Shoulder, Brisket, Rib Smoke - Help Needed


 
B

Brian B.

TVWBB Fan
Hello all,

I've been a long time lurker to this board and have gotten all sorts of great ideas and recipes from it. Now I am in need of your suggestions and expertise. I have smoked pork shoulders, ribs, and chicken so far, but I wanted to try something more difficult this week and needed some input.

I have 2 pork shoulders weighing 8&9 pound respectively, 1 brisket weighing 5.25 pounds, and 3 racks of ribs weighing roughly two pound per.

I have never tried to smoke this combination before, so I am soliciting help as to when I should start cooking so that I can finish at roughly 6 PM. I'm guessing my outdoor temperature will be roughly 75-80 F and I am currently using water (though I am looking at the sand right now).

Normally my pork takes about 12 hours and I realize that putting the ribs on with 4 hours to go and turning them is going to slow me down, so what should my target be? I have also never smoked a brisket before, so I have no expectation about how long that is going to take.

I was thinking about the following

4:30 am light the coals
5:00 am put on pork and brisket
2:00 pm put on ribs
6:00 remove pork and brisket (and ribs if finished)
6:30 probably remove ribs and check to see how pork and brisket are doing
6:35 shred
7:00 enjoy

Am I being realistic or will that much cold meat (22.25 pounds) really extend my cooking times? Does anyone have any suggestions about when I should rotate my 3 all day pieces and between which grates? Any and all help will be appreciated.
 
if your bbqing for an event allow several hours on the back end for when your done. get an ice chest to store the meat in it will keep for as long as you reasonably need in one.

so when i cook for a group and dont really know my full cooking time i allow several hours and use one of those. it also gives the meat time to rest before serving.

next week i have to cook about 150 pounds of brisket and its going to go in a chest around 6 am and serve at noon. the things are still too hot to handle at noon long as you dont peek in the chest. i wish i could do it all on wsm's but i gotta use my clunky big smoker which i hate now that i got a wsm.
 
I would do the butts as a solo cook earlier in the week; rest, pull, cool, package, and reheat day of.

The brisket and ribs can cook together if you'd like and you wouldn't need to get up crack of dawn to do them. The flat I'd foil in the low 160s, the ribs--foil or not, up to you. They do not need turning so I wouldn't bother.

Were it not possible to do the butts earlier in the week then I would simply do them as an overnight cook the night before. After they came off I'd do the flat and the ribs, unless it was early in the day, in which case I'd wait a bit.
 
Welcome to the board Bryan!

Thinking of doing something similar for my Son's 21st (July 2nd). So very timely thread.

Brisket and Ribs on at the same time - what's your dome temp ball park Kevin?
 
I do both at higher temps than most--275 for spares, 325 for back ribs and 325-350 for brisket. (Grate temps--figure 15 higher for lid.) I don't cook flats but were I to, I'd do the same.

If a low/slow was preferred, both the flat and ribs could certainly be cooked lower and at the same temp. 250 grate is the lowest I'd go myself--or wherever the cooker settled right around there.
 
Thank you for all of the suggestions, I really appreciate the help. As I've been reading about brisket, I've noticed that most people are talking about doing much larger ones (10 lbs as opposed to my 5.25). How long should I expect this to take at 250? Is it only going to be 5 or 6 hours?
 
I have come up with a schedule for tomorrow, please let me know if anyone sees any obvious errors

4:00 am - Start Chimney
4:30 am - Start Smoker
4:45 am - Pork on Smoker
10:30 am - Brisket on Smoker, turn pork, replenish water
12:30 pm - Rub on ribs
2:30 pm - Ribs to smoker, baste brisket - turn end for end
5:30 pm - Turn ribs
6:00 pm - Check Pork, remove and rest
6:30 pm - Remove Ribs and Brisket
7:00 pm - Shred Pork
7:15 pm - Slice Brisket

Thanks
 
As stated above, I'd put the pork on now, or earlier.

There is no need to turn the pork.

There is no need to baste the brisket and there is no need to turn it.

There is no need to turn ribs.

Meats should be removed when they are done, not by any sort of time concept. Whether your meats will be done at the times you note or anywhere near them is open to question. It will depend on cook time, cook temp, the meats themselves, and how often (or not) you open the cooker.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">As stated above, I'd put the pork on now, or earlier. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Not that I need to second Kevin but I do. I've had butts of that size go 20 hours on me. Also remember you're going to be adding adding additional cold me to the smoker dropping the temp a couple of times during the butt cook. I'd rather be safe than sorry. You can always hold your butts in a cooler for 4 - 5 hours.
 
Thank you for all of the responses, I really appreciate the help. Based on all of your comments, I'm now second guessing myself on not starting last night. I'm guessing this is going to be the likely scenario.

Ribs and Brisket will finish roughly "on-time"
Smaller butt will finish shortly after that and will need resting and pulling time
Larger butt will keep me drinking with it until midnight.

Fortunately, I really only need the brisket, ribs, and smaller butt for my guests. I'm going to save and freeze the rest from the larger one. This is only my fifth smoke, so I guess I'll have to see what mistakes I made and go for the overnight smoke next time.

As for the turning of the meats, I was just following the instructions that I got from the cooking section of this forum.

I'll hopefully post some pictures later. Thanks again for all of the help.

Current Status
_____________________
5:15 Smoker hot, butts go on
5:45 (200 F)
6:15 (250 F) bottom vents to 25%
Beer count = 0 (it's Tuesday morning, give me a break I'm not a degenerate)
Beer Status - (1) 2 gallon barrel Bells Oberon, (1) 64 oz growler Mt. Carmel Copper Ale, unlimited crappy beer for everyone else.
 
