So here is the story....I am flying to Philly to see my girlfriend for her birthday this weekend. I get in at about 8pm tomorrow and have to smoke enough for 45 people on Saturday night at about 7pm. The problem is that we are doing a wine tour and we leave at about 1pm Saturday.
I was thinking four pork butts. Can I fit them all in the OBS?? I have only done one at a time on my Bradley...my bigger smoker is in Pittsburgh. I also have access to a gas grill. I was gonna call Sam's club over there and have them hold four of them for me. Pick up the meat, coat in CYM and a rub, and put on the smoker Friday night. Four hours of smoke and leave in OBS until 165 F or until we leave for wine tour. Then in heavy foil and into the oven. What wood do you like? I have Pecan, Oak, Cherry, Maple, Alder, Apple, Hickory, and Mesquite.
Here are some concerns: What if they don't all fit on the OBS? Since it will take some effort to get back up to temp, will I have to rotate them so the lower ones don't get overcooked on the bottom side? How can I use the gas grill to my advantage? How do I do this and still manage a decent amount of sleep? My OBS has a PID, I will have a separate thermometer for each butt, and the oven is a convection.
ALL HELP IS GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!
Not sure how much Help this will be, since I the most I have put in my DBS is 3. But I usually run mine Fat Cap up at 225 and Hickory smoke until 145 IT, Then foil with with a splash of Apple juice. leave in the smoker or transfer to oven at 225 until 205 IT. Then you can FTC or I "T" on the counter for an hour then cut the top open on the foil for 20 min on the counter. Then either use Bear Paws or cotton gloves under rubber gloves and pull apart. Figure 1.5 hours a pound as an average. But I think the foil wrap with AJ speeds things a bit because it took 18hrs to do the 3 butts according to my notes. All in the Bradley.
Im sure someone will be along with some more info for you. Hope this helps and Good Luck!
id do 3 butts at220 untill an it of 170 to 180, and start it as early as possable to be ssure that it is done when your ready to eat
I have only done a maximum of 2 butts at the same time and I smoke/cook at a much lower temp so I can't help you much with time issues. I can however highly recommend apple.
The last time I did 4 butts they did not fit one to a rack. I ended up standind them on the long narrow edge and doing 2 to a rack.
After the smoke, you could take some or all of them into the oven @200 to 220F until your IT is where you want it.
I've never did four at a time. I have done two butts and a brisket at once. As FLB pointed out, depending on the size of the butts, you may have to stand them on their sides to fit two per rack. What I did was to use butcher's twine and tie each butt to reduce their width so I could get two per rack. Four butts is a lot for 45 people, so if you get into a pinch I would trim them to fit, and you should still have enough to satisfy everyone. Use the "scraps" for ground meat, stews or stir fry.
My favorite for pork is pecan.
After you have applied the smoke, you may be able to use the indirect method to finish cooking the butts on the grill, but this may require more monitoring then if you left them in the smoker.
It would be wise to rotate at least a couple of times.
Good luck.
I usually use Hickory for butts.
I rotate front to back and top to bottom every 4 hours.
Quote from: FLBentRider on October 30, 2008, 12:15:57 PM
After the smoke, you could take some or all of them into the oven @200 to 220F until your IT is where you want it.
I couldn't agree more with FLBentRider. The total time dramatically increases with multiple cuts of meat in the Bradley. I like to pull them after the smoke and bring them in to the oven. There is better heat recovery and consistent temps.