advice for doing a turkey and ribs together


 
C

Craig Lax

New member
I'm hosting a father's day party for myself and my wifes family (including father in law who always is impressed with my grilling).

I want to impress them again (as well as get a great meal for myself).

I'm thinking of doing a turkey and ribs. here's my question..

Can you do two different types of meat at the same time?

I was thinking of putting 4 racks on the bottom and a turkey on top.

How long does turkey take? I know ribs can go up to 6 hrs. so I was thinking of starting them first and then throwing the turkey on midway through.

please give advice and if you would recommend doing two different meats at once.

thanks

Craig
 
You can do 2 different kinds of meat in a smoker, but when it comes to poultry that's a different story. You do not want poultry on top and have raw juices dripping down on your ribs. This is a big no no. Another problem is that poultry is usually smoked at about 325*-350*. Ribs are smoked at 225*-250*. You have to be careful of poultry. Others will chime in with more advice.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Craig Lax:
I'm hosting a father's day party for myself and my wifes family (including father in law who always is impressed with my grilling).

I want to impress them again (as well as get a great meal for myself).

I'm thinking of doing a turkey and ribs. here's my question..

Can you do two different types of meat at the same time?

I was thinking of putting 4 racks on the bottom and a turkey on top.

How long does turkey take? I know ribs can go up to 6 hrs. so I was thinking of starting them first and then throwing the turkey on midway through.

please give advice and if you would recommend doing two different meats at once.

thanks

Craig </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Tony is right, however you can smoke them both at the same time with the turkey on top will no ill effects. But you cannot add the turkey mid way through as you're planning. THAT is a no no.

I smoke turkeys at lower temperatures to begin with so this plan is easy. Depending on the size of your turkey, you're in the time frame of cooking spare ribs between 5-6hrs. As long as you put the turkey and ribs on at the same time and both are at safe temperatures and completely cooked when you take them off, YES you can smoke the turkey over the ribs.

The only BIG problem I see with cooking the turkey over the ribs is if you're planning on foiling the ribs. In order to do so you will need to remove the turkey, wrap the ribs etc., which will create havoc on the cook temps, etc.

For simplicity sake, cook the turkey on the bottom and ribs on top, YOU will enjoy the cook more and the product will be the same.
 
Thank you all for the advice. I'll definetly try it.

one last question. HOw long should the turkey be cooked for? what's the usual lb/hr rate. I'm thinking of doing a turkey 10-12 pounds

thanks again

Craig
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">For simplicity sake, cook the turkey on the bottom and ribs on top, YOU will enjoy the cook more and the product will be the same. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Actually you might end-up with a very tasty bird from basting in the pork drippings too. I'd also recommend brining your turkey prior to smoking. There are some excellent brines listed on this site. My favorite is a Jack Daniels and Maple Syrup brine. Let me know if you'd like the recipe. Good luck with your father's day cook.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Craig Lax:
Thank you all for the advice. I'll definetly try it.

one last question. HOw long should the turkey be cooked for? what's the usual lb/hr rate. I'm thinking of doing a turkey 10-12 pounds

thanks again

Craig </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

At a dome temp in the 240º-260º range you're looking at between 30-35 minutes per lb.

Larry R, is right on about the brine. Brining is a must in my opinion when smoking turkey, especially at lower temperatures.

If you plan on brining you should look for a fresh turkey, not self basting or Kosher.

You can also inject or simply buy a self basting turkey (ie., Butterball, etc) if you'd like to skip the brining.
 
thank you all for your replies.

I will definetly brine the bird. I was thinking of the honey brine, but the jack daniels sounds really good.

I'll let you know how it goes

Craig
 
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