Well, I'm not sure if this falls under a 'mass cook-out", haha, but I'm a newb to this stuff and any help would be appreciated.
I bought one of those cheap electric (yeah, I know!) vertical Brinkmann smokers on a whim a few weeks ago as I've been interested in smoking for a long time.
First night I used it I had a heavy mesquite smoke going on a whole chicken and a beef roast (dad just threw it on randomly). Needless to say, the chicken tasted kind of dry, and both the chicken and beef had a disgustingly bitter taste to it (I suspect a combination of the mesquite + overload of smoke).
Did some reading on here, determined that I needed to brine the chicken and get a small amount of smoke going. I did two whole chickens a little later after briningg them for ~12 hours in a basic brine, re-did my rub... and they turned out really tasty (hickory this time), very juicy, etc. Did a pork butt the following day (brined for ~12 hours), alton brown's rub.. again, turned out fantastic, perhaps the best pulled pork I've had yet.
Then I tried a brisket the other day.. $20 cut, completely awful. Smoked for several hours to 190*... it tasted like shoe leather. Soooooo dry. I suspect my lack of skills + an overly trimmed (from the butcher) brisket culminated to its utter demise.. haha..
Ok, sorry for the background, I should probably get to my actual question now :)
For the 4th, I've been commissioned to cook for our family + friends.
Between the two racks on the smoker, I'm going to try fitting 2 birds + 2 pork butts on the top, and maybe 2 racks of ribs (cut into smaller pieces) on the bottom. I'm not even sure how feasible that is, frankly, but I'm still working out the logistics hah.
I'd like to try and have everything done / ready to eat by ~7 pm that day. I'm just not sure how to coordinate when everything goes in, what should be on the top rack vs bottom, etc. I only have one digital thermometer, I might pick up a few of the cheaper ones that you just stick in and read an analog gauge as well. If you have any tips on how to keep stuff that finishes early fresh tasting and whatnot, I'm all ears for that as well.
For the record, the brinkmann runs a little hot (240-250*), and it has no control over the temperature, so that's about what it runs at. ANY advice would be phenomenal. Thank you!
I bought one of those cheap electric (yeah, I know!) vertical Brinkmann smokers on a whim a few weeks ago as I've been interested in smoking for a long time.
First night I used it I had a heavy mesquite smoke going on a whole chicken and a beef roast (dad just threw it on randomly). Needless to say, the chicken tasted kind of dry, and both the chicken and beef had a disgustingly bitter taste to it (I suspect a combination of the mesquite + overload of smoke).
Did some reading on here, determined that I needed to brine the chicken and get a small amount of smoke going. I did two whole chickens a little later after briningg them for ~12 hours in a basic brine, re-did my rub... and they turned out really tasty (hickory this time), very juicy, etc. Did a pork butt the following day (brined for ~12 hours), alton brown's rub.. again, turned out fantastic, perhaps the best pulled pork I've had yet.
Then I tried a brisket the other day.. $20 cut, completely awful. Smoked for several hours to 190*... it tasted like shoe leather. Soooooo dry. I suspect my lack of skills + an overly trimmed (from the butcher) brisket culminated to its utter demise.. haha..
Ok, sorry for the background, I should probably get to my actual question now :)
For the 4th, I've been commissioned to cook for our family + friends.
Between the two racks on the smoker, I'm going to try fitting 2 birds + 2 pork butts on the top, and maybe 2 racks of ribs (cut into smaller pieces) on the bottom. I'm not even sure how feasible that is, frankly, but I'm still working out the logistics hah.
I'd like to try and have everything done / ready to eat by ~7 pm that day. I'm just not sure how to coordinate when everything goes in, what should be on the top rack vs bottom, etc. I only have one digital thermometer, I might pick up a few of the cheaper ones that you just stick in and read an analog gauge as well. If you have any tips on how to keep stuff that finishes early fresh tasting and whatnot, I'm all ears for that as well.
For the record, the brinkmann runs a little hot (240-250*), and it has no control over the temperature, so that's about what it runs at. ANY advice would be phenomenal. Thank you!
