Pork butt...and chicken leg quarters?


 

Chris Mason

TVWBB Fan
I'm having a bunch of friends over for some football in a couple of weeks. I plan to do an overnight pork butt on the WSM the night before and serve pulled pork sandwiches. However, I've had a few requests for pulled chicken as well and I'm more than happy to oblige if I can make it work.

My first thought is that I could do the pork overnight shooting for a finish time around noon. And when I wake up in the morning, I could throw some chicken leg quarters on for the last few hours.

With that in mind, a few questions:

1) Is this idea even viable? It seems solid to me, but maybe I am missing something.

2) Roughly how long should I expect the chicken to take at 225-250. The pulled chicken recipe on this site doesn't mention temperature but seems to be more of a high heat cook since it involves opening all the vents all the way. At lower temp, would I be looking at, say, 3-4 hours for the leg quarters?

3) What about smoke wood for the chicken? I imagine that by the next morning (say, 12+ hours into the cook) the smoke wood I put on at the beginning for the pork will be pretty much spent. Will I run into any problems with the pork if I throw on a few more chunks when I add the chicken?

4) As far as grates, does it matter which one I use for which? I think the easiest would be to put the pork on the bottom grate for the entire cook so that when it's time to put the chicken on, I don't have to move anything around. Or should I put the chicken on the bottom grate so that I don't have raw chicken dripping on cooked pork?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Chris Mason:
I'm having a bunch of friends over for some football in a couple of weeks. I plan to do an overnight pork butt on the WSM the night before and serve pulled pork sandwiches. However, I've had a few requests for pulled chicken as well and I'm more than happy to oblige if I can make it work.

My first thought is that I could do the pork overnight shooting for a finish time around noon. And when I wake up in the morning, I could throw some chicken leg quarters on for the last few hours.

With that in mind, a few questions:

1) Is this idea even viable? <span class="ev_code_RED">YES</span>

2) Roughly how long should I expect the chicken to take at 225-250. The pulled chicken recipe on this site doesn't mention temperature but seems to be more of a high heat cook since it involves opening all the vents all the way. At lower temp, would I be looking at, say, 3-4 hours for the leg quarters? <span class="ev_code_RED">Cook in the 245º-260º range for 2-3 hours or until the chicken leg quarters hit, 160º-165º (155º-160º if you happen to go with white meat). These finish temps will let you sauce and rewarm the chicken without overcooking and drying out. Pull, sauce, add additional rub if needbe, cover and lightly warm through to keep warm without drying out until serving. </span>


3) What about smoke wood for the chicken? I imagine that by the next morning (say, 12+ hours into the cook) the smoke wood I put on at the beginning for the pork will be pretty much spent. Will I run into any problems with the pork if I throw on a few more chunks when I add the chicken? <span class="ev_code_RED"> I would maybe add one additional small chunk, chicken does not need much wood. It will not effect the chicken. However, make sure you pull the pork off after the chicken is done, NOT before or you will have a cross contamination issue from the not fully cooked chicken juices on the pork. However, as long as the chicken above it is done, the pork under will be fine.</span>

4) As far as grates, does it matter which one I use for which? I think the easiest would be to put the pork on the bottom grate for the entire cook so that when it's time to put the chicken on, I don't have to move anything around. Or should I put the chicken on the bottom grate so that I don't have raw chicken dripping on cooked pork? <span class="ev_code_RED">See above Or what I think I would do is wait until you pull the butts off and cook the chicken while the butts are resting. Either way will work</span> </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
 

 

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