- Oct 16, 2015
- 11
- 11
Hi All,
I'm new here (just joined today!) and still pretty new to smoking (about 10 months and 6 smokes)! My mother in law is turning 80 and we're having a birthday party for her this Sunday.
It's a luncheon kind of thing and the main course is going to be pulled pork sandwiches. We're looking at 30 (ish) people. From what I've been able to figure out through my research online over the past few days is to figure 1/4 to 1/2 pound per person. So leaning towards to much rather than to little, with 30 (ish) people I figured that I am going to need at least 15 lbs (ish) of cooked meat. I've also read that you lose about 40% during the smoking process.
So.....I went and bought 3 pork butts and a pork shoulder. Weights are 7, 8, 10, and 11lbs which is 36 lbs pre-cooked weight. I'm hoping that's enough! (Am I on the right track here????)
I'm also struggling is cook times. The 1.5 hour per lb has been my experience so far (especially in cooler temps). I'm wondering how much that is going to change with more meat in the smoker. The party is Sunday at noon. Saturday is supposed to be 48 degrees. It's going to hit 32 Saturday night!
My original intention was to start smoking tomorrow (Sat). Let it go over night and try to have it done by 10am or so on Sunday.
I'm thinking with the cooler temps it's going to drag the time out closer to 2 hours per lb with that much meat in there. I'm estimating it could take close to 20 hours to hit 205 on the 11 pounder.
I'd love to hear about your experience cooking larger quantities of meat - especially when it's chilly out\
Ok - another dilemma! To inject or not to inject!
So - it appears there are multiple camps out there on the injecting thing. I've never done it before - but last night I bought and injector - kind of itching to try it! But I also kind of freaked out by what I've read about the 4 hour/140 degree thing. I'm leaning towards passing this time around since I'm feeding a group of older folks and maybe just trying it next time I smoke a single pork butt.
Any help is very much appreciated.
Thanks everyone!
Gary
I'm new here (just joined today!) and still pretty new to smoking (about 10 months and 6 smokes)! My mother in law is turning 80 and we're having a birthday party for her this Sunday.
It's a luncheon kind of thing and the main course is going to be pulled pork sandwiches. We're looking at 30 (ish) people. From what I've been able to figure out through my research online over the past few days is to figure 1/4 to 1/2 pound per person. So leaning towards to much rather than to little, with 30 (ish) people I figured that I am going to need at least 15 lbs (ish) of cooked meat. I've also read that you lose about 40% during the smoking process.
So.....I went and bought 3 pork butts and a pork shoulder. Weights are 7, 8, 10, and 11lbs which is 36 lbs pre-cooked weight. I'm hoping that's enough! (Am I on the right track here????)
I'm also struggling is cook times. The 1.5 hour per lb has been my experience so far (especially in cooler temps). I'm wondering how much that is going to change with more meat in the smoker. The party is Sunday at noon. Saturday is supposed to be 48 degrees. It's going to hit 32 Saturday night!
My original intention was to start smoking tomorrow (Sat). Let it go over night and try to have it done by 10am or so on Sunday.
I'm thinking with the cooler temps it's going to drag the time out closer to 2 hours per lb with that much meat in there. I'm estimating it could take close to 20 hours to hit 205 on the 11 pounder.
I'd love to hear about your experience cooking larger quantities of meat - especially when it's chilly out\
Ok - another dilemma! To inject or not to inject!
So - it appears there are multiple camps out there on the injecting thing. I've never done it before - but last night I bought and injector - kind of itching to try it! But I also kind of freaked out by what I've read about the 4 hour/140 degree thing. I'm leaning towards passing this time around since I'm feeding a group of older folks and maybe just trying it next time I smoke a single pork butt.
Any help is very much appreciated.
Thanks everyone!
Gary