Butt plus Chicken Cook

I plan to cook an 8 pound (give or take) butt on the lower rack. For the last 4 hours of the cook I will place 4 leg-and-thigh pieces on the upper rack. Anyone have helpful comments or see anything wrong with this combination cook?

Not worried about the basting part. I would prefer to put the meat that cooks the longest and requires little "maintenance" on the lower rack, however.

Cross contamination! Like what, bacterial contamination? Please elaborate. Thanks.

Cross contamination is far more likely due to other, little-discussed circumstances. The maxim that cooking chicken over other items is a path to cross contamination is a common barbecue myth. If is oft-repeated but has no basis in science so no convincing is possible. That many people believe it does not make it so.

While I feel bad for people that have been sick from food issues, I have no problems with doing chicken of another food.
Dale....I think pigs are the nastiest animals to eat, but I LOVE THEM lol. Look at what they eat, the way they like to roll around in the mud and such, I think they have chickens beat. Almost as bad as catfish.

There is something about chicken juices in particular that are unsettling to me too--no question about that. But juices pasteurize along with the chicken as it cooks. Dripping juices would pasteurize faster as they are fully exposed to the cooking temps sooner--which is why roasting a chicken in a pan strewn with vegetables is perfectly safe and is a common way to do chicken. So long as the chicken reaches a safe internal the chicken is safe. Juices dripping either into the roasting pan or onto meat below would be exposed sooner and be safer sooner but whatever the juices drip into or onto should be cooked to safe temps as well.

If chicken juices were always dangerous in his regard then cooking a stuffed chicken--where the whole point is for the stuffing to absorb juices--or auto-rotisseried chicken--with juices from this spit of chickens dripping onto that spit below--would hardly be possible. But as long as as the spit chickens reach safe temps, and as long as the stuffed chicken reaches safe temps (particularly in the stuffing), there is no concern.

I am all for not doing what feels unpleasant--and saying so--but please let's be careful that we don't allude to an imprimatur that doesn't exist. There are numerous science-verified food safety practices that should be spread around that one doesn't see often mentioned: proper handwashing, including use of a nail brush; the need for fairly rapid, thorough cooling of cooked foods; not using bimetal therms to check internals, especially on thin meats; that most sanitizers work only if that which is being sanitized is already clean--and many more.

Dale,

No ill feelings at all. I agree with Kevin, do what feels right for you. Myself, I mostly cook one type of food at a time. Not for health issues, that's just the way I do it on the WSM. Now the gasser and the kettle get variety cooks.

To make a comment on the side of being safe is never a bad thing IMO.

I think that I'll cook the butt on the top rack and at T minus 4 hours place the quartered chicken pieces on the bottom rack. Slightly inconvenient but "it sounds right".