Birthday cook

[D Livingston]

My daughter is having friends over Saturday for her 18th birthday, so I planned to make some pulled pork. But she reminded me last night that one of her friends doesn't eat pork, so I pulled out a smallish brisket flat to also smoke.

I smoke with my 22" kettle using the snake method. I haven't done pork shoulder and brisket at the same time before, and I'm a little concerned about space (vertically). I usually place the meat on the opposite side of the part of the snake burning, but keeping them in the center will give me more vertical room for both pieces without getting in the way of the lid. But that would put the meat closer to direct heat than I like.

I think I'm going to use the vortex upside down (wide end up) with a water pan beneath it, the snake around the outside, and the meat in the center over the vortex and pan to minimize direct heat. Any reason that won't work, or does anyone have any other advice or ideas on how to avoid too much direct heat in this scenario?

 

[John K BBQ]

Dan - my best recommendation is to smoke the pork butt the day before (tomorrow) and then do the brisket flat the day of. I'm concerned abotu fitting all that meat in the kettle at once and getting it to cook evenly/in a "normal" time period. Pulled pork is very reheat friendly.

 

[Rich Dahl]

Agree with John, a lot less stress that way.

 

[Mike Freel]

Or maybe this is justification for buying a WSM

 

[Colin]

I'll third the answer given by John and Rich. But would not argue with Mike either.

 

[D Livingston]

Well, I like Mike's idea the best, but that's not going to happen today. If the shoulder is fully thawed, I might start that this evening. The brisket flat piece is actually pretty small, so I don't think it'll make a huge difference. Worst comes to worst, once the smoke part is done and they get wrapped, I might just throw them in the oven to finish.

 

[Timothy F. Lewis]

I like your inverted Vortex concept but that still is going to be pretty snug. You will figure it out.

 

[Richard Garcia]

Worst comes to worst, once the smoke part is done and they get wrapped, I might just throw them in the oven to finish.

My Texas Brother smokes his Brisquet for a couple of hours on his offset smoker and always finishes it in the oven. I've eaten it many times and sure turns-out very tasty.

 

[Tony-Chicago]

Yes start early. Even now. Use oven once wrapped.
I think anm pan underneath is enough. Catches liquid too. Use snake method with or without wood chunks.
Tou can even donthe brisket in the oven if needed. Or do one first..
Great advice above

 

[Brad Olson]

Thinking backwards here although I'm late to the party.

Cook the brisket first and reheat for slicing while the butt cooks live.

 

[D Livingston]

Everything worked out about perfect. Like I mentioned before, it was just a small brisket flat, so I had that on the main grate. I placed a raised half grate over that with the shoulder. It was tight but it fit. I started a couple of hours earlier than normal and kept the temp at ~275. I kept them on there with a few hickory chunks around the snake until the brisket was in the 170s and the shoulder was in the mid 150s. I wrapped them and put them in the oven at 275. Timing was almost perfect. Brisket and shoulder reached their temps with a little over half hour before we planned to eat. That's a shorter rest time than I usually do, but it worked. I got a little lucky with them being ready at pretty much the same time, which was a concern with the brisket being so much smaller. It helped that it was a little colder to start with (it had been frozen) and had a higher target temp. The pulled pork was one of my better attempts, and the flat may have been my best yet.

Sorry, no pics as it got hectic cutting up the jalapenos, onion, and watermelon and prepping the other sides and drinks.