Pulled pork and ribs

[tom]

The WSM should arrive today, and the first smoke should happen this weekend.

I'm planning on ribs and pulled pork. When you do this, do you usually put it all in the smoker at once? It looks like ribs should only take about six hours, but a 7 pound butt could take around 10 1/2 hours (1 1/2 hrs per pound?). Should I put the butt on really early, and wait a few hours for the ribs?

Thanks

Tom

 

[meat~smoker in n.j.]

Hi Tom , welcome to SMF !!
As for your 1st smoke , do u want to eat the ribs with the pulled pork or do u wanna have them as a snak b-4 then !!! that is were u need to figure in the time factor,, if b-4 then get the ribs on same time u start
you`r pork ,, if u wanna do them same time then put them on 3 1/2 hrs into you`r smoke that should bring you pretty close to being done around the same time !!!
Also do u have a digital meat thermometor the maverick et-72 & the et-73 works great,, the et-73(2~probes) would be a good choice to use with this smoke ..(1~probe) monitors the smoke chamber & (1~probe) monitors the meat !! Hope this helps you ,,,

 

[smokeeater]

I'm still kinda new at this myself and have yet to smoke some ribs. Also, I have not smoked more than one meat at a time. I have thrown some of Dutch's wiked baked beans and some ABTs in while smoking though.

The first butts I did were 6lbs each (before being trimmed) and cooking at 225-250°F took 12 hours total - 2 hours per pound. I expected to be done smoking a few hours sooner and I was late getting to a friend's house with dinner. I have learned (on this forum) that each piece of meat will cook at different rates. I also learned it is better to expect it to take longer with the possibility of being done early. The other way around, you will find yourself getting anxious because everyone is waiting on you so they can chow down on some Q.

 

[bigal]

Welcome to SMF!

You should also allow at least an hour or so for the butt to rest before pulling. If you don't have some good insulated rubber gloves to use for pull'n, then wait longer. I don't have the gloves, and I usually let it rest for 1-1.5 hrs before pull, at least that long. Even then the meat is till pretty dang hot.

Good luck, wish I could help more, but I know nothing about a WSM.

Plenty of people will be here to help you out.

 

[zardnok]

Don't forget to cure that new WSM before you throw your meat in. Rub the inside down with olive oil or bacon fat and then run your temps up really high to burn off any chemical taste from the factory. Use this time to get used to heat regulation inside the WSM. Then let it cool down and clean it out before putting "real food" inside. Nothing ruins a good pork butt like burnt paint.

As for the timing of your smoke, I like to allow plenty of extra time, but ultimately when you want to eat (D-Time)will be the determining factor.

D-12 Start the pit and get the pork butt out of fridge where it has been resting overnight all rubbed down.

D-11 Put the pork butt into pit and get the temps back to 225ish.

D-10 Spritz pork butt.

D-9 Spritz pork butt.

D-8 Spritz pork butt and get the Ribs out of the fridge to begin to come to room temp.

D-7 Spritz pork butt and put ribs into smoker.

D-6 Spritz pork butt AND ribs and perhaps wrap pork butt in aluminum foil.

D-5 Spritz ribs.

D-4 Wrap ribs in aluminum foil with apple juice. Add ABTs or Beans now if desired.

D-3 Check internal temp on Pork butt. Should be at 200ish. Remove and place into cooler if so.

D-2 Remove ribs from foil and put back into smoker. Warn the wife that food will start coming inside in 90 minutes and for her to have everything else ready!!

D-1 Check ribs and probably remove them from smoker. Make sure to take paper towels and a knife outside with you so you can "verify they are done".

D-30min Remove pork butt from cooler and put into large pan. Get two large forks and shred it. Add whatever finishing sauce and juices you want at this time.

D TIME MUNCH OUT!!


This should give you a baseline guide of each hour what to think about cooking both. IF you see you are not able to maintain temps properly, you can always finish stuff in the oven.

 

[tom]

That's all good advice...thanks!

Eating it all at the same time, so butt needs to go in a while before the ribs (now I know).

Zardnok, that time schedule is priceless! After many years in the active service, I can really appreciate the way you spelled it out, line by line. That will be printed and posted on the fridge as my checklist.

Also, was wondering if I needed to burn of the factory smell first...glad I asked here and found that out before smoking with the equipment.

I see a common thread (through this thread that is) is that I need to give myself more time than I expected. Looks like Saturday will be an early day...

Thanks

Tom

 

[tonto1117]

Sounds like a great maiden voyage for your new WSM Tom, let us know how it goes and good luck!!!!!

 

[ultramag]

Tom, the WSM is a porcelain finished smoker and does not need curing. Watch your temps on the way up and try to keep it from getting too hot. It will want to run a little hotter than usual the first time or two it's used. This won't cause you any trouble with the butt and things should be easier to control by the time you start the ribs. Good luck on the maiden WSM voyage, they are a joy to use.