Pork Butt For this Sunday(pulled pork)

[jkusnierz]

Alright folks i am very very new to smoking and i bought a 14.5lbs pork butt and i am planning on smoking it sunday. I have many questions and i will most likely not remember them all so if you feel i am leaving something important out please by all means tell me. I have a Cabelas 7 in 1 cooker/smoker (propane) and i bought Mesquite chips. 

Do you have to soak the chips? i have read that it doesn't much matter!! True or false?

How do i go about setting up the smoker for the meat? Meaning at what temp does the meat go in the smoker? or does it go in right from the very beginning?

Should i check the meat or just let it sit and smoke? 

What should i do to the meat the day before? Rub it down with anything etc??

I have read about people wrapping the meat in foil what is that about and do i need to do that?

How long should it take to finish? Not in any hurry i have beer, bottle of whiskey and a few nice cigars so i plan on making this a day.

what is the temp i should be looking to achieve? for the smoker and the meat. 

I know i am forgetting stuff and sorry for the randomness of the order of question i just typed them in as they came to me. Thanks for all the input/feed back you will give and i will try to write back to answer any questions you may have for me. 

 

[palladini]

Soaking chips -   Most folks do not soak their chips, although it hinges on personal preference on soaking them or not.

Smoker temp - 225 to 250 Degrees

Open your smoker very little, if you have remote thermometer, use it.  This one where you have prong to stick in the meat and the temp reads on either an outside device or a remote.

You could marinate the meat

Wrapping in foil is usually done when the meat reaches it's stall temp, this where it sit for few hours at one temp, while the meat breaks down the internal connective tissues.

Now how long till it done, a 14.5 lb roast will take you about 29 hours to cook.  Now if you cut this into 2 or 3 roasts, that time would be cut.  Figure 1/2 hour per pound of the largest roast plus stall time.  It depends what the final use of the meat is for.  Sliced, about 160 to 180 is good, for pulled, take it 205 internal finished temp

 

[jkusnierz]

Thanks for the help and info. I guess i am more nervous than anything. i hate to mess up a nice piece of meat