Pork butt smoking time calculator

Put in the butt, the grate temperature, whether you will wrap, and when you want to pull. The clock uses the slow end so a tight shoulder can still rest.

Light the fire

10 hr 15 min

10 hr 15 min before serving. That includes the warmup and the 1 hr rest. Pull around 203°F when the probe slides. The clock does not make it tender.

0 min after the fireLight the fire
Bring the pit to the set temperature. The 45 min before the meat goes on is there so the grate is stable.
45 min after the fireMeat on
Put the pork butt on once the pit is holding temperature. Keep the probe in the thickest part, away from bone and large pockets of fat.
4 hr 15 min after the fireStall, then wrap
Around 150 to 165°F the temperature can sit still. Wrap tightly when the bark looks the way you want it. Foil moves faster. Butcher paper leaves a firmer bark.
7 hr 45 min after the fireEarly finish
If the cook lands here, wrap it and hold it for the serve time. The fire was lit for the slow end so dinner is not late.
9 hr 15 min after the firePull
Look for about 203°F and a bone that wiggles free, or a fork that twists with little pressure. Hold it if it gets here early.
10 hr 15 min after the fireServe
Pull, chop, or slice, then serve. Mix the bark back through the meat.

Assumptions behind this clock

A 5 pound butt on the Amazing Ribs pulled pork recipe is listed at 10 to 12 hours at about 225°F. This plan uses 2 hours per pound as the fast end and 2.4 hours per pound as the slow end at that weight, which lands on 10 and 12 hours.
For an average 6 to 8 pound butt, Amazing Ribs uses about 90 minutes per pound. From 7 pounds up, this plan uses that 90 minute rate as the slow end and keeps the fast end in the same 10-to-12 ratio. Between 5 and 7 pounds the two rates are blended.
Raising the pit to about 275°F can cut 2 to 4 hours. This plan subtracts 3 hours from the slow end and 2 hours from the fast end at 275°F, and half of that at 250°F.
A tight foil wrap around 150°F, the Texas crutch, can cut about another 2 hours. That 2 hours comes off both ends of the window.
The stall is plotted at one third of the 225°F slow cook, then shortened with the hotter-pit adjustment. Pork reaches that stall near 150°F. The fraction matches the brisket timetable, where the stall shows up at 6 hours of an 18 hour unwrapped cook. It is not a separate pork clock.
The planning finish is 203°F. Then check the meat: on a bone-in butt the blade wiggles free, or a fork twists with little pressure.
One hour is set aside to rest and pull. The pulled pork method says to start pulling about 30 minutes before serving, and to hold the meat if it is ready more than an hour early.
45 minutes is reserved to get the pit stable before the meat goes on. That buffer is a planning assumption.
The fire time follows the slow end of the window. A faster cook becomes a longer hold.
Whole-muscle pork is safe at 145°F with a rest, but a butt will not pull cleanly there. This plan aims at the higher temperature that melts collagen.
Keep the meat at or above 140°F if it has to wait. A cooler only slows the temperature drop. It is not a warmer.

Sources

Cook it in this order

Leave the fat cap on if it is a thin sheet. Trim only the hard, waxy pieces that will not render.
Season with the pork butt rub. A little sugar is fine here. The cook is shorter than a packer, and the bark can take it.
Light the fire at the time on the plan and wait until a probe at the grate is holding. On a kamado the lid thermometer sits up in the dome and usually reads hotter, so that gauge alone will talk you into putting the meat on early. The thermometer guide is how to pick the probe.
Put the probe in the thickest part of the shoulder, off the bone. Bone reads differently and will talk you into pulling early.
Let the bark set before you wrap. The stall is the same evaporative pause as brisket. Read pork butt stall if the temperature sits.
Wrap when the color is set. Paper or foil both work. The tradeoff is on butcher paper vs foil.
Pull around 203°F when the probe slides or the bone twists. Rest an hour above 140°F, then pull by hand. The technique pages cover the rest of the why.

How long per pound?

These windows are an 8 pound butt on the same math as the calculator. Plan the fire from the longer number.

Grate	Wrapped	Left open
225°F	8 hr to 10 hr	10 hr to 12 hr
250°F	7 hr to 8 hr 30 min	9 hr to 10 hr 30 min
275°F	6 hr to 7 hr	8 hr to 9 hr

How much pork butt per person

A third to a half pound cooked is a normal plate with sides, which means closer to three quarters of a pound raw. Bone and a long cook take weight off. If the butt is the whole meal, buy a full half pound cooked per adult and accept leftovers.

What can throw the time off

A bone-in shoulder that is thicker than the label weight suggests. Weight is the input. Shape still matters.
Wrapping early, before the bark is set. You save time and steam the crust.
A grate that is hotter than the dome made you think. Confirm it once with a probe at cooking height.

A packer uses the brisket calculator. When to wrap is spelled out on when to wrap pork butt.

Questions

How long does a 7 pound pork butt take at 225°F?

On this plan an unwrapped 7 pound butt at 225°F is scheduled around ten and a half hours of cook, plus warmup and a one-hour rest. Wrapping shortens the cook by about two hours. Pull when it probes tender, around 203°F.

When should I wrap a pork butt?

Wrap once the bark is the color you want and the center is in the stall, often 160 to 170°F. Foil or paper both push it through. The why is the same evaporative stall as brisket.

What temperature is pulled pork done?

Plan on about 203°F and a probe that slides, or a bone that you can twist. Pork shoulder is safe earlier. It will not pull in clean strands until the connective tissue has softened.