Thanks for the responses and yes drlchi I was referring to how long to expose the meat to smoke. Obviously when you foil your meat whether its pork, brisket, ribs, etc.) you essentially end the smoke absorption but like you said mummel I like to go unwrapped on my pork butts. I own a
masterbuilt vertical cabinet smoker that runs on propane and wood chips and so I usually base my smoking time on how many bundles of chips I want to make (they usually smoke for about an hour than I have to change them out). Anyways all this was just to prepare for a BBQ competition I decided to enter on Saturday. I'm only doing the amateur division but having a game plan is always key.
I think I will probably smoke for half the time which for my smoker and a few 4-5lb butts it will be about 6hrs of smoke time (12hrs total to get to 195-200 deg). Thanks again for the responses, hope I do well!
Happy Smoking!