Newbie question

gatorfan130

Newbie

Original poster

Feb 26, 2016

3

10

• Feb 26, 2016

• #1

Just bought a MES30 and broke it in with chicken wings, turned out great! Then went for the almighty brisket! It also turned out really well! My question is, the "formula" for smoking beef is 1.5 hours per pound of beef. Now is that per pound in the smoker or per piece of beef? Example my brisket was 6lbs, totaling approx 9 hours in the smoker. If I wanted to smoke 2 6lbs briskets, would I have to smoke closer to 18hrs?

 

SmokinAl

SMF Hall of Fame Pitmaster

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Jun 22, 2009

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Central Florida (Sebring)

• Feb 26, 2016

• #2

No, 2- 6 lb. briskets will take the same time as 1 will. Only difference may be a few minutes, because your putting 12 lbs. of cold meat in the smoker instead of 6. So the smoker temp may drop & take a little longer to come back up. No more than a half hours difference.

Al

 

phatbac

Master of the Pit

Jun 11, 2013

2,207

1,159

Monroe, NC USA

• Feb 26, 2016

• #3

I like to cook to temp not time. sometimes it takes 12 hours on a piece of meat sometimes it takes 6 hours on a big piece of meat. but its IT (internal temperature) you want. You can use the time estimate to make sure you are done with dinner at the right time, but i would use a probe thermometer to make sure your brisket is 200 -205 IT or your pork is 195-200 or whatever doneness you are looking for. Don't pigeonhole yourself into a certain amount of time, cook to to temp and you will be right every time!

Happy Smoking,

phatbac (Aaron)

 

joe black

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Jan 25, 2015

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Greenville, SC

• Feb 26, 2016

• #4

I totally agree with that. Some muscles are more dense than others and that will skew the times. It's always better (more accurate) to cook by time. One other very important issue is, KNOW YOUR COOKER and it's particular personality.

Good luck and enjoy smokin', Joe :grilling_smilie:

 

gatorfan130

Newbie

Original poster

Thread starter

Feb 26, 2016

3

10

• Feb 26, 2016

• #5

Thanks for the quick responses.