Lowest Temp for cooking pork butt

[barryvabeach]

I have been asked to cook a few butts for a deployment party  ( Husband is in the navy going on a long deployment )  I thought we were doing 10 pound butts, and I worked that timing out, but it turns out the butts are around 7 pounds each.  I want them done at around 2 pm .  I don't want to have to get up in the middle of the night, so I am wondering if I can cook at 200 F,  will that work out about right.   When I cook at 275  I usually run just over a hour a pound to get to tender, at 250, it took 1,3 hours a pound, and my last test, at 225 took about 1,7 hours a pound.  I know that every butt is different, but does 200 sound like a good compromise if I load it around 10 pm and hoping to be done at 2 pm, 15 hours later?  

 

[noboundaries]

I'd stick with 225F, then wrap them in foil and stick 'em in a cooler (which becomes a hot box) covered with towels to let them rest for several hours.  You're still talking about a 12 hour smoke, so putting them on at 10 PM and taking them off at 10 AM to serve at 2 PM is no big deal. 

The issue with smoking them at 200F is you could end up with a much longer smoke than you want. 

 

[lancep]

I would think you'd probably be ok at 200 but another option would be to wrap it in foil and then an old towel when it comes off and stick it in a dry cooler. It will stay hot for at least four hours.

 

[chef jimmyj]

Don't try to time it to service time. Get done early and cooler them. One butt will hold hot 4-5 hours and multiple butt close to double that...JJ

 

[barryvabeach]

Thanks for the help.