Smoking Butts for 80, help with the plan!

We're hosting the neighborhood Halloween Party for the second year in a row. Last year we did about 75-80 hot dogs, some on the BGE, and some the kids did over the firepit. It was relatively easy, and since dogs are already cooked, pretty stress free.

This year I got a wild hair and decided I wanted to do Q. For 80. My plan consists of cooking 8 ~8lb butts and serving them as sliders on the little Hawaiian dinner rolls with some fixens like onion or whatever. All the sides are being provided by my neighbors.

To cook with, I've got a XL BGE, an oven, and a couple of crockpots. I have a DIY second grate for the BGE, a bunch of foil pans, and 950' of red butcher paper. I'm out of town until tomorrow evening, and the party is Wednesday evening.

Here's my plan:

1) Get the butts all rubbed up with a real simple homemade rub of salt, pepper, garlic powder, and a little splash of cumin, cinnamon and fresh ground chipotle. I may also mix in some SM cherry, or SM Season All.

1) Get the BGE up and running to about 250, indirect, around midnight. Will put 1 large foil pan and 2 half pans under cooking grid to catch all the fat so it doesn't flood out the bge with rendered fat.

Cook 4 butts, (2 or 3 on the main cooking grid, and 1 or 2 on the DIY one depending on how they fit on there), on the BGE at 250 until they hit ~160, or 5am or so.

The main point being they are getting 5 hours in the smoke. Then remove them, wrap in butcher paper, and stick in foil pans. Put em in the oven at about 230 until done. Trying to stretch the cook out into the safety window for sticking them in the cooler.

2) Put second batch of 4 butts on the BGE at 275, and cook until done. Wrap in red butcher paper to hold. By done I mean the bone pulls out easily.

3) Depending on how the timing works out, if inside of 3-4 hours, then put butts in cooler to hold. If they get done sooner than that, lower oven temp to 200, and keep in oven for however long until in 3-4 hour window. Then stick in cooler. More worried about this for the butts going on at midnight. I think the ones going on at 5 am will be right where I need them.

4) Sometime around 4pm wed, I'm gonna pull all the butts, mix with saved pan juices, a little bit of sauce and rub, and place in large foil pans for serving.

I'm thinking it'll probably take about 4 pans for the 8 butts once they are shredded. By 5:30 have all the now pulled pork sitting in pans. 2 foil pans over burners on serving line, the rest inside in oven on warm, replacing outside as needed.

Ok Brethren!

This is my largest cook to date. Am I on target here, or set up to be the laughing stock of the hood? What am I missing?

Pyle's, Thanks! Maybe I'm buying too much for 80, I figure 2/person would average out nice, as a good number are kids that will get full off one sandwich, all the sides, and candy. Maybe I could cut it down to 6? In which case I might be able to do it all in one cook.

That's good to know about letting them sit in the oven on 200 for so long. I'll probably just go with that. I was starting at 4pm on the pulling the butts figuring it would take me a while to actually accomplish that x 8.

QansasjayhawQ, Sadly none of my friends cook Q, at least not like we think of it... :wink: I really need to make some good local Q friends!

I do have one friend with a cheap offset, but I've never used one, and think I could do better just using my BGE since I'm comfortable with how it cooks. I've got a Auber ATC, so once the meat hits the grate, it's pretty hands off until it's done.

I almost bought a WSM a few weeks ago, but then it seemed like there were only gonna be about 40, and I knew I could handle that on the BGE. It seems the size of the group has doubled in the last 3 days...so much for RSVP's.

I do have a caja china, but that flavor profile isn't what I'm going for, plus it's kinda labor intensive to use it.

Wampus, thanks! I don't have a vac sealer, but it's on the xmas wish list. I've only got about an 22 hour window from when I walk in from being out of town, to serving the meal. I'll probably try to hold out on pulling them until the last possible moment.

The wife just called. It seems she decided to get some things done, and I've got 7 butts. I don't think I can get 7 on the BGE at once. But I can do 5, maybe 6.

In line with your mixing it all together suggestion, do you think putting 1 or 2 in the crockpot and mixing in with the others smoked in the bge, would significantly(or even moderately) adulterate the flavor?

I know the purists are grabbing for their pitchforks, but it would cut me down to one cook, and allow me to get a good nights sleep... Weak...I know. What do you think?

Thanks guys! Sorry I've been traveling all day. I just got home and actually set the butts on the grids and I think I can get 6 cooked at one time. I just won't do the 7th. I'll defer to all yall's experience here that 7 is too many. Plus in doing so I can sleep tonight...

I just finished getting the BGE prepped for the cook. I think I'm gonna get the 6 butts injected and rubbed, and then put on around midnight at about 250. 3 or 4 on the bottom and 2 or 3 on the top rack, however it fits best. I'm a little worried since that FastEddieM cook took 22 hours. I'll see where we are in the am, and then ramp the temp up to the 300 range.

Once they are done, I can dial the temp in the BGE back to 200 to hold them, until I can get them in the time window to cooler them.

I think that's the plan... Thanks again for all the input. It has been a huge help!!

The 6 butts are on the BGE at 270. Kind of a tight fit, but I got all ~ 50lbs in there, Of course there will be some shrinkage. Keeping my fingers crossed.