Pork Butt Question

[CUTiger80]

I am cooking pulled pork for about 10 adults this weekend and want to have some left over.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how many pounds of Boston Butt I need to buy (pounds per person)?
Also, am I better of with one big butt (assuming I can find one big enough) or two smaller butts?
(It would seem that two smaller ones would have more bark, but may not be as moist.)
I do intend to use Tony's brine recipe no matter which way I go.

 

[NDKoze]

I smoked a 8lb butt for a group of guys (7 I think) over for poker night, and there was none left. We ate hard though.

I would think you would want two 8-10lb butts if you want some leftovers. If you have a Sam's Club nearby, they sell bone-in Boston Butts in two-packs. The butts from Sam's are the best quality that I have found. If you can find a 15+ pounder go for it. But two 8-10 pound butts is probably more realistic. I have smoked a 25 pound butt and many 8-10 pounders with similar results (flavor/moisture) regardless of the size. So, like you said, smoking two butts would give you more bark. So that is the way I would go.

Pulled pork freezes really well if you have a vacuum sealer. Seal the leftovers in the bags as quickly as you can (still when it is warm if possible) to keep as much moisture in the bag as possible.

You can then reheat by placing the bag directly in a pot of boiling water. This keeps all of the juices in the bag and turns out an excellent product that is just as good as the day you took it out of the smoker. Reheating in a crockpot with a 1/2 cup of water will work well too.

 

[SuperDave]

The mix of women, men and teenagers plays a big part.  Serving with or without rolls also has a big impact.  1/2 pound per person would be a good guide if you are serving a full assortment of sides like cole slaw & potato salad.  I agree with Gregg about using a twin Sam's or Costco pack if you want any substantial leftovers.  They usually run about 15 - 16 lbs or 7.5 - 8 lbs a piece.

 

[NDKoze]

The mix of women, men and teenagers plays a big part.  Serving with or without rolls also has a big impact.  1/2 pound per person would be a good guide if you are serving a full assortment of sides like cole slaw & potato salad.  I agree with Gregg about using a twin Sam's or Costco pack if you want any substantial leftovers.  They usually run about 15 - 16 lbs or 7.5 - 8 lbs a piece.

Costco is good too. It is a great place to buy ribs and poultry. But, they only sell boneless Butts (in my store anyhow), and I would strongly encourage trying to find bone-in butts.

 

[CUTiger80]

Dang.
I just let my Sam's Club membership lapse since it is way on the other side of town and we did not go much.
I priced them at the local grocery store and they were $3.49/lb, which I thought was high (this store tends to be a little on the high side compared to others).
We have a local Chef'store, which is owned by US Foods.  I will check their prices.
Sounds like the cook time on (2) 8-10 pounders will be significantly less than one great big one.
I have an SI#2.  Will (2) 8-10 pound butts fit on one rack or should I split them up?

 

[jcboxlot]

Check Walmart?  Same as Sams Club meat? 

As an aside, they had smithfield ribs at Walmart and I swear the packaging was different (larger) than the same product at my local grocery store. 

 

[SuperDave]

I'd want the circulation and split them.  I would also probe both pieces.  They can be the same weight and have significantly different cook times due to different muscle tissue make up.

 

[NDKoze]

Check Walmart?  Same as Sams Club meat? 

As an aside, they had smithfield ribs at Walmart and I swear the packaging was different (larger) than the same product at my local grocery store. 

Walmart and Sam's Club meats are definitely not the same. Sam's is way better in my experience. Walmart carries a lot of Pork Shoulder which can be confusing for some. And their butts are not as good from my experience.

 

[NDKoze]

Dang.
I just let my Sam's Club membership lapse since it is way on the other side of town and we did not go much.
I priced them at the local grocery store and they were $3.49/lb, which I thought was high (this store tends to be a little on the high side compared to others).
We have a local Chef'store, which is owned by US Foods.  I will check their prices.
Sounds like the cook time on (2) 8-10 pounders will be significantly less than one great big one.
I have an SI#2.  Will (2) 8-10 pound butts fit on one rack or should I split them up?

The Sam's Butts have been $2.48/lb for pretty much this entire year. They are $1.69/case if you are really ambitious and have some freezer room.

I wouldn't say that the big ones are significantly less time. I have had some pretty small roasts take longer than big ones for whatever reason.

Like Dave said, you will want to probe both butts because the fat/muscle tissue can be totally different in two pieces of meat that look identical in appearance, size, and weight.

I have a #3 and do both on one rack easily, but not sure on the #2. As long as they aren't bumped right up against each other, I think I would try to get them both on the same rack. Otherwise, your bottom one is going to serve as a heat sink and affect the cooking of your top one and affect the smoke. If you place them in the smoker sideways, I think you should be able to get both on, but I will defer to the #2 owners out there on this.

If you don't have 3 probes, don't bother with the smoker box probe. But you will want to get a probe in each butt.

