Ribs & Ham Together?

[Jeni Huelskamp]

Newbie here. Actually, still waiting on the screws that are on back order which didn't come with my WSM... sad. Learning lots in the mean time from the great forums here.

Anyway, can I do ribs and a pre-cooked ham at the same time since they are both low temps? Which should I put on top/bottom levels?

Is there anything that can be cooked at high temps with a Turkey?

 

[Doug D]

In the interest of convenience, you might want the ribs on the top grate, where they can be more easily tended. Downside is the ham might not fit on the bottom, between the two grates. Whichever you choose to do, it should be fine-- a little ham-flavored ribs, a little rib-flavored ham-- neither sounds unappealing.

As to a high-temp companion cook with turkey-- never thought about it. Since the average turkey is over ten pounds, I think most people would do just the turkey. The charcoal ring holds a bit over 12 pounds, and for it to maintain 300°+ temps for 3 hours or more, the additional mass would likely require adding fuel at some point, and that's kind of a pain. Couple that with the fact that whole turkeys by their size usually need to go on the top grate, and the general tendency to avoid having poultry juices drip on other meats. Otherwise, any other relatively lean meat would lend itself to a high-temp WSM cook.

 

[David Payne]

I have a Cookin Cajun double grill with water pan. I cook ham and turkey together all the time. I fill the water pan with water, put turkey on lower level, ham on top and let er rip. The ham constantly dripping on the turkey is awesome flavor. If it will fit, try it. It is all trial and error. If ya don't like it, adjust next time ya cook.

 

[David Lohrentz]

When you are cooking multiple items, there are several factors you need to consider:

1) How appealing is it to have item A dripping on item B or the reverse?

2) How much rotating, basting, flipping, glazing or saucing will each item need, and is there one that can just go on bottom without any tending?

3) Which one will be done first, and how much of a hassle would it be to remove from the lower grate before the upper grate?

4) How much fuel would it take to do both items together?

5) What are the ideal temps for the various items? Can a happy medium be found or can the temp be ramped up at the end after low and slow item comes off?

6) Is there a smoke wood combo that works well for both items?

Items 4,5 & 6 are fairly easy to satisfy. Personally, I don't want poulty dripping on beef or pork, I don't want to remove food from the lower grate first, and I don't want to tend to items on the lower grate when there is something on top that gets in the way.

As for what you can do with a turkey, how about a brined pork loin on top and the turkey on bottom?