The perfect Butt

maybin · Joined: 09 Feb 2009 Posts: 6

Hey Guys! New to the forum and glad to be here. I am somewhat new to smoking as well. I will be holding my second annual boston butt sale for my middle school baseball team this Friday. Last year a local bbq resteraunt owner did my cooking (his grandson played on my team) This year it is up to me. I will be cooking on a gas indirect heat smoker that belongs to the local Shrine Club. Here are a few questions:
For that perfect fall off the bone butt... What temp should I cook at and what internal temp do I want to look for? I will be cooking 100 plus butts and have to have the coming off before lunch (starting early I know Smile

Thanks for all the help guys and if you have any other tips I will gladly take them as well.

Jeff T · Posted: Feb 09 2009 Post subject:

I run my smokers @ 250 & pull the butts off @ 197 - 200 internal temp.
Fall apart tender. Wink

The Butts i usually get are in the 6-8 lb range & take at least 12 -14 hours. Once in a while the bigger ones take 16 hours, not all butts are created equal. Very Happy

That`s a Butt load.... good luck start early maybe closer to midnite the night before.

maybin · Joined: 09 Feb 2009 Posts: 6

You got me worried, I am cooking 140 butts total. According to the guy that helped me last year (and he owns a local BBQ resteraunt) the butts will only take 3 1/2 to 4 hours to cook at 300 - 325 degrees and comming off with an internal temp of 160-165. I can cook 70 at a time (2 cookers) so I will have to do two cookings. so what do you think I had it figured at the first going on at 6 comming off at 11 an dsecond comming off at 2. Question

SoEzzy · Posted: Feb 10 2009 Post subject:

What size butts have you bought in the past?

Check with him again on the size last year and what temperature he cooked them at.
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Jeff T · Posted: Feb 10 2009 Post subject:

I don't know man... even cooking at a higher temp they will not be pull-able @ at 160 -165 internal meat temp i do know that for sure.
They will slice or even chop at 160 - 165 but they will not be "fall-a-part tender" like pulled pork should be. I find that they pull easy at 195 -200 internal.
They will be done @ 165 internal so maybe you could give instruction to the purchasers to finish cooking to an internal temp of 195-200 in their ovens at home if they want "pulled pork" or reheat to 165 for "sliced pork".
Cooking in stages sounds good though.

maybin · Joined: 09 Feb 2009 Posts: 6

Alright, thanks, this is why i posted,

Next question... if I need to get them to 195 internal how much longer would you say it would take to cook em

Pit Boss · Posted: Feb 11 2009 Post subject:

My recommendation:

Cook at 275 and give yourself at least a 12 hour window. If you're cooking standard 7-9# buts, then you should get done early and be able to drop the temp fast for holding (with a gas grill dropping the temp is as easy as turning a knob and opening the lid...close the lid and hold on the warm grill until needed).

I don't know what the "local BBQ restaurant owner" is talking about. Pulled pork WILL NOT HAPPEN at 160-165. That temperature isn't even good for chopping in my opinion, and it will till be a tough piece of meat. You're gonna want to get the temp up to a minimum of 180, and preferably above 190 for real pulled pork.

You can cook at 300-350 if you wish. I'd "guesstimate" that it will still take you 4-6 hours with that method...but I prefer low & slow in loo of "roasting" the meat (to me, anything above 300 is considered roasting and not bbq).

If I were you, I'd get the meat on the grill at midnight the day before, cook at 275, and show that restaurant owner what real bbq is all about.

Good luck!
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maybin · Joined: 09 Feb 2009 Posts: 6

I hear ya cape, I appreciate the help, I REALLY WANT not only to do this right but to learn how to cook real mean BBQ, has been an interest for a while.

Here is the thing, for the amount of meat I need to cook and the cookers I have, plus the schedule, Even if I start at midnight the night before I can only get each cooking on for 7 hours. I am really starting to think I am screwed, might as well "roast" em this time and deal with it, Everyone raved about them last year, and I remeber them falling apart as we took em up. I bet if I had time to do it right People might go crazy over the result and I would have to hire some of you guys to haul cookers down here next year to cover all we would sell Smile

Got a question about wood so check out my post in the wood section if you have time, thanks again to all!

chilepeppa · Joined: 13 Feb 2009 Posts: 18

How big is your smoker and what design? With that much meat on it it may take hours even to get up to temp.
If it is a vertical, you may have the buts done faster towards the bottom where they will conduct the heat faster than those at the top.
This can work to your advantage if you are feeding people over several hours.
Or you can rotate your racks and try and get them all done at the same time.
With that much meat you will need more fuel/time.
Good Luck!
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