Cooking Time for Multiple Pieces of Meat

[MABulous]

Quick question for the experts: smoking time for one 18lb piece of pork butt vs two 9lb pieces. Am I calculating by 18lbs or 9lbs (on the assumption that they are spaced far enough apart for air circulation)?

 

[smokerjim]

your calculation would be for 9 pound

 

[thirdeye]

Think about baking potatoes in your oven. 4 or 5 potatoes will cook at the same time that one will cook.

 

[jcam222]

Quick question for the experts: smoking time for one 18lb piece of pork butt vs two 9lb pieces. Am I calculating by 18lbs or 9lbs (on the assumption that they are spaced far enough apart for air circulation)?

If your example is because you feel you have an 18 lbs butt it’s not. It will be two butts in a single cryopack.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Quick question for the experts: smoking time for one 18lb piece of pork butt vs two 9lb pieces. Am I calculating by 18lbs or 9lbs (on the assumption that they are spaced far enough apart for air circulation)?

A 18 pound piece of meat cooks different than a 9 pound.

 

[WaterRat]

If your example is because you feel you have an 18 lbs butt it’s not. It will be two butts in a single cryopack.

This.
Biggest Butt I've ever seen is 9.5-10lbs. Provided you don't have the world's smallest smoker there should be no difference in time cooking 1 or 2.

 

[chef jimmyj]

A 18 pound piece of meat cooks different than a 9 pound.

Typically yes, you are correct Sir. But there are exceptions. Pork Loin comes to mind a 5 pound Half will finish cooking very close to a 10 pound Full Loin as there width and thickness are generally the same. Only the length differs with little impact on smoke time...JJ

 

[zwiller]

Welcome MAB. Just about that time of year to start my regular viewing of Young Fronkensteen. WRT to questions like this, you will sometimes find that there is not a consensus here. The reason for that is that it depends on the smoker.
From personal experience with my MES @ 275F: 8lb butt averaged 15hrs, ran 2 once and was 25hrs, I split a 8lb in half and was 8hrs. Someone running the same in a 1,000lb stick burner will have very different results and odds are they can stick 8 butts in there and no time difference from only 1. Then as @chef jimmyj says, shape is also factor. Round cuts vs cylindrical run different. There are other factors and one big one is how often you open the smoker. This can have an HUGE impact on time.

When I first started, smoking a butt took WAAAAAY long than I ever expected. I expected a butt to be done in 5-6hours and at worst 8. Experiencing a butt needing an 15 hour smoke was mind blowing to me. There were some long days/nights and bad hangovers... Only from experience will you be able to estimate YOUR cooking times. Just try and allow ample time for error.

 

[MABulous]

Thanks all for the advise. I brined the two butts for 24 hours, then packed them in a dry rub for another 24 hours and then smoked them for about 9.5 hours at 225* and they came out perfectly!