I think everyone is missing that this isn't a combined 16lbs, its 2 butts weighing 16lbs EACH. No way you will get a butt weighing 16lbs done in 12 hours.
It would help to clarify exactly what we are dealing with here. FTR, I've never seen or heard of a 16lb butt. It's possible that it could be a twin pack of butts, or he actually has a whole shoulder (butt and picnic).
I was thinking the same thing Demo, that he might either have a cryopack with 2 butts in it, or he has a whole picnic. That's one huge butt otherwise
It's not far from what it should be. 32lbs raw yields about 16-18 lbs net. Just under 1/2 pound per person. If he has a lot of people like me there, it might not even be enough :)
Depends on what all is being served. Most people will make a sandwich with about 3 or 4 ounces of meat on it. I did that much last year for a graduation party with close to 100 attending. Had left overs.
Just did a whole shoulder last weekend. 20lbs. I got 8.4lbs of pulled meat. 42% yield.
Yeah, that happens quite a bit. But there's also times when you are having all day affairs where people keep going back and nibbling. In the end, if he has 5 lbs of pp left over, I'd consider that a good thing.
Wow, that's a lot of loss. I rarely do picnics so I've never checked what my yield was on them. Have never lost that much on a butt.
IF you do have whole shoulders that are 16lbs each, the 2 hrs per pound is out the window. That timing is for a boston butt where the weight of the butt reflects it's overall size (to include thickness). In short, a 6lb Boston butt is smaller in length, width and thickness than a 10lb butt. The thickness of the meat is what will determine it's cook time based on whatever chamber temp you are running, i.e. in a 250 degree chamber, a butt that is 4 inches thick will cook faster than a butt that is 6 inches thick.
