Butt question

[Booray]

I smoked a 8lb butt two weekends ago and it took 15 hours. I brined and rubbed. Smoked an 8lb butt yesterday and it took 12 hours. Only difference was that I injected this on. Is this normal?

 

[SuperDave]

Greg,
My belief is that the injection (liquid) heats up faster than the meat.  I think the injection helps cook the meat from the inside out. 

 

[DivotMaker]

Greg, could just be the cut, too.  No 2 pieces ever cook exactly the same - they're made by pigs, and sometimes their quality control sucks! ;D

Really, though, cook time is determined a great deal by the amount of internal fat & connective tissue, and if the pig was "Arnold Piginator," or a "couch pigtato."  That's why you'll see times vary by as much as an hour per pound.  One way to get "some" predictability is to always buy your meat from the same place.  In my experience, it has been pretty consistent.  The times when I get it somewhere else is when I have timing problems.

 

[Booray]

I did confirm that the pigs came from the same farm. It wasn't a big deal. I cooked overnight and luckily I woke up early and the IT was 196 and held in a cooler for 6 hours for a party. If I would've overslept I might have been in trouble. Lol