Brisket and Ribs combo


 
Z

Zac_Callier

TVWBB Fan
Hey everyone,

I've read a few old posts ab doing ribs and brisket simultaneously, but couldn't figure out the answers to my main question, so here we go.

Having a 4th of July bbq this weekend, and am going to be doing a brisket (10-12lb packer) and a couple racks of BB's. I plan on doing the brisket overnight and then putting the ribs on early in the morning as people will be arriving around noon on Saturday (plan on eating a bit later than that). My main question is, and please excuse my naivety, once I throw the ribs on, is it fine for me to add more wood chunks and not worry ab oversmoking the brisket? I wasn't planning on foiling the brisket, as I had read previously that smoke that gets trapped in the foil can give the meat an acrid taste. I know meat stops absorbing smoke over 140F, which I took to mean I can throw on some wood and it wouldn't hurt the brisket while at the same time giving ample smoke flavor to the ribs.

I figured at 10lbs, 12-13 hrs for the brisket and 5 or so hrs for the bb's, so sometime around 7am throw the bb's on along with some more wood (going with oak and pecan for this particular smoke I think), assuming I get everything up to speed around midnight or so.

Any suggestions or anecdotes would be much appreciated.

Thanks
 
I have done exactly this, and have not had an issue with oversmoking the brisket if I add a couple of fresh chunks. Now, what kind of wood you use may vary that somewhat, but I wouldn't think it would be too much of an issue anyway. I tend to use "milder" woods on my ribs (cherry, pecan, etc.), and after hitting the brisket with oak, I don't detect any difference with added chunks late in the cook.

Your times look ok to me, though that would depend on your temp target. I usually shoot for 225 for brisket, and they tend to take in the neighborhood of 1.5 hrs/lb for a whole packer. Ribs I usually do at 240-250, and bb's come in around 4-5 hours depending on the size of the racks.

I usually plan a couple hour buffer for the brisket to be done as it can be foiled an placed in a cooler with towels for up to 4-6 hours of holding time. The ribs I try to time a little more finely, as I don't like holding ribs foiled. If you do have to hold the ribs foiled, you might put them back on the smoker or grill right before serving to stiffen them up some.

Let 'er rip, Zac, and report back!

Rich
 
My understanding is that the meat absorbs about all the smoke it is going to in the first couple of hours. So adding more wood chunks when you start the ribs will not be a problem. I do combo cooks quite often and have never had a problem with oversmoking anything because I added wood later in the cook. Your plan looks pretty good. I also agree with Rich about giving yourself a cushion on the brisket. You can always pull it and let it rest but it's difficult to speed it up.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Zac_Callier:
Hey everyone,

Having a 4th of July bbq this weekend, and am going to be doing a brisket (10-12lb packer) and a couple racks of BB's. I plan on doing the brisket overnight and then putting the ribs on early in the morning as people will be arriving around noon on Saturday (plan on eating a bit later than that). My main question is, and please excuse my naivety, once I throw the ribs on, is it fine for me to add more wood chunks and not worry ab oversmoking the brisket? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I've been wondering about this, too, since I'm planning a very similar cook for my next brisket. Like Zac, I'm doing the brisket overnight and putting the ribs on early the next morning. I'll be using oak and cherry.

My extra question is whether I should move the brisket down to the lower rack when I start cooking the ribs - and have the ribs up top?
 
Jennifer-

I'm not a fan of moving things around that much, so if it fits just start the brisket on the bottom. If it's a large brisket and won't fit on the bottom grate, then you may need to start it on top then move it. Or you can go get a 22" and not worry about it!
icon_smile.gif


R
 
Zach,

A good 2-6 hr. brisket rest before slicing is what I like to do, and BB's only take 3-4 hrs to get done at 275-300*, foiling after about a couple of hours...

...so if it was me, I'd time the cook so that I didn't put the ribs on til the brisket was done and resting.

Besides, you don't want to be moving a brisket off of the top rack unless you're wrapping it in foil, and two racks of ribs are best cooked on the 18.5" wsm by halfing and centering two halves to a grate.
 
Yea I'd prefer to not have to do much in terms of rearranging as I'll be doing it pretty much on my own. Maybe I can start early enough Friday night to get it done...thanks.
 
Zac, regarding the brisky, I prefer 12 pounders and up and find that a twelve pounder usually takes about 1hr/lb. if I keep the temp up at around 250*. However, if for some reason the cooker and/or the brisket is sluggish, you could always wrap it and finish in the oven while you smoked the ribs.

Have fun with it!
wsmsmile8gm.gif
 
Turned out pretty good. Did an overnight smoke with a 10lb trimmed whole brisket, started at 10:15pm Friday, ended up taking off about 9:15am Saturday morning. Foiled and rested for about 4 hours, except I threw on the point after 40 mins of resting to make burnt ends.

Here is the big fella after 6 hours
IMG00106-20110702-0510.jpg


Here we are near the end
IMG00107-20110702-0907.jpg


and here is the sliced product
IMG00108-20110702-1357.jpg


the smoke ring wasn't very pronounced, but it was tasty and juicy, as were the burnt ends.

Thanks for the advice on smoking the brisket first and the ribs second (actually did the point below the ribs on the bottom grate, and forgot to take pics of the ribs, which also came out good). Everything was tasty and made quite a few people very happy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top