Wedding catering meat pt 2 of 2 ( 40 lbs of pork butt)

[smokinq13]

Here is pt.1 : https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t...-pt-1-of-2-15lb-chuckies.307562/#post-2216077

So this is part 2 of my big smoke for a wedding i am helping/in by being incontrol of the meat. Part 1 was the chucks that i smoked( turned out fantastic!) This part is mainly about the pork butts i am doing for pulled pork. This morning i went ahead and dry brined them with a 1:1 ratio of kosher salt and sugar( if you haven't tried that yet, do it, its my new favorite way) and they have been resting in the fridge all day. Tonight i be starting the cook.

First I'll wash off any excess salt or sugar and then a binder lay of mustard and then all the seasonings onto them( no salt).

I also got two extra small chuck roasts to cook for little more meat cuase I wanna be safe in the amount of meat I got.

Pictures:

I'll take a picture of the butts before i rub them down, its incredible how the brine brings out the color of the meat, makes it look so good.

** there's alot of mixed feelings about dry brining pork butts but i personally feel like for the amount of effort it takes( very little), the added salty/sweet flavor to the meat just makes the bark even better. If I'm not injecting flavor to the pork butts, i will be doing it this way for sure.

 

[kilo charlie]

You're doing a great job!!

 

[jcam222]

Looks like you are on your way to a huge successful wedding party.

 

[smokinq13]

10:00 update: the cook starts

Got the ol' Austin xl going with pitboss competition pellets and a smoking tube with both pellets and jack Daniel's whiskey barrel chips. I've been running chips and pellets in the tube and have had great success. Going to run at 250 through the night, getting up every so often to check it, I'm always nervous of overnight cooks, for something to go wrong but this pellet grill has shown its capability over n over n over again that I have nothing to worry about.

Pictures:

Like i said, look at how rich the meat gets from dry brining it, makes it look like top grade lol. But the grill is completely full I'd say, 5 butts with two chucks... I'd say thats a good cook! Any problem running so much meat at once?

 

[SmokinAl]

10:00 update: the cook starts

Got the ol' Austin xl going with pitboss competition pellets and a smoking tube with both pellets and jack Daniel's whiskey barrel chips. I've been running chips and pellets in the tube and have had great success. Going to run at 250 through the night, getting up every so often to check it, I'm always nervous of overnight cooks, for something to go wrong but this pellet grill has shown its capability over n over n over again that I have nothing to worry about.

Pictures:View attachment 495973View attachment 495974

Like i said, look at how rich the meat gets from dry brining it, makes it look like top grade lol. But the grill is completely full I'd say, 5 butts with two chucks... I'd say thats a good cook! Any problem running so much meat at once?

It will probably take a bit longer to get up to your cooking temp, so the cook will take maybe an hour longer than just one or two butts, due to the large mass of cold meat, but other than that it should be fine.
Al

 

[Winterrider]

Nothing better than seeing a full smoker. Nice job. . .

 

[JLeonard]

Looking great! Cant wait to see the finished product.
Jim

 

[smokinq13]

830 update: wrapped in finishing on oven

Sorry i didn't post throughout the night, i got up twice and just opened lid to look at it, nothing else.

Checked temperatures the chucks were way higher than i thought they'd be, so i went ahead and wrapped them together and just sat them on the counter to rest together, no need to further finish them in the oven. The pork butts ranged from 165 to 185 so i went ahead and pulled all them off wrapped and into the oven.

Pictures:

Sorry about the one being blurry but I'd say they're looking perfect! Great bark, the fat cap is cracked across, great color

* funny story time, i did have myself one scare in the night. The pass couple weeks have been extra extra stressful on me and I'm reflecting it. So i went to sleep around 11ish, set the alarm for 2am for the first check. Fell asleep and it felt like i slept forever, woke up and looked over at my phone charger which lights up red when drawing power. My mind automatically said red=fire! So i ran outside to check on things and only saw the pellet grill doing what it does best, cooking away. Came back inside, heart racing, like the type where you're almost hyperventilating. Sat on the edge of the bed, looked over at my phone charger and then my brian Pieced together it was just my phone charger. Checked the time and it was only 1230... I'm like well thanks for scaring me for nothing!!!

 

[smokinq13]

Finished!

Pictures:

And that's a wrap! Bones pulled out perfectly clean telling me that its good enough for shredding. saving all those dippings for serving.