Smoke times for multiple meats

[roushy]

I am about to finish up my next smoker build but wanted to throw out a discussion thread about multiple meats.  I usually do not fire up my cooker untiless we have a decent sized gathering and I like to smoke a few different things for variety sake.  All the times are based off a single piece of meat but I've noticed when you have more meat in the chamber, the times to final temp go up.  Does anyone have any good resources to how long things take when you add additional meat?  For example, everyone knows it takes about 90 minutes per pound for brisket or pork shoulder.  Does that change if you put in 2 or 3 shoulders in a chamber?

Just thought I would float this out there.... I've always scratched my head because I could never figure it out.  I always end up wrapping my stuff mid-day to get it done before the guys arrive.

~ Roushy

 

[timleo]

it seems like the time to cook should go up if there are 3 shoulders absorbing the heat from one fire
 

 

[roller]

Sorry but I can`t help because I only smoke using the Internal Temp. method...

 

[bruno994]

Cook times do not increase, but the amount of fuel to heat a full pit may increase.  It's like putting 1 ice cube in a cup of water, versus a dozen cubes in the same cup.  Water gets colder with more cubes.  The pit will take more fuel to keep the temps up because of the amount of meat you have on.  As long as you maintain your cooking temp (I measure in the dead center of my bottom grate), your times should not change at all per piece of meat. 

 

[lilricky]

Sorry but I can`t help because I only smoke using the Internal Temp. method...

ditto

 

[scarbelly]

Most of us cook to IT and plan on 2 hrs per # on brisket and butt. Chicken is about 1/2 hour estimate but again to temp. The only exception for most of us is ribs. Most use 3-2-1 for Spares and 2-2-1 for babybacks. 

 

[oldschoolbbq]

Roushy , I do a lot of 'bulk' cooks for  Family gatherings and Friends and Community fund raisers. I don't really worry about the time as I do the temps.

I cook at 225° or within 15° of that for the time I figure I will need , then watch all my variables - color,smell ,and density of the smoke , the sounds I hear from the smoker , ect.

Betty 004.JPG

• oldschoolbbq
• Sep 5, 2012

But the most important thing I do is "leave the Smoker door closed" as much as possible so the heat is maintained in the smoker  keeping the heat (as in an oven) as even as possible in a wood fired smoker.

The amount of meat in the smoker will actually help hold heat for you , like ballast.  I have fire brick in my smoker's bottom to help there - a heavier metal smoker holds heat better too;the reason for 1/4" metal in a lot of them.

In the shot above , I had 5 Butts and they all came out great , in a timely manner and fall apart tender.

I have found that a full smoker is more efficient than one with just one item cooking.

Mass is your friend , it holds heat and helps with the time thingy.

We all go by temp. for a finished product , however tracking the time will give you a good estimate.

When doing multiple meats of differing sizes , time your placement into the smoker by size(mass , what takes the longest) - example - Steaks...1-rare , one med.well , and one well done...

the well done one will go on first , then the med. and so forth while watching your temps. - (cooking chamber and   Internal Meat Temps.).

IMHO , I feel the more you place in your smoker, the better it cooks...the environment you are cooking in stays steadier , holding the heat and humidity you need to tenderize the meat.

Hope this helps you, have fun and...

 

[roushy]

Thanks for the insight everyone.  I too cook to internal temps but in terms of planning on when to pull everything, it just seems when I have more to cook, the longer everything takes.  Maybe with this new smoker (reverse flow instead of a double barrel) I should see more times within reason.

 

[jarjarchef]

I tend to think the same as Oldschoolbbq the more the merrier! You can over pack the smoker, but that is another story.

Now I start my cooks hotter to account for the heat loss during loading. I also try to keep my chamber at 250-275. I get better results and a lot less of a stall.

 

[roushy]

Yeah one thing I never did was bring the temp up before I loaded the meat or openned he chamber.  When I get the smoker done and start using it, I'll make sure to increase the temp before loading the meat and letting the temperature fall slowly in to the 225-250 that I usualy cook at.

Stefan.

 

[backwoods bbq]

Quote

IMHO , I feel the more you place in your smoker, the better it cooks...the environment you are cooking in stays steadier , holding the heat and humidity you need to tenderize the meat.

I am soo glad someone else stated this. I have used this expression and people look at me like I am a 30 year old idiot (until they taste my brisket!) my newest smoker is made out of 3/8" steel and there is a silver lining to learning on a thin sheet metal stick burner...If you get good on a small cheap smoker with fire management, then the bigger ones will be less work and will give you more time fopr prep work of other bbq items! The thicker metal and better insulated smokers will hold heat  better than a smaller one.

 

[backwoods bbq]

Oh BTW, This and one other thing are the only two things (that i know of) that I and aaron franklin disagree with he has always stated the more meat you have on the smoker the longer it takes. Then again, he has a few 1000 gallon propane tank smokers that he uses maybe it does change after a couple hundred pounds but as far as less than 100 pounds i have not noticed a difference.