time/weight question

dave, I am assuming that you are talking about pork butts. I plan time based on the largest piece, some pieces will be done a little earlier but pork is very forgiving. Give yourself a several hour cushion for when you need them. If done early,you can easily store them for several hours by wrapping them in foil and putting in an insulated cooler. If you are running out of time, you can always finish them in the oven.

Hope this helps

I agree, figure time based on the largest piece. Just for reference, I use 8lb butts and smoke at 225. It usually takes me 14hrs.

Every Boston butt I do averages two hours per pound at 225 degress to an internal of 200 degrees. I inject with smokin's cider basting sauce right before it goes in the smoker, maybe that causes it to take a little longer. They come out wonderful, I am constantly told that they are the best ever eaten others.

Mornin'

I trust you certified with your market that they will be in cut pieces.

I personally have never seen them come cut in cryovacs.

I have seen them come as small as 5 lbs each in the two pks.

One other thing to keep in mind is that properly done butts is also a function of breakdown of collagen[ the plateau] and rendering of fat.

Thus pieces of a large butt could take nearly as long as the whole butt.

That being said,a couple hrs/lb of the largest piece should get you close.

As said above,I'd err on the early side ,wrap and cooler until needed.[or the roaster,set at 140�]

Here are my thoughts:

Weigh each individual piece so you'll know, exactly. 30 lb will fit easy enough in the smoker.

Put the heavier pieces on the bottom, nearest the heat. Then next largest batch on top shelf and put smallest in middle.

Empty your drip pan before you do these, you don't want an overflow.

Plan for 1.25 to 1.5 per to be safe.

Figure your time to finish 4 hours before you want to eat. Just multiple the individual weigh to figure out, then back off from the 4 hours.

Do you have remote probes? Put one in the smallest and one in the largest.

As the little one hits 190 to 195, pull it double wrap it in foil. Put the finished butts in a ice chest - no ice please

They will stay PLENTY warm for hours. They should start rolling off the smoker after that.

When you're an hour from server (or so) take them out and start pulling. They'll still be hot to the touch.

The 4 hours is to give you a little variance if they're not done.

Does that help? Make sense?

Thanks for the advice, I weighed them all 5pc, all 6-6.5 lb each. I seasoned when I weighed them and will be putting them in shortly. I am not sure they will all fit in the smokette but I'll figure it out. They do seem to be trimmed close, meaning little fat on top.

I guess I will see what tomorrow brings. This will be the first time I did this much at one time.

dave

I'm sure you are fine and things should be doing well by now.

I assume you are using an internal probe thermometer on at least one of them.

After about seven hrs,you could rotate the middle and bottom racks and check your internals with an instaread therm.

Mop, if you like.

Not critical,but in case you are a little anxious.

They all fit fine, probably had room for one more chunk. I stuck my generic polder in the smaller one and my Polder polder in the larger. (Polder brand polder is scrap)it read 74degrees when I just put it in out of refridgerator and I stood and watched it climb about a degree a second until it got to 85 then I turned it off.

Put them in at 9:45pm Saturday and checked them Sunday morning at 8:30 still only 170ish, raised temp from 225 to 250 and let go for another 3 hours,checked again still only 180's even with opening door and checking with 2 instant reads, another hour and I started to take them out and shred. It worked great, a little warm on the hands though, seasoned with the CS ribrub, which is what I had put on at the start,. I also took about 2 cups of the drippings and boiled and put over meat to reintroduce some moisture and flavor.

Everyone liked it and I had enough leftover to feed my coworkers and one of my best customers, the next day. Served on onoin rolls with some homemade sauce, mustard, ketchup on the side, and coleslaw and potato salad. It went over very well.

Thanks for the information that helped everything go smoothly.

dave

Drippings as in what was in the drip pan?

If you are needing to pull several butts when still hot,try very lightweight cotton gloves -under food service gloves.

Restaurant supply places sell the cotton liners for meat cutters,etc. for about $0.50 pair.

Wash them ,if they need it.