Well, very good luck with the cook.

I would consider foiling the brisket flat when it gets into the 160s. It will help even its cooking and shorten the cook time some.

It is possible to foil either of the butts or both to shorten their cooking times as well. Gauge it later in the day and, depending on how things are going, you can decide then.

Bumping your cook temps higher will help to shorten the cook and will help counteract the effects of having to open the cooker to add/remove meat.

It is not that you can't turn/flip/rotate/baste/whatever, it is that it isn't necessary. Removing what isn't necessary from the flow of a more involved cook is usually helpful for cooker efficiency, timing and sanity.
 
As you can see from my temps below, the temp was starting to creep kind of high. With my limited early morning mental capacity, I was having trouble figuring it out. Sunshine, too much air?? Nope, just out of water. That happened a lot earlier than I expected. Getting my brisket prepped right now so it can go on at 10:30.

Current Status
_____________________
5:15 Smoker hot, butts go on
5:45 (200 F)
6:15 (250 F) bottom vents to 25%
7:15 (235 F)
8:15 (240 F)
9:30 (280 and climbing)
Beer count = 0 (it's Tuesday morning, give me a break I'm not a degenerate)
Beer Status - (1) 2 gallon barrel Bells Oberon, (1) 64 oz growler Mt. Carmel Copper Ale, unlimited crappy beer for everyone else.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">With my limited early morning mental capacity, </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
So very familiar!
 
Been busy since the last update. Everything went well with the rib placement, apple juice on the brisket, fuel & water reload. In case it makes any difference, I have the butts on top and the ribs / brisket on bottom.


Current Status
_____________________
5:15 Smoker hot, butts go on
5:45 (200 F)
6:15 (250 F) bottom vents to 25%
7:15 (235 F)
8:15 (240 F)
9:30 (280 and climbing)
10:15 Add Brisket
10:30 (240 F)
12:00 (240 F)
1:00 (240 F)
2:00 (240 F)
2:30 (240 F) Add ribs, add water, add charcoal
3:00 (280 F) large butt 174 F, brisket 164 F
3:30 (280 F) large butt 177 F, brisket 168 F

Beer count = 1/2 imperial pint Bells
Beer Status - (1) 2 gallon barrel Bells Oberon, (1) 64 oz growler Mt. Carmel Copper Ale, unlimited crappy beer for everyone else.
 
Looking forward to hearing how this all turns out. Fanciest combo I've tried so far is throwing a fatty on in the morning next to my brisket or pork. Looks like you might be cutting it close with those internals, but upping the cook temp like you did should help.

Applying a little more beer to your mouth might also help too.
icon_smile.gif
Not familiar with those flavors in particular, but I'm always interested in learning about a new microbrew or import.
 
No updates were forthcoming last night because everything got hectic once the 5:30 hour rolled around. Surprisingly all of the meat was ready in advance and had plenty of time to rest before pulling, saucing, etc. This was my first time with the brisket and I was not really that happy with it. I made the mistake of trimming it in the morning and I feel like I took too much fat off of it and did not give it enough time to soak in my marinade. It was still good, but the general consensus was that of the three, the brisket was the least favorite. It was a good thing that I decided (not with any real purpose in mind) to put the brisket on the bottom under the butts. The juices coming from the butts probably saved the brisket from being horrible.

The butts and the ribs on the other hand were excellent and we sent many leftovers home with people. It's now been about 18 hours since I have eaten and I think I'm just getting over the "meat sweats" and am feeling hungry again..
icon_smile.gif
I'll try to post some pictures when I get everything cleaned up today, but I did not get as many as I wanted because we were too busy prepping all of the food. Hopefully I can get more next time.

On the beer front, Bells is a brewery in Michigan that makes excellent beers all year round. The Oberon is their summer wheat style beer that has excellent hop and spice flavor. I'm guessing that the Bell's beers can be found around the country, but I've never really looked. The Mt. Carmel brewery is a local one to Cincinnati and probably cannot be found outside of this general region.

If I can provide any more details to anyone or if anyone else has additional FYIs for me (other than start the butts the night before), please let me know. Thanks to everyone on the board for all of the help.


Current Status - DONE
_____________________
5:15 Smoker hot, butts go on
5:45 (200 F)
6:15 (250 F) bottom vents to 25%
7:15 (235 F)
8:15 (240 F)
9:30 (280 and climbing)
10:15 Add Brisket
10:30 (240 F)
12:00 (240 F)
1:00 (240 F)
2:00 (240 F)
2:30 (240 F) Add ribs, add water, add charcoal
3:00 (280 F) large butt 174 F, brisket 164 F
3:30 (280 F) large butt 177 F, brisket 168 F
4:30 (280 F) large butt 185 F, brisket 175 (foiled brisket)
5:30 (280 F) large butt - multiple 190s temps, smaller butt multiple low 200s and 190s, brisket 195, all removed and put in cooler
6:30 (280 F) remove ribs, foil, placed in cooler
7:15 Pull and eat!
 
Good that your meal was successful.

Try not trimming flats, especially small ones. Also, try foiling when the flat hits the 160s. Also, remove the flat when it is tender, not when it hits some particular temp. It's quite possible that a flat or the size you cooked, further trimmed, would veer into overcooked territory before 195. Hard to say exactly but checking for tenderness earlier answers the question in real time.

ASounds like you had a good time, the important thing.
 
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