Brisket and pork butts together


 

Stephen Harper

New member
So my buddy and I wanted to try brisket, and this weekend is the prefect time. We've got a party to go to Saturday night, and want to throw it in at midnight-2 am when we get home. Well I figure since we're going to have the 22.5 up and running, we may as well throw in a couple pork butts and vacuum seal/freeze whatever pork we have left over. Am I crazy?

I just bought an iGrill, so assuming it works well I should be able to catch a couple hour naps in the morning. Also have another wireless thermometer so I can monitor brisket, pork, and smoker temp.

So, questions...

Anyone have experience with doing multiple meats like this? Should be at roughly the same temp, so what can go wrong?
Am I correct in assuming it will take longer to get the temp up with this much cold meat in the smoker?
Planning on using primarily apple wood...any woods that would ruin the flavor of one or the other?
Should we put the brisket or pork on the top rack?
I assume the pork will be done late morning, and the brisket early afternoon (I know, it's done when it's done...but those are my estimates). We do not need to eat everything at the same time. Not planning on a big meal, but rather snacking all day. Will also be making snacks like bacon wrapped jalapenos and maybe wings...likely grilled since there won't be much extra room on the smoker.

Anything I am missing? Have fired this thing up maybe 5-7 times, so definitely not an expert, but am not a total beginner either.
 
The 22.5" handles multiple hunks of meat like that just fine. A packer and two butts isn't coming close to loading it up full.

You'll have lots of extra room for stuff like chicken wings or bacon-wrapped jalapenos. A brisket on the bottom rack and two butts on the top will leave tons of space around the edges.
 
With that much meat, I'd probably let the smoker get up close to target temp before putting everything on. I'd put the brisket on bottom and let it catch those drippings from the butts. Personally, I'd ditch the apple wood and go with something with some flavor, but that's a personal preference. I just find apple too mild. It sounds like a fun smoke. I hope you'll post pics.
 
Stephen, I know it's over a month later, but I just saw this post and was curious how your brisket turned out. Did you post pics somewhere?

I have yet to do a brisket, I think have resolved to wait until I get a good remote thermometer and until the weather settles down a bit and I feel comfortable that the sky won't open up in the middle of the night and ruin an overnight smoke. But in the meantime I'm soaking up all the knowledge I can from others. Any pointers?
 
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