120 lbs Pork butt For party of 200 ppl

[Bowfineater]

Smoking 120 lbs of pork shoulder in my 3D-Digital Wi Fi

This is for a High School graduation party for my cousins kid

Pork was purchased from Business Costco in Minneapolis Minnesota
1 case    (Half amount needed to start) 63.1 lbs @ 2.19/lb
              Boneless and trimmed    (It’s all they had)  So 8 butts ~ 7.8lbs each

Restaurant Depot did have bone-in butts for cheaper, but if they are like last time they need a lot of trimming, (there was 1/2 - 3/4 inch of fat cap on them)
And I just don’t want to deal with it, I deliver concrete and we are super busy in the summer, 60+ hour work weeks

I am doing a little experiment with the first 4 of 16 butts
I injected 19 grams of phosphates mixed with 1 cup of water into 2 of the butts which is ~ 0.25 %

I generally do not inject anything, I don’t think it’s worth the hassle and mess, but I’m curious, and change something every time I smoke

I used 0.5 cups of rub per each butt

BBQ Rub June-6-2020

Iodized Salt                  2 cup          23 %
Light Brown Sugar        2 cup          23 %
Paprika                        2 cup          23 %
Black Pepper                1 cup          12 %
White Pepper            1/2 cup            6 %
Garlic                        1/2 cup            6 %
Onion                        1/2 cup            6 %
Kashmiri or Cayenne      4 tsp            1 %
Ground Celery Seed      4 tsp            1 %


I started out with 9.49 oz of hickory/cherry cut into 10 pieces

Smoking at 210 F, ~ 30 in to the smoke there was a fire

I ordered way too much wood from smokin Lucius when i first for my smoker, and apparently it is very dry.

Removed the pork, got 6.28 oz of cherry wood (after soaking weight) cut into 3 pieces and soaked it for 1 hour on warm water

Butts were placed on half sheet pans, I’m too tired and in case it happens again, it’s easier to take them out

Started smoker again at 210

 

[jpowell]

I did 12 butts for a staff party 2 summers ago. Definitely a LOT of work

 

[old sarge]

Thats a lot of butts to smoke.  I admire you for doing this.  But I have a question:  Isn't 9 ounces of wood a lot for a couple of butts?  If you have used that much wood in the past, what kind of flavor profile did it give you? 

 

[barelfly]

This is gonna be a great cook! Have fun with this and congrats to all the 2020 grads you will be honoring!

 

[Bowfineater]

At 10 hours 23 min, the meat was registering 180, this seemed to be very fast, so I checked out everything, pulled the pork from the pans, put into the rack, repositioned the probe and continued to cook.

I usually put the pork directly on the racks, and out a drip can underneath, for 2 reasons, it helps keep the smoker clean, and I like to keep the drippings.

This time smoking mostly on sheet pans, I got 2 quarts of stock and 2 cups of fat, seems like a lot to me, but I have never measure it before. 

As far as the amount of wood I use, I did already state that the initial wood started a fire, and I the new wood I used was ~ 6 oz after soaking. 
I use smoking licious wood, it was very wet when I first got it, and I ordered too much and now it started on fire. 

I know what over smoked meat tastes like, and I do not like it.  I know what I am doing, maybe my smoker uses more wood, IDK, but I am NOT going to be including the amount of wood I use any more, getting real tired of the endless comments about how it is too much. 

I even tried to talk my cousin into serving something else for their grad party, I liked the idea of “Ball Park Food”  hotdogs, nachos, burgers, fries, chicken fingers, etc, but they wanted pulled pork, I don’t think everybody would want me to make it for them if it was too Smokey.

 

[Bowfineater]

4 butts done.

Didn’t notice too much of a difference between the phosphates and no phosphates, but I only used 0.25 %

The yield for the Boneless 1/4 inch trimmed with phosphates is          62%
                                                                No  phosphates              60 %

I’m thinking I will cook 4 more next Saturday/Sunday,  I think I might add more sugar to the rub, and cook at 220 F instead of 210 F

 

[old sarge]

At 10 hours 23 min, the meat was registering 180, this seemed to be very fast, so I checked out everything, pulled the pork from the pans, put into the rack, repositioned the probe and continued to cook.

I usually put the pork directly on the racks, and out a drip can underneath, for 2 reasons, it helps keep the smoker clean, and I like to keep the drippings.

This time smoking mostly on sheet pans, I got 2 quarts of stock and 2 cups of fat, seems like a lot to me, but I have never measure it before. 

As far as the amount of wood I use, I did already state that the initial wood started a fire, and I the new wood I used was ~ 6 oz after soaking. 
I use smoking licious wood, it was very wet when I first got it, and I ordered too much and now it started on fire. 

I know what over smoked meat tastes like, and I do not like it.  I know what I am doing, maybe my smoker uses more wood, IDK, but I am NOT going to be including the amount of wood I use any more, getting real tired of the endless comments about how it is too much. 

I even tried to talk my cousin into serving something else for their grad party, I liked the idea of “Ball Park Food”  hotdogs, nachos, burgers, fries, chicken fingers, etc, but they wanted pulled pork, I don’t think everybody would want me to make it for them if it was too Smokey.

Sorry if I offended you by asking about the wood.