Yeah, I don't like over-smoking either and SO many people use WAY too much smoke which makes the meat bitter and adds creosote which is dangerous. TBS (Thin Blue Smoke) is the goal and lots of people don't get you don't need billowing black smoke to be smoking. In fact, the opposite is true. Most of the shoulders I get are nearly twice that size so that's probably the key difference in cook times but I'm looking at like 18hrs give or take most times w/a few lengthy stalls in the 160's, 170's & 190's.
There's the differences. I throw the whole damn thing in... no trim & with the bone. Also, running 250 for 5.5hrs makes a big difference too. I'd also recommend doing this even if you do run 225deg to avoid the danger zone (40deg to 140deg in less than 4hrs) for most people anyway. Like I said, I've been experimenting with 275deg from start to finish and have had alright luck so far. Not ready to give it the 100% stamp of approval as I had slightly lower quality pulled pork the times I did it this way but had other circumstances that were likely to blame.