Ribs and butts at the same time?


 
R

Ron A

TVWBB Fan
I've got a 10lb boneless butt and two racks of baby backs to smoke this weekend. Tell me if my plan will work.

1. Cut and tie butt into two 5-lb sections and rub accordingly
2. Cut rib racks in half and rub accordingly
3. Set up WSM 18.5" for Minion (foil-wrapped Terra-cotta planter base in water pan) and heat to 240 degrees
3a. Drink pint of Guinness
4. Butts in bottom rack and ribs in upper rack.
5. When ribs are done (time reduced "3-2-1" method), move butts to top rack and finish smoking
5a. Drink pint of Guinness
6. When butts hit 195 degrees, remove and foil butts and put in cooler for 1-2 hours.
6a. Drink pinto of Guinness

Or would it make more sense to just leave the butts on the lower rack? The only reason for moving to the upper rack is (I believe) the lower rack is closer to the heat source and possibly warmer.

I imagine the butts will take about 7-8 hours total (plus cooler time) and the ribs will take about 4.5 hours.

Will this work?
 
Ron, I like everything but just three Guinness. Gonna need at least twelve. :)

From taking temp readings from the lower grate and upper grate, the upper grate is always hotter. Unless your pushed for time, I'd let the butts ride on the lower.

Check this out:

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/temptest.html
 
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I think your plan is sound. Cutting the butt in half reduces the cooking time necessary for each piece, instead of cooking it whole and adding a 2-3 hours to the cook. I'd roll with it. :)
 
I always do ribs and butts at the same time. My grocery store sells 4 to 5 pound boneless butts, so I'll usually do four slabs of baby backs and two pork butts.

I'd say the ribs take 4 to 6 hours and the butts take 8 to 10 hours.
 
Bob H. said:
For steps 3a, 5a and 6a replace the Guinness with Spotted Cow. All will be good.
Click to expand...

Is Spotted Cow a local brew in IL? I'm always up for trying new brews. Can I get it in Washington? I'm partial to stouts and my favorite is an Espresso Stout made by a small brewery in Oregon. Guinness is my standby.
 
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Ron - I am with Neil on this - I would let the butts ride on the middle grate. While you are moving them around you are losing heat and adding time to your cook. Smoking with Guinness - I like your style dude...

Regards,

John
 
Thanks for all the input and responses. That's what I love about the TVWBB forum. I'll let you all know how they turn out.
 
Ron, I've done pork butt on the bottom and ribs on top using a 14.5" wsm mini. 4 hours for ribs, add a few more hours for the butt.
 
I have done this many times on my stick burner. I use the 3-2-1 method for the ribs and after 4 hours they're ready. I leave the butts in and foil em at around 170ish which usually takes about 8 hours and then leave em until 200ish. I then I pull em off and rest em in a bathtowel lined cooler (still foil wraped) for a few hours and they shred like butta!
 
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I don't worry about getting them done at the same time. I usually eat ribs for dinner then pull the pork butts off after dinner. I freeze individual portions of pork butt and half slabs of ribs. I usually pull one of each out, defrost, and have combo platters two night -- half butt and half ribs. BBQ freezes really well. Just defrost and nuke it.

If you had to reheat ribs, you could just put them back in the smoker for half an hour.
 
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