I've tried to hold off on posting my own thread and just stick to searching, but I just can't help myself. I'm doing a big smoke this weekend on my WSK — planning to cook a brisket and a pork butt at the same time, hopefully. I've done each separately a few times overnight with mixed results. This cook is for a large gathering, and I plan on buying the biggest prime brisket I can find at Sam’s Club.
The plan is to run the WSK at 225°F overnight, allowing for a 4-hour rest in a cooler, which should give me some buffer on serving time. I'm aiming to put the meat on at 11 p.m.; the party starts at 3 p.m. the next day, and I'd like to serve right at 5 p.m. I have a couple of main questions left, but any other tips from the WSK crew would be appreciated.
1) First is the classic lump vs briquets. I am much more experienced with briquets but my last couple of pork butts didn't quite have the flavor I was looking for. And rightly or wrongly I've attributed it to too much white smoke from the unlit briquets. I also can't even remember what brand briquets I was using and would use B&B this time if I go that route. Either way I will be putting quite a bit of coal into the WSK but then lighting only 8-10 & placing those in the center top of the unlit coals and giving it a good 45 minutes with the diffuser and water pan prior to adding the meat. I would like to give lump a try for hopefully less white smoke but unsure if the tradeoff of evenness of the burn overnight would be worth it.
2) Anyone have a lot of experience with the Weber expander rack on the WSK? I’m thinking of cooking brisket over pork butt, with the brisket on the expander rack, but I’m worried there won’t be enough lid clearance for a large packer. My other idea is to cook just the brisket overnight, then add the pork butt on top in the morning once the brisket is wrapped. Any advice?
The plan is to run the WSK at 225°F overnight, allowing for a 4-hour rest in a cooler, which should give me some buffer on serving time. I'm aiming to put the meat on at 11 p.m.; the party starts at 3 p.m. the next day, and I'd like to serve right at 5 p.m. I have a couple of main questions left, but any other tips from the WSK crew would be appreciated.
1) First is the classic lump vs briquets. I am much more experienced with briquets but my last couple of pork butts didn't quite have the flavor I was looking for. And rightly or wrongly I've attributed it to too much white smoke from the unlit briquets. I also can't even remember what brand briquets I was using and would use B&B this time if I go that route. Either way I will be putting quite a bit of coal into the WSK but then lighting only 8-10 & placing those in the center top of the unlit coals and giving it a good 45 minutes with the diffuser and water pan prior to adding the meat. I would like to give lump a try for hopefully less white smoke but unsure if the tradeoff of evenness of the burn overnight would be worth it.
2) Anyone have a lot of experience with the Weber expander rack on the WSK? I’m thinking of cooking brisket over pork butt, with the brisket on the expander rack, but I’m worried there won’t be enough lid clearance for a large packer. My other idea is to cook just the brisket overnight, then add the pork butt on top in the morning once the brisket is wrapped. Any advice?
