Smoke time?

[pabuckhunter]

Hello,
My name is Denny, I have a GOSM propane smoker and have smoked a few things in the past with some success. I have done venision hind quarters that have turn out like prime rib. I won't ever cook venison any other way!

I have a question maybe someone can answer. I am planning on smoking about 40-50 lbs of beef brisket for the upcoming Memorial Day Holiday. How do I calculate smoke time? Is it 1.5 hrs per lb. for all the meat? That is a long time in the smoker!!!! Or is it 1.5 hrs per lb. for say the largest piece? Any help would be great!
Thanks

 

[t-bone tim]

Welcome aboard pabuckhunter to SMF ...your in the right place to increase your smoke skills,plenty of good info and all friendly peeps, 1.5 hrs/lb sounds about right, if your briskets have a big variance in size ,you wouldn't want to go by the largest piece cause then your smallest would be overdone ...remember it's interernal temp your lookin for ,if it were me I would probe the smallest and the largest pieces and go from there or if you only have one probe then do the smallest first pull it when it gets to your desired temp, then move it to the next smallest and so on ...only my .02 worth,others will chime in soon, good luck

 

[jts70]

Denny,

Welcome aboard , nice to have you here!! I have not yet done a brisket( oh I will soon very soon) but I have included a sticky that Dutch has posted that should help you out . Also ditto on what T-bone said , you should probe the smallest first then work your way up. Hang tight some more folks well be by soon and lend their advice . Goood luck and please post your pics as we all love food porn!!http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ead.php?t=1574

Oh by the way if you could how about posting how you did those hind quarters, I have a friend who wants me to smoke a couple for him .... but dang if I know what to do . Thanks!!

Jeff

 

[shellbellc]

Welcome aboard!! Our Mid-atlantic presence is steadily growing! My son just started hunting this year and got a button buck, so we're looking forward to future years of venison smokes...

1.5 hrs/lb sounds right, but not with the total weight of the meat. I agree with probing largest and smallest...

 

[ultramag]

Welcome to SMF pabuckhunter!!!

 

[TulsaJeff]

Denny,

If your briskets are all different sizes then it will take different times depending on the size, weight, stubborness of the meat, etc.

The best thing you can do for yourself is to try and purchase briskets that are very similar in weight and size.

This will allow you to estimate a little better.

Ultimately, temperature is the indicator on when meat is finished and I highly recommend a good digital probe meat thermometer. I usually cook mine to around 185 however some take it on up close to 200 for that fall-apart effect.

Having done my share of briskets, I have noticed that time closely relates to when a certain temperature will be attained to some degree anyway(pun intended) ;-)

To get it down to a science, you want to allow around 1.6 hours per pound and then give yourself a few hours as a buffer. This figures out to be about 96 Minutes per pound and seems to be more accurate than the 1.5 hour/lb that we generally talk about.

It is easy to keep briskets hot for several hours once they are done.. it is not easy to keep people happy when they are waiting to eat so give yourself more time than you think you need and you will be glad you did later.

When you are smoking meat of different sizes, you have to look at each piece of meat separately to figure when it wil be done and this may mean using more than one thermometer to keep from poking and creating leak holes in the meat during the cooking process.

If you are not in charge of buying the meat and end up with various sizes, you can sort the briskets into 3 or 4 groups of similar sizes and put them into the smoker in intervals beginning with the largest group.

Allow yourself at least a 2 hour buffer for each group to be on the safe side.

It is no different when cooking different types of meat..

If you are cooking chicken, ribs and brisket and you want them all to get done at the same time then you would figure out your cook times and subtract the cook time from your finish goal time to know when to insert the meat into the smoker.

In the example above, If I wanted to have the meat ready by 2:00 PM on Saturday, I would place my 10 pound brisket in at 8:00 PM on Friday night which gives me 16 hours based on 1.6 hours/lb + a 2 hour buffer, the ribs would go in at 6:00 AM on Saturday morning which gives me a good 6 hours + 2 hours wrapped in foil and in the igloo cooler for further tenderizing. The chickens would go in promptly at around 9:30 AM on Saturday to allow about 4 hours + some good resting time.

The formula is S=F-C:

F= Finish Time
S= Start Time
C= Cook Time

Hope this helps!!

 

[tonto1117]

Welcome to the SMF Denny. Great folks here so jump right in.

Glad you found us!

 

[hillbillysmoker]

Welcome Denny. Nice to see you on the forum. Feel free to share those PA venison smoke recipes with us if you have the opportunity.

 

[squeezy]

I would like to second that request ...

Oh! yeah ...... and welcome to the SMF .... eh!

 

[teacup13]

welcome to SMF... as you can see already, lots of people here to help you... we are just a big family... welcome to the family

 

[billyq]

Give yourself more time than you think you'll need. Every smoke session is different. Remember, cook to temperature and not time. Low and slow!

 

[pabuckhunter]

Wow! Thanks everyone for the info and the welcome! I will take all the info and put it to good use. After I do my briskets over the weekend I hope to have pics to show you. I will also get the venison recipe posted asap.
thanks Again,
Denny

 

[deejaydebi]

Welcome Denny -

You've come o the right place!

 

[pabuckhunter]

Hello All,

Back from the Memorial DAy camping trip and would like to share with everyone. The 60 lbs. of beef brisket in the GOSM was a hugh smash hit! I cooked it for 17 hrs. to 185 degrees. I used a rub recipe from a smoke book I bought and a beer mop every 2 hrs. The whole group thought it was the best beef of any kind they have ever tasted! I would like to thank everyone for the help! Especially tulsajeff! I am attaching pictures hope they can be viewed.

Keep on smokin' !!!!

Denny

P.S. The PA venison recipe is coming.

 

[beerivore]

I just ate some pulled pork, but seeing that I am hungry again. Looks real good!

 

[squeezy]

Looks like you did a fine job on that beef ... congratulations Denny!

I'm still looking forward to that venison recipe ...

 

[jts70]

Looks like a success !! Congrats!

 

[hhersh]

...........this is the Golden Rule of smoking...........welcome Denny

 

[deejaydebi]

Welcome Denny -

You won't find a better place for info tha this one!