razbry wrote:Here is a question for all you experienced smokers. I want to do smoked pulled pork sandwiches for 50 people. Does anyone have an idea of how many pounds of pork butt I need to prepare?

A 4oz sandwich is a pretty good size. That would be 200oz or 12.5 pounds of meat. Pork butts yield about 50-60% of their uncooked weight so you'd want to start with 20-30 pounds.

Thank you! I had been thinking maybe 6 - 5lb pork butts (so I'm right in line with your thoughts). I might get a couple more just to be on the safe side. Can you smoke 8 pork butts at one time?

razbry wrote:Thank you! I had been thinking maybe 6 - 5lb pork butts (so I'm right in line with your thoughts). I might get a couple more just to be on the safe side. Can you smoke 8 pork butts at one time?

Me personally? No. I only have one 18" WSM which has no problems cooking two butts. A 22" WSM can probably handle 4 butts without problem but you'd need something a bit bigger (a trailer rig or something like a Backwoods smoker, or a second 22" WSM) to get 8 on at once.

If you only have one smaller smoker and can't borrow or buy extras, you'd have to smoke them in stages. Take the early ones off, let them rest a while to cool down some, pull them apart and refrigerate. I've reheated pulled pork in a slow cooker with some apple juice/vinegar with good results before.

razbry wrote:Thank you! I had been thinking maybe 6 - 5lb pork butts (so I'm right in line with your thoughts). I might get a couple more just to be on the safe side. Can you smoke 8 pork butts at one time?

5 lb butts seem a little on the small side. Is this what your local store had? In any case, you might be able to fit four large, say 7-8lb/each, on a 22" WSM. I haven't tried it, though.

Hi,

Your proportions are good... 30 lbs. raw = approximately 15 lbs. ready to eat. 3 sandwiches per lb. x 15 = 45 big sandwiches.

You can definitely fit 3 10-11 lb. bone-in pork shoulders in an 18" WSM. Two on the bottom shelf and one on the top. It doesn't matter if the two on the bottom are touching each other.

All sorts of ways to easily modify a WSM to add an extra shelf, too, if that's the way you want to go.

grace

Darren72 wrote:

razbry wrote:Thank you! I had been thinking maybe 6 - 5lb pork butts (so I'm right in line with your thoughts). I might get a couple more just to be on the safe side. Can you smoke 8 pork butts at one time?

5 lb butts seem a little on the small side. Is this what your local store had? In any case, you might be able to fit four large, say 7-8lb/each, on a 22" WSM. I haven't tried it, though.

on my wsm the small one . i have done 4 large butts 8 plus lbs. two on top rack two on bottom rack

razbry wrote:Thank you! I had been thinking maybe 6 - 5lb pork butts (so I'm right in line with your thoughts). I might get a couple more just to be on the safe side. Can you smoke 8 pork butts at one time?

Razbry,

Over the years I have jammed ridiculous amounts of pork butt into a WSM 18.5, the important thing to keep in mind is to flip and rotate every few hours for even cooking, time on the smoker will be slightly extended due to additional opening and closing of the cooker.

For single cook high volume its easier to use large butts, three 8-9 pounds butts ~tepee~ nicely on the top rack of an 18.5 WSM with two on the lower rack for a total of 40+ pounds. Four smaller pork butts will fit easily on the top rack, three on the lower.

If cooking for volume don't worry about the meat touching, just remember to rotate every few hours. Do be careful not to block the very outside of the grate, you do not want to restrict airflow.

Three 9/10 pound pork butts 'Tepee' Style on a WSM 18.5



Three 7/8 pound pork butts 'Overlap' Style on a WSM 18.5



'Overlap' Butts, note shrinkage



'Overlap' Butts pulled



Enjoy,
Gary

Thanks Gary! I didn't know you could teepee...I'm sorry that word just makes me laugh I have cut, copied and pasted your sage wisdom for the BIG smoke day.

I want to also thank the rest of you for sharing what has worked for you. The local grocer had a sale on pork butt (.99/lb), but none of the roasts were much more than 5-6 lbs. I definitely will adjust my thinking to a larger roast. I'm getting excited about this...it is for my son's high school graduation party. For the party I'm also making G Wivs garlic slaw (people love that). Tonight I am test driving Trixie Pea's Mac & Cheese on a couple of friends, as a possible side for the party. The menu (so far)....Pulled Pork Butt Sandwiches, Mac & Cheese, Slaw, Chips, and Cake. If anyone has a suggestion for an additional side let me know! Thanks!

razbry wrote: The menu (so far)....Pulled Pork Butt Sandwiches, Mac & Cheese, Slaw, Chips, and Cake. If anyone has a suggestion for an additional side let me know! Thanks!

sounds like a great menu, I bet you hit a home run with everything.

17#'s of butt going on @ 11:00 p.m. Saturday...





Saturday rib snack:

Beef ribs low and slow

G Wiv wrote:Beef ribs low and slow

nice....

WSM or BGE?

jimswside wrote:nice....

WSM or BGE?

Big Green Egg, but one works as well as the other. (Its the cook, not the cooker)

I've been doing a bit of experimenting/inital recipe testing lately.

G Wiv wrote: (Its the cook, not the cooker)

where have I heard that before..?

