I have cooked several 9 to 10# butts in my 045 and generally it was a 12 to 14 hour cook at 225*. So this week, we had a 50 year class reunion and I needed to do 4 of that size to feed everyone. Ok, no problem. I'll allow a couple hours extra just in case, right? And I'll cut the start temp down to 210* so as to not get too carried away. So I put the 4 butts on, 35# worth, at 11:00 pm thinking I could pull them out of the smoker and rest them about noon or a little later next day. Went to bed thinking all was well. Got up at 6:00 am next day and all seemed well. Probe temp one the biggest one was 170*. That's cool so bump the oven temp up to 225* and hit the rack again. Get up at 9:00 and probe temp is 192*!!!! Cam't be!!! Opened the door and all the bones were protuding. Grabbed one with some tongs and it pulled right out. They were done!!! In under 10 hours. Turned the smoker back down to 200* and let them set til noon. They fell apart taking them off the racks. Placed in pans and wrapped in foil and rested in an ice chest until we started pulling them at 6:00. They were great!! Moist and tender but don't have a clue how they cooked that quick based on prior experience.
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