Pork Cooking pork butts

[Rewald]

How many pork butts can I cook at a time on a Traeger Pro 780? About how long to cook that many at 250? Thanks!

 

[midwest]

It will be hard to answer that question. Obviously size of each butt will change the answer. I have had some butts take 15 hours and one if the same size take 11-12 hours.
How many are you needing to cook? May be easier to do them a day early.

 

[RayClem]

You can put multiple pork butts on the smoker as long as you leave a couple of inches of space between them. If they are too close to one another, they will take longer to cook.

The biggest factor on cook time is whether you decide to cook the butts with or without wrapping in butcher paper or foil. If you decide not to wrap them, they might take several hours longer, but you will get a better bark if you do not wrap.

The lower the cook temperature, the longer the cook time and the more smoke can be absorbed, but there is a point beyond which no more smoke will be added. If you need to speed up the cook time, you can always wrap the butts in foil and turn the cook temperature up to finish off the butts. The main thing is that they need to reach an internal temperature of approximately 203F and then have an hour or more to rest before you attempt to pull, chop or slice the meat. That rest time allows the juices to redistribute throughout the meat fiber.

If ayou are cooking pork butts to feed a large crowd, I suggest you consider cooking them ahead of time rather than waiting until the day of the event. Pork can be kept in the refrigerator for a few days and then be reheated. If you need to keep it longer, it freezes well. Having a crowd of hungry people waiting to be served can be quite stressful. Do as much as you can ahead of time so you can enjoy being with your guests rather than wondering when the pork will be ready.

 

[Shedd]

I can fit 4 on my 780 pro but I like a lot of smoke so I stick with 2. For 4 I put two on bottom grate then I rig up a aftermarket grate suspended above the bottom grate and can get two more. I don’t cook on my bottom grate because I like to raise my cooking grate (using a aftermarket grate) so smoke from my smoke tubes can circulate around the butts. I cook at 225 and it takes about 14 hours but I don’t wrap I cook straight through.

 

[Like Smoke]

I use the about the same technique and temperature as Shedd, about the only difference is I place and aluminum pan on my grate and place a rack usually used for cooling a cake or pie on the aluminum pan to elevate the butt to allow circulation of the smoke all around. I add some apple juice and apple cider vinegar to the pan to provide some moisture during the smoke. I just season with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper and provide sauces when its served. I am only serving about four to five folks, so I only do one at a time. I am old and slow so my biggest challenge is getting started about 5 am for an evening meal but it always worth it. One of these days I might try the wrapping method but I have always been satisfied with the results that I have with not wrapping. I also place my smoke tube on the left side of the rack since my Texas exhausts thru the stack on the right side. Lots of good info on this site, so good luck on your smoke.