re: ? about smoking a boston butt

The smoke is really only going to penetrate the meat until the meat reaches 140 degrees or so. After that you're just potentially going to make the meat bitter.

Also the smoke needs to be a thin blue line..if its billowing white smoke out, its not flavoring the meat the way you want.

Although no smoking purists like to admit it, you can take it out and foil it after it hits 140 and finish it in the oven and it will turn out just fine. Leaving it on the pit will help the 'bark' form on the outside but that's about it.