Piggy-backing off binarypaladin 's question "Is the goal a lower internal temperature in things like pulled pork...", why wouldn't we want to sous vide a pork butt to just about the stall point, then take it right out to the smoker after a quick rub, to "power through" to the normal probe-tender point of 200F+? Does the time in the water bath negate the need for breaking down the fats/collagen (which happens on a smoker above 160F)?
Mind, this is coming from a guy who likes to keep those butts on the smoker, no crutch. Don't know if I'm missing something in the process here. I've got an Anova 900W, and I'd love to cut down the time the butt's on the smoker. Starting it SV the day before smoking, then only having to hit the smoker for a few hours would be a dream on a hectic weekend with kids in sports! That would open up more varied smokes for me, as well; I can easily throw a few split chix in first (into my PBC), then swap them out with the pork butt to get a smoke ring and to firm up the bark, and STILL not burn through the basket of briquettes.
It's a good, solid dream. Great to have the flexibility. Sometimes you want to stay up and commune with the fire. Other times, you just want to make sure you feed the hordes.
As far as keeping it to a lower final temp, Potkettleblack makes some nice arguments for doing the butt for slicing instead of pulling - just because with SV you can.
The other point is that with SV, you break down the collagen using more time at a lower temp, while keeping a different kind of texture. Again, you just get flexibility.
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