Cutting Pork Butts Cooking Time In Half

[ksu1971]

I was wonder if anyone has done this or if its just a bad idea. Using the rule of thumb of cooking times 1 lb. = 1.5 hours of cooking. So for a 10 lb. pork butt your looking at 15 hours of cooking time. What if I cut the 10 lb. pork butt into 2 5 lb pork but before cooking? Is my new cook time 7.5 hours? In addition to the shorter cook times would I also not get more bark in my finial product?

Am I missing something here that I wouldn't want to cut the larger butts into smaller pieces?

[Q-Dat]

Its not a terrible idea. I have made pp from country style ribs before, and those are just cut up pork butts. It will definitely get you to your end resilt alot quicker.

The only real drawback would be a narrower window to get them done and still be moist, but if you foil with some liquid that should take care of that issue.

[Old Crow BBQ]

cutting the butts in haft will speed up your cook time , you can not cut a butt in a comp i dont think , but if your cooking at home go for it

i have done it both ways

a 10 pound butt cut in haft at 250 should run around 6 hours on my uds

[cybercat]

Thats is what I would do for it would cut time in half. If cooking at 350 you are looking at 4 hours max.

[fnbish]

I tried cutting them in half and they seemed to cook about 30-40% faster and you get more bark. But to cut time in half I do more of a hot & fast method where I start around 250 till the butts hit 150. Normally takes 3-4hrs. Then into foil with a little apple juice (whatever liquid you want) and crank it up to 325. They are done in 6-7hrs. Super easy. That is about the only way I do them at home anymore.

[MS2SB]

I'm curious as to what your standard cook temp is? I usually cook in the 270* range and that gets me to about 1-hr/lb. If you're cooking at a real low temp simply upping your temp and foiling should speed your cook time up considerably.

[ksu1971]

Thanks for the input guys. I am going to cut it up and roll with it.

@MS2SB - I am going to be shooting for the 250* degree range but this will be my first smoke on my new WSM and I didn't want to come out of the gate with an over night cook but if you seeing 1-hr/lb at 270* I might just go that route as well. I could put the meat on at 6 and be pulling it between 4-5 that evening.

[jestridge]

What your hurry/ If you in a hurry don't bbq use your oven

[cameraman]

I get the upside to halved butts -- shorter cook times and more bark, but is there a down side. Are they tender and juicy?

[Ron_L]

I've found that smaller cuts take proportionally longer per pound than bigger, so if you are looking at 1 hour per pound at 270 for the full butt that halves will probably take 75 minutes per pound, so the time savings isn't that great.

[Lake Dogs]

Originally Posted by ksu1971

Thanks for the input guys. I am going to cut it up and roll with it.

@MS2SB - I am going to be shooting for the 250* degree range but this will be my first smoke on my new WSM and I didn't want to come out of the gate with an over night cook but if you seeing 1-hr/lb at 270* I might just go that route as well. I could put the meat on at 6 and be pulling it between 4-5 that evening.

Absolutely. Last weekend I had 6 9.5# butts on at 1am, off at 10am and pulling at 11am; plenty of time for lunch.

250-270 will get you there; no need to cut 'er up.

[landarc]

What Q-Dat said is true, that cooking smaller cuts of meats makes your window that much tighter to get a good product. I prefer larger cuts cooked at higher heat.

When you are getting down to under 5 pounds, your window between perfect and mush at 235F or so it literlally just 15 to 20 minutes and you are not overcooking.

[Lake Dogs]

> What Q-Dat said is true

What, the rest of us are chopped liver?

> that cooking smaller cuts of meats

Size matters!

> makes your window that much tighter

We're crawling through windows now?

> to get a good product.

Crawling through a window to get small cuts of meat and trying to get a good product? WHAT?



> I prefer larger cuts

NTTAWWT

> cooked at higher heat.

Higher heat? REALLY?


> When you are getting down to under 5 pounds,

Anorexic grande!


> An your window

Back to windows? At under 5lbs I think you can fit...

> between perfect and mush

5 lbs perfect, so at 7lbs we're overweight and mushy?

> at 235F

Hot Tamale!

> or so it literlally just 15 to 20 minutes

You're just bragging now. I thought 3 minutes was your average...

> and you are not overcooking.

What, no overcooking?

[landarc]

He said it first, calm down Hance, go out on the lake and ski.

Yes, I can, and have, overcooked pork butts. Recently in fact.

[HB-BBQ]

You can always cheat a little...leave it whole for 2-3 hours in the smoke then finish it in a covered pan in your oven. I go 350F-400F for an hour or so until done works great.