faster butt cooks

fishlessman

this weekend i will be pressed for time,but would like to cook a mojo marinated butt. typically i cook 225 for 20 plus hours on a 8-9 pounder. if i wanted it done in 12 hours would kicking the temp up to 275 be better than cutting the butt in half for the cook, or would it be better to wrap in foil and cook at 300 for a while. i think i will have atleast 12 hours that i could cook it.

Yazoo

fishlessman,[p]I'd cut it in half or buy smaller butts if you don't have it already. I've always read that it's important to keep the temp in the range of 160-180 or something like that, for as long as possible to render fat and convert collagen to gelatin. And pushing it through these temps too fast will not give you the results you're looking for in a low & slow or not as good anyway.[p]Another suggestion for faster cooks is to not use a platesetter, only a drip pan. I've cooked 7lb butts in 14 hours that way.[p]

fishlessman

Yazoo,
cutting in half is my gut feeling.275 until internal hits 135. 225 until internal hits 180, 275-300 until internal hits 200. raised high in the dome over a pan sitting on 2 firebricks has always worked well for me. have never done any that were under 8 pounds so the little pieces make me nervous.

SSDawg

fishlessman,[p]I've done several smokes where I've pinned the egg at 300, and let it stay there. I usually use a piece of the shoulder that is the picni & part of the butt (but not the whole shoulder) that weighs in at around 11 pounds. Took around 13 hours. I've also done whole shoulders at 300, and they work well. Part of the issue seems to be that even though the egg thermometer says 300, the temp at the grate level is a little lower.[p]Anyhow, the ones I've done at 300 degrees taste about the same, if not better.