I'm having a graduation party next weekend. Instead of cooking a pig, I have decided to just smoke 5-10 butts depending on the amount of people that RSVP. Say an 7lbs butt takes 7.5 hours at 250 degrees, how long will it take 8 butts at 250 degrees? Just trying to get an idea. Or would I be better off cooking half of them the day before, wrapping in foil and putting in the fridge, warming them up the day of and mixing with the other half?
Can you fit the 8 butts in the smoker without over packing the smoker? If you can and there is plenty of airspace in your smokehouse after you put in the butts they should cook aboout the same time, maybe an hour or 2 more if you cramping your air space. I can cook about 10 in my smoker with minimal time change. The trick to a great pork butt is to put them in the smoker after you bring the butts to room temp with a fan or 2 blowing on them. You get better smoke penetration and a more even cook.