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louisvillesmoke

louisvillesmoke

Fire Starter
Original poster
Jul 30, 2017
39
45
Hey all. Got a char broil charcoal vertical smoker for my birthday and I am going straight for the pork butt this weekend. Got a 7 lb'er I am about to rub tonight. Plan is to eat around 7:00 pm so I will have the meat on around 5:00 am. Hope to be done with a couple hours to rest. My question is this. I bought the butt before I knew the final head count. There will be 10 average eaters there and I don't want to run short. I'd much rather have leftovers. I am thinking of getting another smaller butt, maybe 6ish lbs, and making sure there are leftovers. Would this be way too much? Would 7 lbs be plenty for 10 people? I saw the 1 lb per person uncooked rule after I bought it. Can't wait to get started though! Will try to do pics throughout.
 
A 7lber should yield you around 15 one third pound sandwiches. Personally I would cook 2 you will have people wanting a second sandwich one they taste the deliciousness. And left over pulled pork is never a bad thing. In calculation shrinkage on a shoulder I figure 30%. Good luck and let us know how it goes.
 
Have you cooked anything in it at all? First time smokes are usually not a good time to have 7 hungry people hanging around waiting. 

Plan on pulled pork but if it doesn't pan out in the end, have a backup plan for pizza or something.. Good luck

P.S. I'm not trying to be negative. I just know from experience that it's better to know how a smoker is going to "behave" before you plan a big meal like that.
 
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They are all wrapped up for the night. 2:00am I will be up to rest it on the counter and fire up the smoker. 3:00am start cook time.

Yep this will be my first time using the smoker. I seasoned it for a few hours when I got it. Got a new charcoal pan (wok pan), taped door edges with green egg tape, and got a thermapro dual probe that I have tested out to make sure it's accurate. Worse comes to worse I always have the oven. And a dominos I can walk to!
 
Ok I'm 6 hours in now. IT is 160. Hopefully be up to 205 in 7-8 hours to pull it off. Stall is coming I assume? Does that sound like reasonable timing. I don't plan on wrapping it.
 
Stall is definitely coming. I've had it hit at all kinds of temps but you are definitely in the range. I think you are close on timing, depending on the smoker temp.
 
And two hours later it's at 166 IT. I've been trying to keep it between 225 and 250. 5-6 more hours to go hopefully. Have a feeling I should keep it closer to 250 to make the time
 
LouisvilleSmoke said:
And two hours later it's at 166 IT. I've been trying to keep it between 225 and 250. 5-6 more hours to go hopefully. Have a feeling I should keep it closer to 250 to make the time
Click to expand...
Crank the temp up to 300 or you won't be finished in time.  The last 40F of internal temp can take forever, and you can stall a couple more times.  Shorter stalls mind you, but it is still another stall. 
 
Noboundaries said:
 
Don't worry about those temp spikes.  It just cooks the meat faster.  Large swings are nothing to a butt.  Better to finish early than late.
Click to expand...
Noboundaries said:
 
Don't worry about those temp spikes.  It just cooks the meat faster.  Large swings are nothing to a butt.  Better to finish early than late.
Click to expand...
Noboundaries said:
 
Crank the temp up to 300 or you won't be finished in time.  The last 40F of internal temp can take forever, and you can stall a couple more times.  Shorter stalls mind you, but it is still another stall. 
Click to expand...
He's got you covered...
 
You guys have been a lot of help. Thank you. I did end up heating it up. Up to 300 and even above for a bit. Flew through the 170s and 180s. Now at 198 with about 90 minutes left. Letting it cool back down to the 230 to 250 range. Hoping it tastes as good as it smells!
 
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I'm watching this thread closely, and looking forward to pics of the finished product! I'm breaking in my new smoker on a single butt of the same size, but I'm lucky in that I don't have dinner guests and a timeline to complicate matters. The plus for you is that you'll get to hear all of the books and aahs that I know are coming your way when your guests get a taste of this!
 
Yeah.. yummy goodness will be on the way. [emoji]128077[/emoji] those bottom air dampers should help keep temps down if they are closed mostly. Sounds like you got it. [emoji]128293[/emoji]
 
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Ok they are in the cooler resting! I forgot about the pic when we took it out to wrap but the bark stuck to the grate tasted great. It'll get about 2.5 hours of rest before we pull it. I won't forget pics then
 
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