Butt questions..

[larosa94x]

Hey Guys..
I've had great success with ribs/chicken ABT's and some sausage on the smoker so I wanna take that next step and I'm planning on doing my first butt this weekend and have been doing a lot of reading and trying to absorb as much info as I can..

It seems the general consensus is that there is no specific temp at which a butt is "finished" a butt is finished when the bone wiggles and begins to fall apart.. Now my question is when is the best temp to start the bone test and how often should you test if it isn't quiet ready? Everyb20-30 mins? Ever degree the IT bumps? How often?

And I also see that a lot of guys say you shouldn't split a butt and I see a lot of guys saying it doesn't affect the end result. Which should I do? I like a lot of bark in my PP so I'd like to split it and it would also help cut down on the cook time as I've got 2-8lb butts.. I'm using a propane smoker and it's difficult to keep a steady temp and requires a lot of labor to keep going so if I can chop an hour or so off the time then that would be great!

Thanks in advance fellas!

 

[stovebolt]

 I smoked two 9 lb butts for Father's Day and cooked them to 185° I.T.  They pulled very easily and still had some texture to the meat, not like mush. So I would certainly check them by 185°. 

 Anytime you reduce the thickness of the meat the cook time will be reduced, but so will the smoke time. Your call. You can reduce the cook time by wrapping them in foil and adding a small amount of liquid (braising them) starting around 160° or so. This will also reduce the smoke time. You will find out over time which you like better. Once I did 2 butts and foiled one and not the other for my own information. I liked foiling them because once they are in foil you can just move them to the oven and quit having to run outside to check on them. It can be good thing on a 14 hour cook.

 Butts are very forgiving. They should be marvelous no matter what you choose.

 

Chuck