Last night I smoked a butt for about 12 hours. The bone was in. The outside air temperature was about 60 degrees for most of the time. Since this was my first smoked butt, I worried about the temperature. I was worried that the temperature would either continue to rise as the evening wore on, or that I would have trouble keeping the temperature at the desired 200 degrees.
I left the (hickory) smoke on for about 4 hours and while I did not get a defined "smoke ring" that penetrated into the butt, I do have what I consider to be good barbeque flavor. I was able to keep the temperature at about 200 degrees for the entire 12 hour period and I am very pleased with the result. The 6 1/2 lb butt was alone in the smoker on the middle rack. I only used a rub which was applied just before I placed it in the smoker.
Living in North Carolina (southern) barbeque country I obtained exactly the flavor I desired, even though the meat was not falling off the bone, it was great. I am still a smoking novice and have continued to be concerned about temperatures, but obviously that worry is misplaced with the smoker.
Jim