Pork Butt on Pellet Smoker

Welcome to the forum, it is a wealth of smoking knowledge all in one spot.

For most new people here, just as I was at one time, the first thing we had to get away from to have consistent smokes was changing our thought process, just as in your your statement "I’m trying to figure out cook times." The simple answer is "there absolutely no way smoking by time that consistently works." I always build in several hours lead time for large chunks of meat, actually usually smoke it the day before it is needed for a special event.

The ONLY way I and most everyone here can consistently have good smokes is to have an Internal Temperature (IT) sensor in the meat as you are smoking. Every piece of meat is different and will take various times to get to the desired IT to be done and tender.

To me, I find the 1-1.5 hrs/pound average be on the short side most of the time. Most of mine are closer to 2 hours, sometimes more. Then add in the "resting" time.

Myself, I have a Smoke-it #2 electric. I smoke virtually everything set at 225' all the way through, I take pork butts and briskets to an IT of 205' and then start poking them to make sure they are soft all over. Then the next crucial step is to put the foiled meat in a cooler covered with old clean towels to "rest" at least an hour or two, sometimes 3 if I have time. It will still be very hot to handle when you take it out 4 hours later which I had to do one time.

Good luck to you, and keep us posted on your progress.

Get yourself a Maverick or Thermoworks Smoke to measure the internal temp. that is what will matter. I've had butts take 1.5 hour per pound and had some go 2-2.5 per pound. So it can vary. And there is nothing wrong with finishing it in your oven if you want to speed it along. a lot of folks do it after wrapping.

Good reply 801driver. I never cook by time--too many late meals cured that. LOL.
I cook at 240 and generally use 2 hours per pound as a guideline. I plan my smokes to finish early and keep the meat warm til meal time. ÈSPECIALLY pork butt which is notorious for inconsistant cook times.
Gary

The last butt I cooked on my Memphis was 10lbs and took 12 hours. Final temp was only 186F. You just never know.

I'm also a newbie but have been devouring all the knowledge I can. I'm also loving this awesome forum. In my limited experience, I've found that bbq in general is an imperfect science so you can't really go by set times and temperatures because there are a lot of variables. I've had best results with some amazing butts smoking them at 275 to an internal of 205 then resting for a couple hours. I wrap with foil at about 160. I've learned to test the meat by poking with my instant read thermometer or checking the shoulder blade tosee if it's rreleasing easily from the bone. That's what I trust now. I smoked a wild boar butt that I pulled at an internal of 205 and it was tough and chewy. Lesson learned. Good luck.