Boston Butt Question

I would leave it whole and just go with the hot and fast method instead of low and slow, and foil it when it hits 160 internal to speed it up a bit. Butts are pretty forgiving.

No reason you can't do that.
I don't know that it'll cut down on cooking time all that much, the meat itself will take a certain amount of time to properly render out. You'll likely get some reduction in cook time, but not what you're thinking. In other words, if you take a 10 lb butt and cut it into 2-5 lb butts, you're not going to reduce the cooking time by half. While it is true that the mass of a piece of meat does affect how long it takes it to heat through, it has less to do with the process of rendering out connective tissue and getting to that tenderness that is pulled pork.

If you want to reduce cook time, bump up the cook temp and/or wrap in foil after you get the color you want. This will reduce the time in "the stall" and get you to tender glory quicker.


Good luck!

I would perosnally do the butt whole instead of cutting it down since it is just an 8lber. Pork butts are relatively cheap so trying different methods isn't too bad for future cooks. I do my pork butts in my Mini WSM and they turn out great no matter what method you use, hot and fast or low and slow.

If you cut it in half, you can have more bark! Hope you'll post pr0n from the mini wsm!!

It will speed up the cook time a bit though, we have had to do this while vending at an event one time...

It will cook faster and you get twice the bark.

Cook it whole. Won't be that too bad of a cook.