I am getting ready to cook a 16 pound Boston Butt and I was wondering how long it would take me to cook that at 220
cook a Butt for the first time
- Thread starter brave raven
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WOW! That's a big butt! The rule of thumb is 1.5-2 hours per pound plus add a couple of hours just to be safe but one that big might be more so I would give it plenty of time. I would think your looking at 30 hours at a minimum. Do you know about the stall? I've never smoked one that big so I hope someone who has will chime in here. I smoked two 9 LB picnics last weekend and they went 22 hours.
Have you thought about cutting it in half? That would probably cut down you time a good bit.
Anyway the most important thing is NOT to cook it to time but to cook it to internal temperature (IT), 195* IT if you plan on slicing it and 205* IT if you want to pull it.
I see this is your first post here, when you get a minute would you do us a favor and go to "Roll Call" and introduce yourself so we can get to know you and give you a proper welcome, also would you add your location to your profile, we like knowing where you are when we talk to you, Thanks!
Have you thought about cutting it in half? That would probably cut down you time a good bit.
Anyway the most important thing is NOT to cook it to time but to cook it to internal temperature (IT), 195* IT if you plan on slicing it and 205* IT if you want to pull it.
I see this is your first post here, when you get a minute would you do us a favor and go to "Roll Call" and introduce yourself so we can get to know you and give you a proper welcome, also would you add your location to your profile, we like knowing where you are when we talk to you, Thanks!
Raven , welcome tothe SMF.
You have found the dominating Smoking Foods Forum on the net. Have fun and ask all you need , the only "dumb" question is the one un asked...
As for your your Butt. if you can get it cut , you would decreast the time of cooking :
Try to keep the door closed as much as possible and don't peek, it makes the cook longer , you lose the heat.
Most of all , be 'PATIENT'.. and ...
You have found the dominating Smoking Foods Forum on the net. Have fun and ask all you need , the only "dumb" question is the one un asked...
As for your your Butt. if you can get it cut , you would decreast the time of cooking :
Try to keep the door closed as much as possible and don't peek, it makes the cook longer , you lose the heat.
Most of all , be 'PATIENT'.. and ...
Hey S2K9K,
Yes thats a BIG Butt. And yes, I am aware of the stall. To answer your question about cutting it half. When I took it out of the package, it was already cut. That was my worry that I might have to. Would you recommend raising the temp up some from 220? I get off at about 10:30 eastern time and was planning on starting it not long after I get home. Im just worried that I'm going to mess up or do something wrong. I'm just going on by what I've seen online or heard or what people has told me. Any and all advice given would be very appreciated.
Yes thats a BIG Butt. And yes, I am aware of the stall. To answer your question about cutting it half. When I took it out of the package, it was already cut. That was my worry that I might have to. Would you recommend raising the temp up some from 220? I get off at about 10:30 eastern time and was planning on starting it not long after I get home. Im just worried that I'm going to mess up or do something wrong. I'm just going on by what I've seen online or heard or what people has told me. Any and all advice given would be very appreciated.
Thanks oldschoolbbq. I will keep that in mind. I guess I need to say, if you havent already guessed it, is that this is my first time doing this and I am prety nervous about it. My wife's stepdad does this quite a bit and is very good at it. So, I have a fairly high expectations to uphold lol.
From where I sit the answer is.......it depends on what you want to do with the finished product.
If you are going for pulled pork the traditional way and shredding it with a pair of forks you will need to get it up to 185 or 190 internally. If you are willing to cook to the point where you can pull it into chunks (after cooling a bit) and then chop it you can get by at much lower temps. 165 or so will work fine for chopping if you slice it into slabs of pull it into chunks and then chop the meat.
For slicing 165 or so is fine.
What folks here call "the stall" is what happens when the internal temp hots 160-165 and stays there for what seem like a day and a half. that's the temperature at which the fat is really being rendered out and until that is mostly gone the temp will hang there. The fat rendering is a good thing all the way around. It makes for leaner healthier meat and adds tenderness and flavor.
For pulling or chopping hunk of meat that big you could do a lot worse than starting it in the smoker until it hits about 140 (it won't pick up a l;ot more smoke flavor after that) and then double wrapping it in foil, plopping it in a roasting pan and finishing it in a 300-325 oven. You'll still have the juices to mix in after pulling or chopping so you won't loose any quality.
Do you know how big the pig was? For a 16 pound butt I'm guessing something over 425 pounds live weight. You might want to go to the higher Temps to be sure it is tender.
Lance
If you are going for pulled pork the traditional way and shredding it with a pair of forks you will need to get it up to 185 or 190 internally. If you are willing to cook to the point where you can pull it into chunks (after cooling a bit) and then chop it you can get by at much lower temps. 165 or so will work fine for chopping if you slice it into slabs of pull it into chunks and then chop the meat.
For slicing 165 or so is fine.
What folks here call "the stall" is what happens when the internal temp hots 160-165 and stays there for what seem like a day and a half. that's the temperature at which the fat is really being rendered out and until that is mostly gone the temp will hang there. The fat rendering is a good thing all the way around. It makes for leaner healthier meat and adds tenderness and flavor.
For pulling or chopping hunk of meat that big you could do a lot worse than starting it in the smoker until it hits about 140 (it won't pick up a l;ot more smoke flavor after that) and then double wrapping it in foil, plopping it in a roasting pan and finishing it in a 300-325 oven. You'll still have the juices to mix in after pulling or chopping so you won't loose any quality.
Do you know how big the pig was? For a 16 pound butt I'm guessing something over 425 pounds live weight. You might want to go to the higher Temps to be sure it is tender.
Lance
So you have two (roughly) 8LB butts, I would still give 20 hours to be safe, if they get done early you can foil them and wrap in a towel and put in an empty cooler and they will stay hot for hours. You can bump up to 230*-240* but I wouldn't go over 250*. One way to power through the stall is to foil them and back on the smoker or in an oven, it probably will speed up the time but you will sacrifice some bark, so that is a preference, if you want a heavy bark or not.
But like Stan said be "Patient" and know we are here for you if you need anything!
S2K9K, I noticed that you are in Georgia. How late will you be up tonight or how early morning will you be up. Because I'm going to start this about 11:30 if not sooner than that. I've also been told that if I cook the butt over the coals for about 30 minutes on each side and then put it on indirect heat that would help as well. would that make it cook faster as well?
What kind of smoker are you using? I'm not real familiar with charcoal but what you just described I have never heard of. I think doing that will put a nice dry skin on it and you will lose a lot of smoke penetration but lock in the juices, I don't know if it will speed up the cook time or not.
If I'm not here there should be someone who can help and probably knows more than me. You can also check the "Chat" and see if anyone is there.
If you have a little time here is a couple of threads that will explain the smoke penetration and locking in the juices, this guy (Eric) really knows what he is doing:
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...n-gourmet-w-dry-smoke-chamber-q-view-finished
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...rimmed-butt-w-wet-to-dry-smoke-chamber-q-view
Butts take time and really aren't hard to do just need to invest time to them. For good results you just can't rush them. The time invested is well worth it.
If I'm not here there should be someone who can help and probably knows more than me. You can also check the "Chat" and see if anyone is there.
If you have a little time here is a couple of threads that will explain the smoke penetration and locking in the juices, this guy (Eric) really knows what he is doing:
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...n-gourmet-w-dry-smoke-chamber-q-view-finished
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...rimmed-butt-w-wet-to-dry-smoke-chamber-q-view
Butts take time and really aren't hard to do just need to invest time to them. For good results you just can't rush them. The time invested is well worth it.
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