2 Butts?

[bttahern]

Hey all.  I did my first Pork but a couple of weeks ago which was a 8# boneless from Costco.  Took about 15 hours in total and came out great.  Question is this- I am going to do two of them this weekend for a party saturday.  How much extra time should I allow for twice the meat in the smoker?  I know that each butt is different but I was wondering on average say how much longer it takes to cook two butts rather than one or if it matters?

Thanks!

[KyNola]

The main difference in time will come from having 16 pounds of cold pork going in as opposed to 8 pounds as it pertains to heat recovery at the beginning. 

[tskeeter]

My guess is that if a 8 pounder took 15 hours, two 8 pounders will take close to 20 hours.

One of the ways to speed up the heat recovery when you put the meat into your smoker and reduce your cooking time is to put a couple of foil wrapped bricks in your smoker before you preheat your smoker.  The bricks will absorb heat during the preheat, and then release the heat to the meat until the temperature of the meat and the bricks equalize.

Another approach would be to smoke your butts in the smoker.  Then move the butts to the oven to finish the cooking.  Because you oven has a lot more power than your smoker, the cooking will take less time. 

[Wildcat]

I'm betting on 20 to 24 hours. When I do 2 bone in 8/9 pounders it takes between 20 and 30 hours.

[pondee]

My guess is that if a 8 pounder took 15 hours, two 8 pounders will take close to 20 hours.

One of the ways to speed up the heat recovery when you put the meat into your smoker and reduce your cooking time is to put a couple of foil wrapped bricks in your smoker before you preheat your smoker.  The bricks will absorb heat during the preheat, and then release the heat to the meat until the temperature of the meat and the bricks equalize.

Another approach would be to smoke your butts in the smoker.  Then move the butts to the oven to finish the cooking.  Because you oven has a lot more power than your smoker, the cooking will take less time.

Once you're done feeding bisquettes, and therefore smoking, the Bradley just supplies heat for cooking.  Your home oven can do that more effectively.