Smoking ribs and chicken together in electric smoker - ok idea?

[jjlnyc]

Greetings all. Been a while, happy to be back!
For Sunday's family get-together, I will be smoking three racks of St. Louis ribs in my Masterbuilt 30 ANALOG electric smoker. I cut each rack in half and use those upright rib holders, which work very well in my experience. I will use only dry rub, no sauce, and the 3-2-1 method at about 250F. (actually, I shave about 15 mins off the 1st two of those stages)
I also want to smoke about 6 bone-in chicken thighs and 4 split bone-in chicken breasts, which I will probably cut in half. Dry rubbed, finished with sauce. These pieces should all fit on one shelf in the smoker.
So - a few questions:
What is the consensus as to which shelf? Top, middle, bottom?
Knowing that they wont need the 6 hours I am doing the ribs for, at what point in time should I add the pieces to the smoker?
And is it even a good idea to smoke these meats with the same temp?

Thanks in advance for any insight!

 

[smokerjim]

I would put the ribs above the chicken, I personally would just put the chicken in at the beginning and pull them when they are done and just heat them in the microwave or oven when you want to eat them, ribs would probably have to go on the top racks then the chicken underneath. temp would be good for both in my opinion, although the skin will be a little tough. also chicken takes on a lot of smoke so to much smoke might make them a little bitter depending on what type of wood your using.

 

[Jonok]

Agree with bird underneath. Pull them when they’re about 150 and finish them to 160 breast and 175-180 for thighs in a 400 degree oven. It actually makes the skin palatable.

 

[EdP]

The only chicken I've liked off my smoker has been skinless thighs, boneless and bone in. Hickory was too strong, post oak was OK, apple was good, and a little mesquite was surprisingly good. I haven't tried any other woods, but I pretty much stick with pork and beef.

 

[AmericanSmoker30]

Load it all at the same time. With the electric smoker, the closer to the coil, the faster it should cook. Meat probe on the chicken. If you need a ton more time on the ribs, hold hot on the yard birds while the pork finishes. Good luck. Post some pics!

 

[siege]

Poultry always goes below whatever else you are smoking, for basic food safety. That way raw chicken juices are not dripping down to contaminate your other foods.