HELP! Smoking Ribs and Turkey Breasts for Thankgiving in WSM

[MarkG18104]

HELP! I am a novice WSM smoker.

On Thanksgiving I will be smoking beef ribs (long bone) and a 1/2 bone-in turkey breasts. May have a couple of turkey legs as well.

I know enough that the turkey and the ribs should ideally cook at different temps. So what should I do? Cook them separately? If so, any recommendation as to which should cook first?

If I can cook simultaneously, I assume the ribs go on the bottom grate and the turkey goes on the top grate, probably in a foil pan so the turkey drippings don't 'disflavor' the beef ribs. And if I can cook simultaneously, at what temperature and how long does each cook for?

I can use any suggestions possible.

Thanks.

Oh, I will be smoking in PA and the temp outside will be 35-40 degrees.

 

[ChuckO]

You'll want to cook the ribs at 250/275 and you'll want to cook the Turkey at 350+

You're pretty much forced to cook them separately, probably best to cook the ribs first (figure 3 hours) and when you pull them off, wrap them up for a rest leave the lid off for a bit so you get some air in the smoker, open the vents wide open, soon as you get some good heat put the turkey on, and figure a couple hours or so, depending how big your bird is

 

[Brad Olson]

Welcome, Mark. How done do you like your beef? The nice thing about beef spares is that you don't have to cook them as thoroughly as pork so they're ready whenever everything else is.

I did a rotisserie turkey breast (with skin and bone) a week ago and with the temperature in the 350-375 range it took about 90 minutes IIRC. The skin had been overtrimmed so I improvised with bacon, which of course made everything better. And a 350 temp will do a nice job of rendering the beef ribs and creating a crust.

Is there any chance you could do a test run before Thursday?

 

[THoey]

I agree with the above on the temp differences between turkey and beef ribs.

When you say beef ribs, do you mean a beef short rib plate (3 or 4 bones in one whole, thick and meaty rack), or beef short ribs (individual bones), or beef back ribs (similar to spares, but you can see the shiny bones)? I only cook the beef short rib plates. I cook them at around 275* and they take about 6 hours to cook. They look like this:

 

[MarkG18104]

The cook went well. Cooked the ribs first. Then cooked the turkey breasts and legs. Ribs were great. Turkey was overcooked. I think I was cooking too hot. I did not have a thermometer in the meat. My mistake.

BTW, I smoked the beef long ribs, not the (meatier) short ribs.

Would post a photo, but don't seem to know how.