I cooked two 7.5# PBs in my 025 over the weekend. One of my guests was born and raised in Georgia and another guest was born and raised in the Carolinas, a third was from Kansas. All three said the PBs I made were the best they ever tasted.
Here's what I did: I mixed maple sugar (or you could use light brown sugar) with a combination of some homemade rub and lots of DennyMike's Sublime Swine rub. I coated the PBs with a thin layer of French's yellow mustard and put the rub on very heavily (much heavier than you would think is needed) rubbing it into every crevice I could find in the PBs. I learned this trick from a Pitmaster at a good BBQ restaurant a year ago. He worked his way through school working with a Pitmaster at a local BBQ joint in his college town.
I wrapped the PBs with plastic wrap and let them sit in the fridge for eight hours.
Into the cold 025 they go at 225*, one on the top grill to the left (fat side up) and one on the bottom grill to the right (fat side down to protect it from the heat). I use six ounces of wood when cooking PBs or briskets.
After the IT of the PBs hits 140 (usually in about three to four hours) I drop the temp to my desired finish temp of 195 and leave them there for eight hours.
After eight hours at 195* then the PBs are usually in the 165* range (plateau time).
I then crank the heat to 250* and begin the evaporation process. Often the IT of the PBs will DECREASE while the evaporation process is happening.
At no time do I open the door of the smoker until I test for done-ness towards the end of the cook.
When the PBs hit 175* or so they will quickly make their way to the desired finished temperature and the IT must be watched closely to avoid overcooking.
At 190 (or so) I test the PBs for done-ness with a wooden skewer. When I can run the PBs through easily with the skewer, the PBs are done. I wrap them with foil and a towel and into the cooler they go until it is time for service.
I get lots of flavorful bark.
I do my briskets the same way. People rave about my PBs and briskets (and ribs, too).
This method was arrived at for my convenience and peace of mind. I put the PBs in around suppertime the day before company is coming. I let the PBs smoke at 225 until bedtime then drop the temp to 190 while I am asleep. After breakfast I bump the temp up to 250. The PBs usually come out around 3pm and go into the cooler. We remove the PBs from the cooler, pull them, and serve guests around 6:30-7:00 pm. The PBs are still almost too hot to handle even after all that time in the FTC.
This is what works for me. Your mileage may vary.
Good luck. And if you try my method, let me know how it worked for you.
MAINEiac
PS-And I ALWAYS apply Smokin's finsihing sauce to my PBs. Gotta give credit where credit is due.