Heat managment when adding more meat


 
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Let's say I have a brisket on the top that's been Q'n for 4 hours. /infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif Then, I want to add a butt that should take about 4 hours to the lower grate so they are both roughly done at the same time (yeah, right)

The question is, do I crank up the heat prior to all the work in question due to anticipating the cold(er) meat, or do I add the meat and do my basting etc...close the hood and then open the vents to get the heat back? /infopop/emoticons/icon_confused.gif

I suppose that either way, I'm taking the hood off and adding fresh meat to the bottom, thus maybe it really doesn't matter.

However, in the spirit of "staying in front of the curve" should I get the heat up first?
 
Hi Gary,
Depending on the weight of the beast's you can probably put them on at the same time. If you figure an hour and a half a pound at 230* that should get you goin'. I put the butt on top to help baste the brisket bellow. Cook them to the internal temp you want and you can always hold one piece if it's done early wrapped it in towels stuffed in a cooler. Check the home page for directions under 'cooking topics'
HTH
Dave
 
Gary
I would follow Dave's advise, creating a heat spike is not needed. Heat spikes when cooking brisket are not a technique that leads to moist brisket.
Anytime you take the lid off the heat escapes. Running the temp up before taking the lid off just makes the temp swing that much more.
Jim
 
Hey guys, understand where you're coming from, however, I failed to mention I also put a chicken on the bottom also after 4 hours. Thus, I had to lift the top, get the chicken to the bottom next to the pork.

Actually, it all worked out well. Even was able to flip the bird through the access door! /infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif
 
Gary, I understand your question to be more of a hypothetical "what if." If I'm cooking a 7 lb butt that is going to take 18 hours to cook (mine usually do) and I also intend to cook a 7 lb brisket that will take closer to 14 hours to cook, but I want them to finish about the same time (give or take a couple of hours) and I want both meats to be done and resting in the cooler for a couple of hours before dinner to take the stress off dinner time. I would start the butt first and then add the brisket 3-4 hours later. Optimally, you want your WSM temps to remain contant and adding 7 lbs of cool meat will cause the temp to drop. So . . . . experiment with what works best for you. I open the vents a little about 15 minutes before adding the next meat so the temp trend is rising, add the meat and wait another 15 minutes and see where you end up. Adjust from there. Butts can take a temp spike without any ill effects. Just my opinion.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Dave Lewis:
[qb] I open the vents a little about 15 minutes before adding the next meat so the temp trend is rising, add the meat and wait another 15 minutes and see where you end up. Adjust from there. [/qb] <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Dave, that's exactly what I ended up doing. My brisket took 8 hours, the butt took 5.5 hours and the chicken took a hair over 4. They all came off within 1/2 hour of each other. I did crank the heat prior to adding butt & chicken. I suppose it is an art, not science.
 
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