Greetings All,
I have been planning on a large smoke for the 4th of July for some time now. I am feeding about 25 people and will be using my Master Forge vertical smoker. I have done 4 or 5 smokes in the smoker since purchasing and am feeling comfortable with it although for each of those smokes I only smoked one piece of meat usually a 7 pound pork butt or brisket.
For the 4th I am planning on smoking:
2 - 7 lb pork butts
2 - 7 lb briskets
I have a few questions for the group and am looking for any general advise there may be when smoking multiple meats.
Some questions that come to mind:
1) With a party of about 25 people, I assume 28 pounds of meat is plenty. We have some big eaters but hopefully I am not even close to light on planned amount of meat.
2) I am shooting for a 3 PM eat time so to be safe I am planning to start around 11PM the night before. 1 1/2 hours has rarely been accurate for me as I seem to lock in more around 2 hours per pound...but again maybe things will differ with the amount of meat I am smoking. I am thinking 10PM should get me done worst case around 2 PM with an hour to rest. Is my timing reasonable?
3) Any recommendations on how to stack this meat vertically. I had planned on both pork butts with fat cap up on the top two racks. The bottom most brisket with fat cap down and the one above it with fat cap up. I am assuming this will baste the brisket quite nicely as everything falls downward and the bottom most brisket will be protected with a downward facing fat cap.
4) Temperature wise is there anything I need to worry about with large quantities? I am hoping temp is easier to control with all the extra meat maintaining it. But I am also worried I may be starting too early if things may cook closer to a true 1 1/2 hours per pound.
5) Toweling - If I end early I will towel everything and again here hoping the multiple meats will help keep temps stable. I am planning to use only a few towels and throwing everything in the same cooler.
6) Foiling - I am concerned about managing 4 pieces of meat. I am thinking of skipping the foiling. Are there strong opinions on this topic? I certainly don't want dry meat. If I need to, I'll just do them one at a time and make it work.
7) Lastly, am I over thinking this? I want to be as prepared as possible. It's a big smoke with many people. It must go off smoothly.
Thanks to all. I'll do my best to report back with photos after the holiday.
I have been planning on a large smoke for the 4th of July for some time now. I am feeding about 25 people and will be using my Master Forge vertical smoker. I have done 4 or 5 smokes in the smoker since purchasing and am feeling comfortable with it although for each of those smokes I only smoked one piece of meat usually a 7 pound pork butt or brisket.
For the 4th I am planning on smoking:
2 - 7 lb pork butts
2 - 7 lb briskets
I have a few questions for the group and am looking for any general advise there may be when smoking multiple meats.
Some questions that come to mind:
1) With a party of about 25 people, I assume 28 pounds of meat is plenty. We have some big eaters but hopefully I am not even close to light on planned amount of meat.
2) I am shooting for a 3 PM eat time so to be safe I am planning to start around 11PM the night before. 1 1/2 hours has rarely been accurate for me as I seem to lock in more around 2 hours per pound...but again maybe things will differ with the amount of meat I am smoking. I am thinking 10PM should get me done worst case around 2 PM with an hour to rest. Is my timing reasonable?
3) Any recommendations on how to stack this meat vertically. I had planned on both pork butts with fat cap up on the top two racks. The bottom most brisket with fat cap down and the one above it with fat cap up. I am assuming this will baste the brisket quite nicely as everything falls downward and the bottom most brisket will be protected with a downward facing fat cap.
4) Temperature wise is there anything I need to worry about with large quantities? I am hoping temp is easier to control with all the extra meat maintaining it. But I am also worried I may be starting too early if things may cook closer to a true 1 1/2 hours per pound.
5) Toweling - If I end early I will towel everything and again here hoping the multiple meats will help keep temps stable. I am planning to use only a few towels and throwing everything in the same cooler.
6) Foiling - I am concerned about managing 4 pieces of meat. I am thinking of skipping the foiling. Are there strong opinions on this topic? I certainly don't want dry meat. If I need to, I'll just do them one at a time and make it work.
7) Lastly, am I over thinking this? I want to be as prepared as possible. It's a big smoke with many people. It must go off smoothly.
Thanks to all. I'll do my best to report back with photos after the holiday.
