How many pounds of pellets for pork shoulder

People ask for a bag size and get a rub. The question that keeps the fire lit is simpler: how long will this butt sit at your set point, at what burn rate, and does the hopper cover it. PelletDeck will not tell you when the meat is done or safe. Probe for that. Read the food-safety disclaimer for USDA published minimums.

The calculator has a pork butt / shoulder profile: 0.5 hours plus 1.4 hours per pound, then scaled by set point. Startup is a flat 0.35 lb. Pick a weight, a dial, a grill or generic burn seed, and an ambient setting. You get cook hours, pellet pounds, and a hopper warning.

8 and 10 lb butts at 225 F and 250 F

Mild weather on the generic 0.85 lb/hr seed is the clean baseline. Open the deep links if you want the same inputs in a reply.

• 8 lb pork butt at 225 F: about 11 hours 42 minutes, 10.3 lb of pellets, 0.85 lb/hr once running. An 18 lb hopper finishes with about 7.7 lb left. Clear on paper.
• 10 lb pork butt at 225 F: about 14 hours 30 minutes, 12.7 lb, still 0.85 lb/hr. About 5.3 lb left in an 18 lb hopper. Still clear, thinner margin.
• 8 lb pork butt at 250 F: about 10 hours 42 minutes, 10.7 lb, about 0.96 lb/hr. Hours drop. Pellets barely move because the hotter fire eats faster while the clock shortens.
• 10 lb pork butt at 250 F: about 13 hours 15 minutes, 13.1 lb, about 0.96 lb/hr. About 4.9 lb left in an 18 lb hopper. Clear, but you are staring at the thin-margin line.

That flat bag answer ("buy a 20 lb bag") hides the hopper question. How many pounds of pellets is the same method for brisket and other proteins. Pellets per hour is the burn-rate chart behind these totals.

Your grill changes the bag before the rub does

Seed the same 8 lb butt at 225 F on listed models and the pellet line moves with the assumed burn, even when the clock does not.

• Traeger Pro 575 (18 lb hopper, 0.90 lb/hr assumed): about 10.9 lb. Clear, about 7.1 lb left.
• Traeger Pro 780 (same 18 lb hopper, 1.05 lb/hr assumed): about 12.6 lb. Clear, about 5.4 lb left. More steel, same tank.
• Recteq Flagship 1250 (40 lb hopper, 1.05 lb/hr assumed): about 12.6 lb with roughly 27 lb left. The overnight cushion is the hopper, not a magic controller.

A 10 lb butt on the Pro 575 at 225 F is about 13.4 lb and finishes near 4.6 lb left. Still clear under the warning rules, close enough that wind or a leaky lid can erase the smile. Compare hoppers in the grill database.

Winter and overnight are where butts surprise people

Pork shoulder is often a long cook that crosses a night or a work day. The calculator treats cooks of 8 hours or longer as overnight-aware when the margin is thin. Thin means under 4 lb left, or under 15% of the hopper.

• 8 lb butt at 225 F in winter: still about 11 hours 42 minutes on the clock, but about 21.2 lb of pellets at roughly 1.78 lb/hr. An 18 lb hopper runs about 9 hours 53 minutes and goes dry. Refill warning.
• 10 lb butt at 225 F in winter: about 14 hours 30 minutes and 26.2 lb. Short by hours on an 18 lb hopper.

That is the same story as empty hopper overnight, just with a butt instead of a packer. Cold-weather burn covers why the controller still says 225 F while the fire heats the yard.

Stall, set point, and what this page is not

Pork butts stall too. The plateau is evaporative cooling, not a broken fire. Extra stall hours are extra pellet hours. The stall page is written around brisket, but the hopper math is the same idea: wrap versus riding it out is also a fuel choice.

Flipping 225 to 275 on a long collagen cook shortens the clock and raises burn rate. On brisket that trade is spelled out in 225 vs 275 for brisket. On a butt, use the calculator links above at 225 and 250 and read the pellet line, not a recipe card.

No rub, no wrap ritual, no "spritz every hour" checklist here. Hours times burn rate, checked against your hopper. If the warning is red, plan a refill or a bigger tank before you chase bark tips.