Brisket and pork butt together

gruelurks · May 8, 2009

Ok, I feel I've honed my skills enough as a novice to step up and cook for Mothers Day this Sunday. I bought a 4# beef briskest which is a bit on the thin side, and a 6.5# pork butt bone in. I know the butt is going to take a great deal of time, probably 10 hours at least, but when should I consider putting the brisket in the smoker? Start them together? Put the brisket in a couple hours after the butt?

I need to have food ready around 3-4 pm that day, so I planned on starting them around 2am in the morning, taking a nap, then getting back up around 6 to check on things.

Your advice is appreciated!

pinkmeat · May 8, 2009

If you really need to, put the meat on at 5am. Fire going at 430ish. Cook at 250 and you should have plenty of time.

Also, you can foil at 165, then finish in a 300degree oven without losing any moisture. That's what i would do if I were you.

Once everything has reached it's internal temp you are going for, pull it out of the oven, cooler it, and it will hold it for an hour or more until you're ready to pull or slice.

pignit · May 9, 2009

Since I've started this smoking thing I've learned that more times than not, it takes longer than you expected. I've had butts cook for 14 hours and still put them in the oven to finish off. The thing to remember is that the meat will stay hot for 4 or 5 hours or even more if you take it to 200, wrap it in foil... wrap it in a towel or two and put it in a cooler. I've served piping hot smokes 6 hours after being done by doing this. So my vote is the earlier you get started the better. The brisket is going to take almost as long as the butt.

gruelurks · May 9, 2009

Argh, crap! I forgot to mention I am using a 30" MES.

pignit · May 9, 2009

Well you can always wrap it when it's done and set the MES on 200. It'll be hot when your ready for it.

gruelurks · May 11, 2009

I am happy to report I had great success today with one minor exception. When I put the meats in at 2am this morning, I forgot to stick the woodchip tray in my MES smoker which led me to dump a whole tube of chips on the burner itself. It was late, I had washed all the pieces earlier that night and was a bit tired when I loaded it up, but since it started smoked pretty quickly, I didn't think anything of it.

Checked the NEW themo on the brisket around 1:30, and it was at 190, so I pulled it out, foiled and toweled it, then tossed it in the preheated cooler. The pork took another half hour to hit 180, then I pulled and foiled it as well into the cooler to rest. I made up a pan of baked beans to toss in the smoker with a fresh batch of chips, they came out pretty good too.

The thing I am most happy about is that the brisket came out awesome! Nice and tender, after I sliced it you only needed a fork to break it apart. My mother-in-law couldn't stop jabbering about the pork and brisket, which was the highlight of my day today. Thanks to this site and the tips on here, I think I have a got a solid foot in the door to smoking now. Now, what to purchase for my next smoker?

pineywoods · May 11, 2009

Looks great nice job

erain · May 11, 2009

looks like you had a great smoke!!!

creative rock · May 11, 2009

I agee with PignIt... I have smoke the night before... got to temp, foiled, wrapped in towels... put in the ice chest (cooler), and went to bed... got up the next morning 6 hours later, was around 160. Was still hot to the touch when I went to pull... but best of all DELICIOUS!!!
Matt
aka Rocky

seenred · May 11, 2009

Nice job! Looks good.

irishteabear · May 11, 2009

Good job! Looks like it turned out well.

grothe · May 11, 2009

Looks great...real nice job!!

scmelik · May 11, 2009

dang nice looking smoke there.

rivet · May 11, 2009

Congratulations, and nice looking dinner there! In answer to your question- do what a lot of us do~troll the meat department of your favorite store and pounce on a good deal! It all comes out good in the end, and you'd be surprised at the variety you end up with.

Good job on your smoke.

sumosmoke · May 11, 2009

Glad to hear all was a success for you! The mother's opinion is highly coveted so to receive the praise is a definite kudos to you!!

The qvue was great and can't wait to see what's in your next smoke!

Brisket and pork butt together

Smoking Fanatic

Smoking Fanatic

Master of the Pit

Smoking Fanatic

Master of the Pit

Smoking Fanatic

SMF Hall of Fame Pitmaster

Master of the Pit

Meat Mopper

Epic Pitmaster

Master of the Pit

Master of the Pit

Smoke Blower

Master of the Pit

Master of the Pit

Similar threads

Hot Threads