I think the BGE with snow in the pic answers my question, but would I need to be concerned about leaving a BGE out on my deck for the winter (it would be covered)? Not being well versed in smokers, and looking for a one size fits all grill/smoker, my concern is that the ceramic would crack or something during the winter, in contrast to the WSM.

G Wiv wrote:Beef ribs low and slow

Gary--
I know from experience that bbq is "ready when its ready", but ballpark-wise, how long did those gorgeous ribs take?

Abraus wrote:Not being well versed in smokers, and looking for a one size fits all grill/smoker, my concern is that the ceramic would crack or something during the winter, in contrast to the WSM.

Only on my first winter with the BGE, but its been out all winter, and used regularly, with no problems. Both the WSM and BGE are fine winter cookers.

cito wrote:I know from experience that bbq is "ready when its ready", but ballpark-wise, how long did those gorgeous ribs take?

Around four hours in the 250 range.

Delicious looking ribs there Gary!

I did 2 fatties this morning, one stuffed with over-easy eggs and cheddar and black pepper, dusted with paprika; the other stuffed with uncooked french toast (complete with pat of butter and real maple syrup) and glazed with maple syrup.

The eggs/cheddar one was OK but trying to roll the over-easy eggs in the sausage without crushing the yolks was not only impossible but also made it so that the roll was improperly sealed and some of the cheddar melted out. So I probably won't do that one again.

The french toast one though was brilliant. I bought some good maple syrup (mostly for the beer I'm brewing today but also for this). Basic french toast mixture (egg, milk, cinnamon, vanilla extract), 4 pieces of bread soaked in it. Big square of raw bulk breakfast sausage, drizzle a little maple syrup on it, a pat of butter for each piece of bread arranged 2x2 on a the sausage, then rolled up, sealed up, and wrapped in a lattice of bacon. Smoked and glazed with some more of the maple syrup. So you bit into it and you get slightly sweet smoky salty bacon, then the savory sage breakfast sausage, then a slightly sweet dense basically bread pudding in the center. It was fantastic.

Here's the egg one pre-rollup


Here they are fresh out of the smoker


egg cross-section


french toast


blurry closeup


Anyway I can definitely see myself doing the french toast one again.

nice Jim,

Ive never done a fattie, but I appreciate the hard work and creativity folks use in putting them together.

Im taking today off, no smoking. But I have some kilbasa and bb ribs for tomorrow.

Jim the beer guy, looks good! I like the idea of the egg and meat wrap/roll/smoke deal!
Way to think outside the fire box...LOL.

a few slabs of bb's on today. 2 up top with some presmoked kilbasa(i like to double smoke mine). kilbasa is for some beans I will do on the smoker as well.

hats off to Mr. Wiviott and his concept for the tart wash for the bb's. Used it today(no olive oil, but veg oil, and some Jim Beam), made a top 5 batch of ribs.

slainte.

Finally got some pics of yesterdays ribs(Jim Beam and beer knocked me out early last night).

jimswside wrote:

I'd eat these!

Looks terrific.

razbry wrote:I want to also thank the rest of you for sharing what has worked for you. The local grocer had a sale on pork butt (.99/lb), but none of the roasts were much more than 5-6 lbs. I definitely will adjust my thinking to a larger roast. I'm getting excited about this...it is for my son's high school graduation party. For the party I'm also making G Wivs garlic slaw (people love that). Tonight I am test driving Trixie Pea's Mac & Cheese on a couple of friends, as a possible side for the party. The menu (so far)....Pulled Pork Butt Sandwiches, Mac & Cheese, Slaw, Chips, and Cake. If anyone has a suggestion for an additional side let me know! Thanks!

I've found that some of the grocery stores cut the butts in half. So, when they're on sale I call ahead and 'order' to whole pieces. I'm often given the pieces in cryovac wrapping and the total weight of the two is about 17 pounds.

I think your menu sounds great but I would add baked beans...with a bit of the bark added to them.

G Wiv wrote:For single cook high volume its easier to use large butts, three 8-9 pounds butts ~tepee~ nicely on the top rack of an 18.5 WSM with two on the lower rack for a total of 40+ pounds. Four smaller pork butts will fit easily on the top rack, three on the lower.

Gary,
Your description and picture of the tepee just solved my problem. I'm one of those electric 'smokers' and I couldn't figure out how to fit more in the unit. Thanks for the help!

JimTheBeerGuy wrote:Delicious looking ribs there Gary!


The french toast one though was brilliant. I bought some good maple syrup (mostly for the beer I'm brewing today but also for this). Basic french toast mixture (egg, milk, cinnamon, vanilla extract), 4 pieces of bread soaked in it. Big square of raw bulk breakfast sausage, drizzle a little maple syrup on it, a pat of butter for each piece of bread arranged 2x2 on a the sausage, then rolled up, sealed up, and wrapped in a lattice of bacon. Smoked and glazed with some more of the maple syrup. So you bit into it and you get slightly sweet smoky salty bacon, then the savory sage breakfast sausage, then a slightly sweet dense basically bread pudding in the center. It was fantastic.


Anyway I can definitely see myself doing the french toast one again.

OMG!!! I'm fairly drooling as I clutch my heart. That is brilliant