Cooking time for lots of Butts on a RecTec Mini

[aperalta85]

Last night I purchased 2 12-13 pound boneless butts from Costco for a party I am having tomorrow. It's the first time I bought them from Costco so I knew they were cut to get the bone out but I didn't realize the butts were actually cut completely in half (which means I now have 4 butts 6-7 pounds each).

They are all salted and tied up with butcher twine and waiting to be rubbed. My issue is that I know having 4 smaller butts would normally cut down the cook time but they are going to be really close together (possibly touching each other) since I am cooking them on a RecTec mini so I'm not sure when I should start smoking them.

The party starts at 2 tomorrow and I am going to shoot for them to be done at noon to give me some leeway because I will just throw them in a Faux Cambro if they hit temp early. Do I start them at 5-6pm tonight under the assumption they are 2 12 pound butts? Or 2-3am under the assumption they are 4 6-7 pound butts? or somewhere in between?

[CandySueQ]

Just make sure you allow space for air flow around your butts. Give yourself more time. Holding is not a problem, not being done is a problem!

[Ernest]

I'd still start at 5 PM.

[DSiewert]

I expect they will take a little less time since the maximum thickness has been reduced. You will still have a stall but the increased surface area should decrease the amount of time it takes to get past it. My guess is to start them about 10pm to give you 14 hours cook time with an additional 2 just in case..

But since you were thinking you original cook duration was going to be 18 or 19 hours, maybe you know something about your smoker that I don't. 18 hours seems longer than I'd normally expect to cook a 12 pound pork butt. So you should bring your own experience to the equation.

[Ernest]

Well the longer he holds them in the cambro the more tender and tastier they get. It's a win win situation when you factor in less timing stress.

[aperalta85]

Pork always takes forever for me. Maybe it's this NY air or maybe it's because I cook it at 225 haha.

[aperalta85]

[aperalta85]

The mini took it all but it's pretty tight.

[Breadhead]

Hmmm... What temp are you cooking at?

Having them all touching is going to slow your cook down. If you're cooking at 225° I think it's going take about 16/18 hours.

If your desired serving time is 2:00pm you're in good shape. You should get plenty of cambro time.

Let us know when they reach temp.😎

[aperalta85]

They're touching but there is about a one inch gap between the front and back row. The gap will get bigger as they shrink but we will see. It's at 225 right now. The front right piece is already at 150. I'm hoping that sucker stalls out soon. The rest are at 120ish.

[aperalta85]

It's going to be in the low 50s / upper 40s tonight here in NY. I'm really testing out the limits of this little pellet smoker haha.

[aperalta85]

The pork looks like it's going to be done WAY early. One piece is already up to 190. Will it be ok in the oven set to 150 in a foil pan with some apple juice all the way until 2pm?

[Breadhead]

Looks like you've got a hot spot. You had a 30° difference early in the cook. I suggest you rotate your meat and turn the heat down.

[aperalta85]

I turned the meat but that one piece hit 200. It's definitely ready to pull so I took it off and put it in the oven on 145 (I figured out how to get my oven to go that low). That piece definitely went right through the stall. The other 3 pieces are in the upper 160s.

[Huskee]

They'll be fine held in your oven at any temp over 145. I hold mine at 170 and I go back & forth between the cambro and the oven to keep them between 140-165 until you're ready to pull. Save the jus in the foil. You'll eat good tomorrow!

[Powersmoke_80]

I have used a 18 quart roasting pan for holding and set around 150-170 and with a little liquid stock it keeps it well steamed and juicy.
That worked all day and was excellent.