Question about Pork Shoulder Cook

[SteveZ]

I have a buddy that will be smoking 4 (8 pound) pork shoulders for pulled pork next weekend. I know the rule of thumb is 1 1/2 hours for a single pork shoulder. If he cooks all at the same time on a smoker. Will the cooking time increase because he's cooking 4 at one time?

[HoosierKettle]

Same time and temp. You burn more fuel to maintain temp until meat warms.


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[Travis]

I have to disagree and I could be wrong, but just my opinion.
I think it’s going to take more time because the cooking space is being taken up with more meat instead of air/heat circulation.

Simple example: I cook one hotdog in the microwave for my kid. It splits within a minute. I cook a few in the same time and they are still cold. Might be a bad example but it’s true. Lol.



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[AnyThingGrilled]

There is a fantastic site called Smoking meat forums. These guys know there stuff and is a grate resource. In my experience they timing is a ballpark. When you cook  several butts some can stall and take significantly longer than others. I always go by IT(internal temp) and pull at 205. You can wrap with foil or not, the methods are endless. Plan ahead for the timing and wrap in a cooler with towels to keep warm and rest the meat. Nobody wants late meat at the party.  Good luck.


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[Schaefd2]

I’ve done multiple pork shoulders multiple times. I never increase the cooking time for multiple pieces, instead, I cook according to the size of the largest piece and if possible, I keep the smaller pieces the furthest from the heat source. In my mind, the distance accounts for the smaller size. Also, I keep 1/2” gap between the pieces and the airflow is sufficient; I get nice bark all around.

I have also used this reasoning while smoking shoulders in my kettle using the snake method, minion method, and indirect method and also in my upright, propane, cabinet smoker. I’ve always seen success.


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[CatskillSmoker]

Did I hear wrong, hot Dog and microwave used in the same sentence?

[Travis]

Did I hear wrong, hot Dog and microwave used in the same sentence?

Yep, lol


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[kettlebb]

I get it brother. When kids need to eat you can’t fuck around. Get it on the plate and have some quiet.


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[Travis]

You know it man, lol.


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[randy]

Did I hear wrong, hot Dog and microwave used in the same sentence?

Yep, lol


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my youngest eats them straight out of the fridge


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[addicted-to-smoke]

Did I hear wrong, hot Dog and microwave used in the same sentence?

CONSIDER THE SOURCE! IT'S THE GOD OF GODFREY! HE GETS A PASS, MKAY?

[Travis]

Did I hear wrong, hot Dog and microwave used in the same sentence?

CONSIDER THE SOURCE! IT'S THE GOD OF GODFREY! HE GETS A PASS, MKAY?

Oh boy, Dave caught wind of it. Here we go, lol! Never live this down..


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[SmokeVide]

Gonna disagree with Travis. If it's a good-size smoker, it shouldn't matter if there are 4 shoulders or 24 shoulders. There might be a slight time increase due to getting the cooker back up to temp after a big volume of meat is added, but once you're back at temp, it shouldn't matter. It's all cooking at 250 or so -- just like if you only had one shoulder on.

This maybe sounds like a question for Meathead Goldwyn at AmazingRibs. He's all about the science.

Oh, and yes, 1.5 hours per pound is about right.

[addicted-to-smoke]

I got no dog in this fight, but do recall reading or discussing something about this awhile back, and it goes a little something like this:

"At first, the smoker will have different temps in different locations, but over time, everything will stabilize and the same temps will exist throughout."

TIME is the thing that saves the day. So 1 butt or 10, the cooker's temp will be the same because you'll necessarily be giving it enough time to stabilize.


P.S. Don't maybe slap fridge-cold meat in the thing. It'll make it harder to come back up to temp.

[MikeRocksTheRed]

Why only thoughts on this is that if you try to save time by cutting let's say a 10lb shoulder in half, it won't cut your cook time in half.  It will reduce your cook time, but by 25-35%, not 50%.