I read the same article...I found it this spring when time constraints forced me to try something new.
Ive been smoking butts for pulling since 1990 when I got my first ECB for Christmas. And always followed the conventional low and slow (220°250° till it's done) wisdom.
For the last several years I've become a popular go to guy in our community for smoking for graduations, reunions, fund raisers and lake parties so the number of butts I smoke can now exceed 20 a season.
This spring I agreed to smoke six butts for a fund raiser.
When everything was set to go about ten days prior to the event I was inquiring where they wanted me to set up (they were pretty insistent on smoking on premises) and said I'd be in the day before with my equipment.
Suddenly early access became an issue and I was forced to figure out how to do everything from set up to serving in 12 hours which meant an 8-9 hour smoke time.
Long story short, following the advice of many hot and fast guys on this forum, Cliff Carter specifically...It came together perfectly...I went with my MB 40XL propane with a pellet tube and finished six butts in the
9lb range in 8.5 hours at 280°F
They were exceptional, pulled easily and I couldn't tell any difference...I've since done a side by side at my own party where folks have come to expect top notch BBQ...
Two butts nearly identical in every way...both smoked on similar bullet smokers with charcoal and Apple and pecan chunks. One smoked at 230° for 14 hours one at 280° for about 9 hours...both pulled when probe tender (basically repeating the experiment) and no one knew the difference...
Same experiment...different taste test results...
And I've had the experience of hotter and faster being indistinguishable on multiple occasions now.
I'm not trying to discredit the "scientific" results but on the other hand I trust my expertise on at least pulled pork as much as anyone's and personal results suggest differently. There's really nothing "scientific" about a taste test...there were no scientific measurements done on the finished product.
Just saying IMHO the difference isn't distinguishable and there are many that agree.
Walt