enough time?

Chuck55 · November 09, 2011, 09:25:53 PM

I am having a party Friday night and the wife has volunteered me to use the new smoker and make some pulled pork.

I have a 7# & an 8# butt. I get home from work around 7PM tomorrow (thursday). If I get the butts in the smoker within an hour, say 8PM, do you think they will be ready by 6PM the next day?

22 hours for 15 pounds. Is that reasonable?

Or, should I just do the 8#er and something else on the grill?

Thanks for the help!

DTAggie · November 10, 2011, 06:13:09 AM

I bet you will be ok

Wildcat · November 10, 2011, 07:26:00 AM

There are some on here that have done that much in that short of a time in the BS. I am not one of them. That much butt almost always takes me 24 + hours. I guess to be on the safe side you could smoke for 4 hours in the BS and then put into the house oven at a higher temp. Not a problem if it gets done too soon - you could FTC until chow time.

ArnieM · November 10, 2011, 08:48:22 AM

I agree with Wildcat. If you take 2-3 hours off for FTC, you're down to 19-20 hours of cook time. There's also no guarantee both will be done at the same time. I'd feel safer going with the smoke -> oven route, running the oven at 275-300.

Chuck55 · November 10, 2011, 09:10:59 AM

Iwill try the Oven method then, thanks for the help guys.
I am smoking a fatty at work today and had a scare that my heating element was bad.
I turned the unit off and back on and now it is starting to heat up.

EDIT:Element not bad. It started heating up after I reset the element. :D

TedEbear · November 10, 2011, 09:16:16 AM

Quote from: Chuck55 on November 09, 2011, 09:25:53 PMI have a 7# & an 8# butt. I get home from work around 7PM tomorrow (thursday). If I get the butts in the smoker within an hour, say 8PM, do you think they will be ready by 6PM the next day?

22 hours for 15 pounds. Is that reasonable?

I don't think you add the total amount of meat together to calculate cooking time. For instance, two 4 lb butts would cook faster than one 8 lb butt where the meat is all one mass.

Anyhow, they say 1.5-2 hours per lb for butts. I'd figure doneness by the largest single piece of meat. In your case with the bad element I guess it no longer matters for this one.

cajunboudreaux · November 10, 2011, 10:19:10 AM

That is more than enough time. I put 16lbs of butt in the OBS at 7 this morning to be ready by 2am Friday.. My advice would be to keep that door shut and only open it if you have to.

beefmann · November 10, 2011, 12:08:25 PM

that is quite reasonable,,, have done many a time 15 to 20 lbs of pork in a 16 to 22 hour time frame,,, then again i have a larger cooking element

mikecorn.1 · November 10, 2011, 12:16:10 PM

I second the motion of don't open the door unless you absolutely have to.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

cajunboudreaux · November 10, 2011, 01:09:11 PM

Something that may help as well with timing is when your Stall begins quickly wrap butts in foil for a few hours until temp starts climbing again then unwrap and place back in smoker until temp is reached.. This is just my opinion and has helped me in a time crunch. I do not enjoy finishing things off in the oven...

Stickbowcrafter · November 10, 2011, 05:18:09 PM

Butterfly the butts. They'll cook faster and give you more surface area for bark.

-Brian

Chuck55 · November 10, 2011, 07:17:24 PM

Quote from: Stickbowcrafter on November 10, 2011, 05:18:09 PM
Butterfly the butts. They'll cook faster and give you more surface area for bark.

-Brian

Interesting... How do you butterfly a butt?

TedEbear · November 11, 2011, 04:53:10 AM

Quote from: Chuck55 on November 10, 2011, 07:17:24 PMInteresting... How do you butterfly a butt?

Google is your friend:

Butterflying a Pork Butt

Chuck55 · November 14, 2011, 01:11:39 PM

Well the butt's came out great. One took 18 hours and the other took 20. People arrived late to the party so it had time to FTC before being shredded. Got so many complements on it.

Later the same night I threw in another 8 pound butt for a potluck the next day. Some time around 4 a.m. the thermometer woke me up because the temp had dropped off. I messed with the smoker a for a while and decided I better throw the butt in the oven. When I woke up at a decent hour I went to examine the smoker. It appears my heating element has failed.

So I will be calling Bradley to see what they can do to get me an element before thanksgiving.

On a side note, I never knew how far off my oven temp was from what the dial says.

Caneyscud · November 14, 2011, 03:06:36 PM

Chuck,

A couple of things.

1. Be sure all the cords are plugged in very good. There is a tendency, at first, for the plug in the back of the Bradley to not get pushed in all the way. That can affect the element.

2. I looked back and you have a digital. The digital timer is only good for 9 1/2 hours (or something like that) and will need to be reset at that time.

I really think it is because of either you are a Dallas boy and are cooking way too much pork --- or --- you live way too close to the "turtle"! He gives off blue vibes!

enough time?

beefmann