Smoking my husband a Boston butt - need advice

I would go simple.

Slather all over with yellow mustard (optional)
Heavy coating with your favorite spice rub.
Prep smoker by foiling the top of the smokebox
(this is where the wood chunks go)
And floor of the smoker.
Don't forget to punch a hole in the foil where the grease drain
Is located and place a grease pan underneath to catch the rendered fat

Place a couple of ounces(~1 chunk) of wood into smokebox.

Place butt in smoker and run a remote temperature probe thru the top vent
Hole if you have one. Insert probe into butt near centre away from bone

Turn on smoker
Smoke @ 225F til internal temp is 190+
Using a skewer or other long thin probe, probe butt.
If it goes thru like it's butter, it's done;
Otherwise keep cooking away

Double wrap in foil, the in a towel and place in warm cooler til
Ready to serve (FTC)

Pull with pair of forks to desired shred level

Add smoking okie's finishing sauce ( found elsewhere in This forum)
if desired

Yum

Check his notes for approximate time & temp. Are you cooking for lunch or dinner?

I don't inject. I'll put the rub on and let sit in the fridge for a couple of hours, then into the smoker.

Myself personally, if I'm cooking for dinner I'll put it in the night before right before I go to bed at 180 then crank it up to 235 in the morning when I wake up. If cooking for lunch, I'll let it run at 235 overnight. I like to use more wood, 3 - 4 chunks, but again check his notes if you like the flavor of previous cooks.

One thing to watch for which might alarm you is the plateau. Probably around the 160-170 internal temperature mark, the temperature won't move for hours. Don't panic, it's normal. Once it gets out of the plateau, the temp will begin to rise quickly.

Like lcubed says, once it's done, foil, towel & cooler. It'll stay hot for hours. Don't pull until ready to serve. I like to add some rub into the pulled meat and mix it up.

Any other questions, don't hesitate to ask and good luck. You'll do fine though, butt is one of the easiest things to cook.

Thank you both. Dinner is tomorrow at 6. I just foiled the floor, poked the hole and foiled above the fire box. Sounds like a good idea to start it tonight. Won't it over cook? I read his notes on the plateau so I'm prepared for the delay. He has smoked at 225 and seems to be around 1.5 hrs per pound give or take. I plan to use 3.5 oz of apple chunks. I already weighed it out. He has a lot of rubs. I'm going to use plow boys yardbird with yellow mustard. Do you think I'm better off throwing it on tonight or 7am tomorrow at 225? Based on his notes I should be done around 11 hrs.

Leave the mustard for a sandwich and just rub with yardbird(nice rub for PBs) set on counter for 30 minutes. It will look like a paste, then you are ready to put in smoker or the frig until you have the smoker ready.

I'd use Andy's advice on the cooking part, but then again, we were taught by the same folks.

If you run into problems just shout, someone will help.

I should probably note that I go to bed pretty late. 11-12. My butts are more in the 9lb range and take about 14hrs or so.

If your hubby's notes say 11 hrs. I'd probably start that morning and if it seems you might be running short on time. Crank it up to 250 once it comes out of the plateau.