 

[SuperDave]

I recently bought a dual probe Maverick and will get the meat probe from the Auber so I can effectively probe 3 meats/dishes at the same time.  8) 

 

[NDKoze]

You're set to go then. Let us know if you have any other questions.

 

[DiggingDogFarm]

I think Sam's has different suppliers in different parts of the country because the pork butts that Sam's sells here are nothing but horrible and expensive...~$2.49 a pound.
We can get MUCH better individually wrapped butts here for $1.49 a pound which is great because you can easily sort through them to pick out the best ones.

 

[CUTiger80]

I am planning to use the brining method that I think was introduced by Tony and seems to have caught on with several of the rest of you.
After brining, rinsing and drying, do you apply the mustard & rub and then let the butts sit covered in the fridge for a few hours to let the rub absorb or do they then go directly into the smoker (or does it matter)?

 

[SuperDave]

I do mustard rub after my brine and usually go into the smoker within an hour of that.

 

[Smokey]

CUTiger80, I just ran this exact smoke this last weekend on my number 2.  I posted in the Pork Section.  I was able to get 16lbs on one rack, it was tight, but turned out great.

I used Tonys brine for 10 to 12 hrs and mustard and Meatheads Memphis Rub (Salt Free Version).  I believe I read from DivotMaker somewhere, he just puts them on after he rubs them without much rest in the fridge.  So I have followed suit.  I just wrap in saran wrap and place in fridge while i am getting the wood foil boated, new foil down, Mavericks Ready, etc and then pull the meat and place in smoker.

I used a llittle over 5oz of wood on this smoke and tucked a pan of apple juice next to the smoke box. On the Pan, cheapy .50 cents from GFS, i roll the side up more vertical so it has more surface area touching the smoke box.

I ran it this way, as the first time, the rolled edge didnt seem to allow or what seemed like much apple juice to evaporate.

 

[Walt]

After the brine, I will apply binder & rub & possibly even inject for more added flavor, then let rest overnight.

 

[NDKoze]

I let mine rest in the fridge for an hour or so while I get the smoker all foiled, wood loaded, etc.

I wouldn't bother Saran wrapping. You will loose some of your rub and binder on the wrap when you take it off. Just set it in the fridge uncovered for an hour or two until you are ready to drop it into the smoker.

I have a cookie drying rack that I place in a cookie sheet that I set mine on.

 

[DivotMaker]

I am planning to use the brining method that I think was introduced by Tony and seems to have caught on with several of the rest of you.
After brining, rinsing and drying, do you apply the mustard & rub and then let the butts sit covered in the fridge for a few hours to let the rub absorb or do they then go directly into the smoker (or does it matter)?

I rinse the brine and pat dry, then apply the mustard and rub.  I then get the smoker ready (takes about 5 minutes), then straight in with the butt!  I don't see any need to delay getting the meat in as cold as possible, and you're really not going to get much additional flavor in an hour or so.  Get it in, and get it going!

 

[CUTiger80]

Ok guys, thanks again for all of your help.
I now have a plan in place and I just need to execute it.
I will report back next week on the results. 
I mentioned in one of my other posts that I was going to perform a somewhat structured test with my very dry Weber wood chunks in an effort to figure out the best way to use them (4 bags worth) without the proverbial belching.  So far, I have performed 2 tests and, briefly, here are those results.  (I will start a new post on this subject once I have performed all of the tests I intend to do.)
I simulated meat by wrapping 2 concrete bricks with foil and placing them on the top shelf.  I put about 1 qt of water in a pan next to the wood box.  I turned the smoker to 235 deg and then recorded the internal temp of the smoker as well as the amount of smoke coming out of the top at 5 minute intervals.  I recorded time/temp of when the burner switched off and then back on.  I ran each test for 1:15 because all of the belching issues I had had previously were within the first 45 minutes or so of a smoke.
Test 1: (2) dry apple wood chunks (right out of the bag), approx. 1.5 oz and 1 oz, both completely wrapped tightly in foil with several slits cut into the top.  This seemed to work fairly well with no belches.  I did get fairly heavy smoke from about 200 deg until the burner cut off at 255 deg.  The smoke was very light when I ended the test at 1:15.
Test 2: Same as above, but I soaked the wood chunks in water overnight.  This also seemed to work fairly well with no belches.  Surprisingly, I started to get smoke at about the same temp as test 1.  The smoke seemed to be more consistent throughout the entire test (never was as heavy as it was in test 1) and the smoke was still pretty steady when I ended the test at 1:15.  I did get some smoke "puffs" in this test when the burner came back on for the second time, but no noisy belches.
I performed both of these tests, but today I am going to install my new Auber.  I am thinking that I may need to perform them again once the Auber is installed since it will prevent the temp from overshooting the set point.

 

[CUTiger80]

One other quick question about wood for this smoke.
I have seen several say that for (2) 10 lb. butts they used 5.5-6 oz of wood. 
Do you break this up into numerous 1-1.5 oz pieces or do you use pieces as big as possible that will still fit into the smoke box with the lid closed?