresh ham in my Amerique and it took almost two days!

I cooked 6 in my Amerique about 3 weeks ago. They were all in the 9 pound range.

Used the top 3 racks, and never opened the door till they were done. I had a probe in one on the top shelf, and one on the bottom shelf. When the bottom one was 190*, the top was 197*, I pulled them and wrapped in foil to rest.

I stuck a thermometer in each of them when I opened the door (mostly to check for tenderness). They were all in the 190 to 200 range.

I normally do 2 or 4 at a time, and this cook didn't take any longer. I think it was about 14 hrs if I remember correctly. I had the smoker set at 235*.

While I don't have an AmerQ, but an 020, I just don't pay much attention to the load capacity that CS recommends,unless we are talking about chickens. I have over-loaded mine by 1/3 of the recommended weight and have never had a problem. Sometimes I might be a little foolish, but hey, I'd have no problem putting 8 in there.

I would TRY to gettem the same size, but realize some will be bigger, these would go on the top and bottom shelves and make sure the largest fat cap is on the bottom shelf and between the meat and the element. Remember air/smoke should flow around the product.

This is only me, but I would cook the 1st part of the cook on 180-200*, then cook for a while at 210-220*, then finish them off at 235-245*.

I have 4 probes so it would be the bottom one, the top one, and the smallest 2. I would pull any when they reached 192-195*, FTC, and finish pulling the others when they reached this temp. If you have all them FTC in the same cooler,I'm betting they stay too hot to touch for 6-8 hrs and will tender some while in the cooler.

I'd be careful not to run them up to 200* and then FTC, you may have a lot more care-over heat than a fella might expect.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!!!

I've not had the pleasure to cook on an AQ yet,but a couple thoughts.

The good cooks above gave some fine tips,but a couple other items get to be important that many" set and forget" folks forget.

Smokin' will say "it is done when it is done" which works well with butts.You can't get away from that.

Something I was taught is what is the actual temp at the spot I am cooking?Have I calibrated my remote therms and checked them before the cook?Do I just set the therm on the cooker and assume it has all spots cooking at that setting?

This makes a big difference in when you start opening doors to see which are ready to pull out.

Just about forgot! My 020 came with a small drip pan. It won't hold enough rendered fat for that many PBs, but hey the AmerQ, might have a bigger pan???

quote:

Originally posted by cal:
Just about forgot! My 020 came with a small drip pan. It won't hold enough rendered fat for that many PBs, but hey the AmerQ, might have a bigger pan???

Cal, what size was the steam tray that came with your smoker?? My Amerique came with a 4" deep 1/2 Steam tray (~10 3/8" x 12 3/4"). HOWEVER, when my Cookshack cart came in, the 4" deep tray would not fit, so I had to go buy a 2 1/2" deep tray. When I cooked 2 large butts, the drippings did not completely cover the bottom of the deeper tray.

BTW to all, thanks for the replies.....

my AmQ came with the Winco SPJL-204 4" Half Size Steam Pan and there is plenty of room for its use with castors installed. I empty it when I think about it since it does hold quite a bit.

Hi Mike,

The Amerique can do it dont worry.
I have done 6 pork butts and 1 brisket in one load in my Amerique no problem.
Please check out the link to my post on this.

http://forum.cookshack.com/eve...251038614#3251038614

Mike one note my Amerique was one of the first ones and it had a 750 watt heating element, so your cook time might be different.

quote:

Originally posted by bembring:
Hi Mike,

The Amerique can do it dont worry.
I have done 6 pork butts and 1 brisket in one load in my Amerique no problem.
Please check out the link to my post on this.

Nice pictures Brian!!! Thanks.