Smoking Pork Butt but for how long?

[sheridan]

FYI: I went at this at 250. My small Traeger fluctuates temp a ton, so this was a safe range.

Came out nice after 12 hours. maybe having two cuts shortens the hour/pound general rule.

Thanks again.

[RustyHaines]

If my dream comes true in retirement to become a bourbon distiller, my first batch will be named Bonsey's Strategic Bourbon Reserve.

[mnavarre]

I think I saw Strategic Bourbon Reserve at Bogart's back in '91.

[Mr. Bones]

Certainly was my quick zinger reply scenario, as well...
Sumpin long th lines of "Until it's done/probe tender, etc., but Smokey whispered in my ear, gimme a lil kiss of encouragement, an I was able to curtail my instantaneous, smartarse responses, good thing, since they were intrinsically no help to answer yer question, anyway.
Definitely a lifelong smartarse, here...treatment ain't worked even a bit, so far... reckon it's a Terminal Case kinda deal...
Agree with then what's th point?

[dancingzorba]

There you go! Thanks for the confirmation.

[IowaGirl]

I cooked two 5-pound butts in February. They took about 5 1/2 hours with smoker temp running in the 275-300 F range. So ... pretty much what the fellas are saying.

[dancingzorba]

I welcome both replies! If you can't be a smartass then what's the point?

[dancingzorba]

Man, yours sound pretty good. I am excited.

[dancingzorba]

Thanks! I think you're right. First time injecting so wasn't sure lol

[sheridan]

Will try it. thanks for the suggestion.

[Hulagn1971]

+1 on Ahumadora comment.

[BourBonQ]

Mr. Bones I wholeheartedly approve of this message.

[rickgregory]

My smartass reply was going to be 'until it's done!' but my slightly more useful reply would be that I would bet somewhere in the 5-8 hour timeframe and that I'd do it at 275 or so. People fetishize 225 too much, imo and it's much harder to maintain 225 than mid-higher 250-275 temps.

[Ahumadora]

Jack it up to 300f to get er done That lump of meat will take forever at 225f

[jfmorris]

A 4.5 pound boneless butt probably won't take the usual 12-14 hours my 8-10 pounders take, especially cooking at 300 versus 225. At 275 to 300, I am with the others and bet it will be done in 5-6 hours, if not sooner. I tend to smoke them at 275 to 300 if in a hurry, otherwise if it is overnight, I let them roll at 225, as I prefer NOT to have them get done at 4 or 5 AM, as happened last year when my fire got hotter than expected after I went to bed one night - the kettle shot up to 340 due to me refueling it around 11pm and not raking the coals to one end of the SNS well enough. I had turned off the pit alarms, but the meat high alarm woke me up. I had to wrap it and put it in a 170F oven to hold until noon for lunch.

I don't think there is any magic formula, even if you keep the cooking temp the same each time, every butt is different, and has different fat content and composition. The best you can do is a ballpark estimate, based on experience with your cooker and similar sized chunks of meat. That is why I love the faux cambro or a warm oven for holding - I always shoot to be done 2 hours before a party or dinner now, as its better to be done early than be done late.