how many butts.....

[racer_81]

Brethren,

Need to Q a bunch of butts to help a friend for a luau party.

He's getting butts by the case at Sam's - probably gonna
get 2 cases (16 butts - about 110lbs).

Question for "all y'all" is this.

What's the biggest amount of butts you've done on the Bandera?

I have 4 cooking grids, so I figure I can get 16 butts in the
cooking chamber.

What do ya think?

Anybody have any gotchas I need to look out for?

Thanks all.

P.S. - no Q today. 'nader watches, 'nader warnings, t-storms.

[racer_81]

Hey Bill.

Since we have tornado watches and warnings in the area, at what point in the watch/warning
process does etiquette say is proper for application of lime/fertilizer on the yard?

Thanks.

:-)

[Solidkick]

I'm sure David will give you a far better answer than me on this.......

16 butts would mean 4 per shelf. I would think that you would have a problem with air/heat flow through the chamber. I would say look forward to rotating the shelves. Here's where the experts will come in, but my thoughts would be you are probably looking at 16-20 hours to cook that much product, if not longer......

I did 4 butts for Easter weekend, 2 per shelf, 2 shelves, about 30 lbs raw weight, and it took 11 hours. After I wrapped the butts in foil at 160*, I ran the cooker more like 260*-275*.

I don't know what "luau style" pork is, if it means sliceable or pulled.
Your butts are done at 160* internal temp., which would be sliceable. Pulled will take you awhile longer, as you want 190*-200* internal temp.

hope this helps, and brothers, by all means, chime in if I'm off target. There are those that competition cook and cater here on the forum that may be better suited.

[racer_81]

Luau - previous luaus had a whole pig cooked in the ground, then pulled.

Circumstances don't allow for "ground pork" this time, so the butts are
the ground pork - and they will be pulled.

My buddy has a method for his pit, but his pit will only do two at a time.

He rubs with S&P, then brown sugar. Smokes for 3 or 4 hours, then foils
for the remainder of the cook time.

[parrothead]

Don't think I would try that many in the dera at once.You will probably be trapping heat. If you are only going to smoke for 3 hours or so, then I would think about that oven think after foiling. You could smoke half of them throw them in the oven then the other half and only be 3 hours off on finished product.

That or look forward to lots of shelf swapping to get everything done at the same time.

[willkat98]

Hey Bill.

Since we have tornado watches and warnings in the area, at what point in the watch/warning
process does etiquette say is proper for application of lime/fertilizer on the yard?

Thanks.

:-)

You gotta wait. Still way too soon. Watches are a no no. You need to be in Warning period, with at least 3 funnel vortexes sighted and maybe one of those touched down.

Every tornado siren in the county must also be blaring away. That sound, is the "all clear to fertilize" signal. Proceed as directed.

[willkat98]

I would give the nod to SolidParrot. There might be heat flow issues.

Try 8, 2 on each shelf. I would alternate them if possible

That might help airflow. Also might want to rotate shelves every hour or 2.

Wow, thats alot of butts.

Another idea, let them hit 160, wrap, then throw on another batch, throwing wrapped ones into 260 ovens.

Or do them the day before, throw them in the big aluminum trays (catering trays) and heat in the oven the next day.

[kcquer]

An alternative to rotating a lot would be to put the biggest pieces closest to the fire and the smaller one higher, less door opening, less lost heat, less overall time. Still might need to 180 the shelves once. Credit Jorge with this method he passed along when I asked about doing several briskets. Best of luck, be sure to follow up with what you try and how it works.

[Solidkick]

I would give the nod to SolidParrot.


Greg, is he insulting us, or did he forget the "&"?
Bill Speak mod

[racer_81]

Ooops. Another tidbit. We're cooking the butts a week ahead of time. Butts will be cooled, pulled,
frozen - then thawed and reheated at the party.

So, they don't all have to finish at the same time.

I know - half Saturday, half Sunday. Sunday is Mother's Day. Might not be politically correct.

Seems like somebody did 12 butts at once.....

[parrothead]

Greg, is he insulting us, or did he forget the "&"?
Bill Speak mod

Maybe he thinks we are the same person.

Fake ID mod

[rusold]

Question for all the powers that be here:

How can it be that I didn't see this thread until today? All the ones around it came thru.

Maybe it was the weather here in Houston??

R

[Solidkick]

Dunno, maybe your cache was full and it wouldn't load up the total page?

[racer_81]

Question for all the powers that be here:

How can it be that I didn't see this thread until today? All the ones around it came thru.

Maybe it was the weather here in Houston??

R

I remember how it was when I had my very first beer.

All sorts of things just showed up after that first beer wore off.

:-)

[racer_81]

...So......has anybody done a butt on a Weber Kettle?

[racer_81]

butt-o-gram:

plan is to Q 16 butts on combo of Bandera and Brinkman Smoke-King (or whatever that
thing is called). for those scoring at home, 16 butts = 130 lbs selling weight.

should have dig cam available, will post pics.

[willkat98]

should have dig cam available, will post pics.

Here that DavidL, he's gonna bury it in the yard, next to the ...

[racer_81]

should have dig cam available, will post pics.

Here that DavidL, he's gonna bury it in the yard, next to the .......Jack Daniels......

[willkat98]

.. Texas Chili

[Bigdog]

Just remember to rotate your butts, left-right and top-bottom. That much meat in the beast creates some serious temp. variations.

[parrothead]

Just remember to rotate your butts, left-right and top-bottom.

Do the ho-----key, pokey
that's what it's all about.

[racer_81]

Mr. Owl, how many butts can you fit in a Bandera?

Well, the answer is ....12.....

Yep. the 16 butts came in at 132lbs. Only 3 would fit per grid, so 12 in the Bandera, 4 in
the Brinkman Smoke King.

More to come later (including pictures and some stupid human things).

600th post.....