Ambitious second smoke


 
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Patti Leigh

New member
How many different things can I load into the smoker at once?

The WSM is huge! I don't want to crowd it, but I would like to do a few (okay, a bunch of) different things at once. I figure if I put the longer-cooking items on the lower rack and the quicker-cooking things on the top, then as things reach the appropriate internal temp(s), I can remove and rearrange so that cooking can continue.

Is this ridiculous? Am I an overzealous newbie?

Here's what I plan to smoke:
1 turkey breast (2.5 lbs)
1 venison backstrap, wrapped in bacon (1.25 lbs)
2 racks of St. Louis ribs (haven't got them yet)
1 pork shoulder (4.1 lbs)
and maybe a few sausages

I will get everything ready in advance and have all sufficiently un-chilled prior to loading. I'll use warm water, etc.
Someone said that I might end up with everything tasting like bacon. But I said, no. I'm pretty sure everything will taste like smoked-whatever it is. I'll try not to let the bacon drip onto anything else.

Any thoughts or suggestions you may have will be gratefully appreciated. Thanks in advance!
 
Patti, welcome to the underworld of WSM and other Weber cookers. Several considerations for cooking/smoking many different meats in the same smoker. My 1st concern would be cooking temp. If you want to cook all those meats at the same temp then no problem. Second would be what is dripping on what, some meat flavors will influence others in a not so pleasant way.
Third would be amount of coal needed to maintain your cooking temp. Yes you can stuff a lot of meat in the WSM, but it may be better to use 2 cookers and let the meat breath once inside. The meat at the very outer edges will get considerably more heat from below than the meat interior. Oh Fourth would be access to the lower grate. There are modifications that will allow easier access but you either have to lift the top grate full of meat or both grates full of meat, if that isn't a concern of yours and everything else will work for you then Go For It. And let us know how it all turned out.

Happy Smokin' these hollidays.

Mark
 
Ahh...

Mark, thanks for your prompt reply! I've been known to let my enthusiasm cloud good judgement, so I really appreciate your insight.

After reading your thoughts, I will split this weekend's smoking endeavors into two separate sessions, and I may just roast the venison in the oven using the tried and true method.

What do you think about doing the turkey with the ribs? I'm interested to know what combinations of meats in the smoker will impart "off" flavors to one another.

I'm lucky that I have lots of friends who will be glad to come and eat while I practice and perfect the techniques.
You should've seen how happy they were when I started brewing!
 
Some thoughts:

Pork butt cooked over brisket makes the best brisket bark you've ever had, but Slap Yo Daddy BBQ Harry S. does the opposite, and I'm sure others do, to. One thing to think about is raw meat drippings on meat that's almost done, of course. Concerning the bottom rack, you can access to check stuff w/ a Thermapen as long as the meat is situated so. Also, smaller stuff can even be loaded or unloaded through the door.
 
Patti, pork fat is a great baster. Again what temps would you normally smoke a turkey and a pork ribs. If about the same then no problem.

Hmmmm and home brew as a kicker! No wonder your friends like to come over!!!!!!

Now what time is the party?

Mark
 
Also, when doing a lot of different meats, or anytime where you'll be taking off the lid a bunch, a full water pan will help keep the temp from getting away from you w/ the lid being off so much.
 
Hey, Patti. I know how you feel. I did a large variety on my second cook. Partly to help understand how things cook and taste smoked foods. I did my first brisket on this cook, so that went on the bottom as I wouldn't have to deal with it while the others were going (other than to add more cook time from opening the WSM so often). I used a probe in it to be SURE I knew what what happening.

On top, I started the others at times to hopefully finish near the same. So a rack of ribs went on first, then later some chicken thighs and last some andouille. I put the chicken off to the side of the brisket so they wouldn't drip on it. The rack was in long enough I wasn't concerned about dripping and I wanted it off first anyway. The andouille was no concern. All this was checked by instant read.

All came out well except I mis-judged the ribs and, though good, they weren't as tender as I wanted. All the meats had their own (but smoked) flavor. The andouille least of all and the chicken a little to heavily smoked. (That's the danger of small pieces in a smoker.)

Overall, though, it was great and everyone was happy. And only my wife mentioned the no so tender ribs
icon_mad.gif
.

Rich
 
Hey Patti. Just a suggestion, but do you also have a Weber kettle? If so, you could still do all the meats at the same time with the ribs and shoulder on the WSM and the turkey breast, venison and sausages on the kettle on indirect heat. Then it would just be a matter of timing everything which would probably be quite managable. hth
 
Thanks for the help, everyone. Nope, on the Weber Kettle. It got stolen(!) and replaced with a gigantic stainless steel multiple burner monstrosity. This is partly why I'm so stoked (pun) about the charcoal smoker. The gas grill has it's usefulness, but it's just not the same.

Funny, I had never considered worrying about having everything ready at the same time. I figured I'd put it all on at once - longer cooking items on the bottom - and, as things were ready, I'd take them off.

Anyway, thanks to all of your input, I'm going to simmer down and just do a bunch of ribs first. I'll probably throw a turkey breast on too, so we can have sliced turkey sandwiches during the week. Probably dumb for the week of Thanksgiving, but last week's turkey didn;t even last through Monday.

Since we now have family obligations on Sunday, and I'm not yet comfortable with an overnight cooking session, the pork shoulder has joined the venison in the freezer for next week.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Patti Leigh:
Thanks for the help, everyone. Nope, on the Weber Kettle. It got stolen(!) and replaced with a gigantic stainless steel multiple burner monstrosity. This is partly why I'm so stoked (pun) about the charcoal smoker. The gas grill has it's usefulness, but it's just not the same.

Funny, I had never considered worrying about having everything ready at the same time. I figured I'd put it all on at once - longer cooking items on the bottom - and, as things were ready, I'd take them off.

Anyway, thanks to all of your input, I'm going to simmer down and just do a bunch of ribs first. I'll probably throw a turkey breast on too, so we can have sliced turkey sandwiches during the week. Probably dumb for the week of Thanksgiving, but last week's turkey didn;t even last through Monday.

Since we now have family obligations on Sunday, and I'm not yet comfortable with an overnight cooking session, the pork shoulder has joined the venison in the freezer for next week. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Now I let that "venison" item escape on my first pass, but now that you bring it up again, that's something I really want to try in the WSM. I expect it's a bit of a challenge, but the outcome should be amazing!

For now, that sounds like a good plan, Patti. The WSM is great for large chunks of meat. Smaller chunks have to be managed to avoid over-smoking before they cook. Mixing large and small chunks is a little more difficult because you have to manage both temp and time to different requirements. Rich
 
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