Start on an Offset smoker and finish on a pellet smoker?

[Crodriguez1]

Hello you all, I was thinking about this and wanted to see if any of you have ever Started smoking some meat on your offset smoker and then switched over to finish the cook on a pellet smoker after you have wrapped the meat? I figured since the meat stops taking in smoke after wrapping, then it would be less time consuming to finish it off on a pellet smoker. Any thoughts?

 

[pops6927]

You can also finish them in the house oven also! What meat(s)?

 

[radio]

I have done that several times both to get good smoke, then not have to babysit and feed the fire. I really don't care for the results of a pellet smoker as much as a stick burner, but the convenience factor is great!

 

[sawhorseray]

You can also finish them in the house oven also! What meat(s)?

Pay attention to what Pops recommended. Once you wrap the meat smoke doesn't penetrate anymore. If your pellet is set at 225º and your offset at 275º, well, you be the judge. RAY

 

[S-met]

Pay attention to what Pops recommended. Once you wrap the meat smoke doesn't penetrate anymore. If your pellet is set at 225º and your offset at 275º, well, you be the judge. RAY

No shock here, but pops6927 nailed the answer.

I wish I could cite a scientific article, but you will just have to take the collective experience. In general, the amount of smoke meat takes on after the stall is minimal. No point to smoke after, you are just cooking at that point. There are only two reasons I continue to cook outside:
1 - I don't want to heat the house
2 - I want to sit outside and smoke/bbq (aka drink beer)

 

[BigMeat901]

Hello you all, I was thinking about this and wanted to see if any of you have ever Started smoking some meat on your offset smoker and then switched over to finish the cook on a pellet smoker after you have wrapped the meat? I figured since the meat stops taking in smoke after wrapping, then it would be less time consuming to finish it off on a pellet smoker. Any thoughts?

I actually smoke my meat for about an hour after it’s done taking in smoke then finish it in the oven. Comes out perfect and can’t even tell it was in the over for a few hours or so

 

[bregent]

I wish I could cite a scientific article, but you will just have to take the collective experience. In general, the amount of smoke meat takes on after the stall is minimal. No point to smoke after, you are just cooking at that point.

I doubt you'll find a scientific article because it's just not true. Meat takes on smoke throughout the cook. Meat smoked naked will be smokier than if wrapped. There may be some confusion because many folks wrap at the stall, which obviously stops smoke absorption. And some confuse the development of smoke ring with smoke flavor.

 

[S-met]

I doubt you'll find a scientific article because it's just not true. Meat takes on smoke throughout the cook. Meat smoked naked will be smokier than if wrapped. There may be some confusion because many folks wrap at the stall, which obviously stops smoke absorption. And some confuse the development of smoke ring with smoke flavor.

It does not stop taking on smoke, but the amount of smoke it takes on is not linear. 4 vs 8hrs of smoke is not 2x as much. And what you gain after the stall is nominal. It has a finite depth of absorption/penetration.

As it hits the stall, the meat hits a temperature equilibrium (hence the stall) where the internal where the internal and external temperatures equalize due to evaporative cooling (kind of like sweat) cools as the outside is heating. As the sweat occures fromthe inside out, the amount of smoke absorbed is greatly diminished. It will momentarily increase after the stall as the equilibrium shifts back a little but the smokiness will have nominal difference.

If you have doubts, try an experiment: cook two identical cuts of meat, one wrapped at the stall and one without. Once both are done, cut a center piece from each and compare. You can one-up wrap one and oven finish the other. A refined palate may be able to tell, but if you are keeping tbs and not changing your smoke protocol, you likely will not be abe to discern in a blind taste.

 

[forktender]

No shock here, but pops6927 nailed the answer.

I wish I could cite a scientific article, but you will just have to take the collective experience. In general, the amount of smoke meat takes on after the stall is minimal. No point to smoke after, you are just cooking at that point. There are only two reasons I continue to cook outside:
1 - I don't want to heat the house
2 - I want to sit outside and smoke/bbq (aka drink beer)

There is a huge moisture difference between my smoker and my oven.
I tend not to wrap most everything I smoke, by keeping it in the smoker it turns out way better food than the oven. The only time I will use the oven to finish off meat in the oven is if it is wrapped.

And it's way easier to spritz or mop when it's in the smoker. My wife almost killed me the last time I used the oven to finish off a brisket. It looked like a bomb went off in her oven when I was done with it.

 

[sawhorseray]

Uh-oh, happy wife happy life! RAY

 

[Johnny Ray]

We won our first KCBS Grand Championship by starting our butts, briskets and ribs off on a Jambo Backyard model and then finishing them off after the wrap on a Cookshack FEC100 pellet smoker.
This technique works really well. Best of both worlds.
For the pellet lovers on this site (myself included) our third GC was won by cooking all four meats on 2 Rec Tec 680’s.

Johnny Ray

 

[Crodriguez1]

You can also finish them in the house oven also! What meat(s)?

I usually just smoke brisket or porkbutts.

 

[Crodriguez1]

I doubt you'll find a scientific article because it's just not true. Meat takes on smoke throughout the cook. Meat smoked naked will be smokier than if wrapped. There may be some confusion because many folks wrap at the stall, which obviously stops smoke absorption. And some confuse the development of smoke ring with smoke flavor.

In my case l will end up wrapping the brisket in butcher paper once it hits the stall. So once I wrap would there be a difference in keeping it on the offset or transfering it over to a pellet smoker or oven?

 

[bregent]

It will momentarily increase after the stall as the equilibrium shifts back a little but the smokiness will have nominal difference.

This has not been my experience at all. I have cooked meat in SV way past 'stall' temps and then smoked for a few hours and they are plenty smoky. Briskets smoked unwrapped have always been much smokier than those I've wrapped. A lot depends on how much smoke you are applying. If you're smoking with a ton of smoke so that it overwhelms you tastes, then yes, a few more hours wont make that much difference. This has nothing to do with stall though.

 

[JWFokker]

I regularly start with the offset and finish on the pellet burner for convenience. After a few hours tending the fire the meat has plenty of good smoke on it and the pellet burner can take over. I did pork shoulder burnt ends yesterday this way. That said, once you wrap, it doesn't matter what heat source you use.

 

[JWFokker]

If you're doing ribs 3-2-1 or 3-1-1, it's very handy for the last hour to throw it on the pellet burner, especially if you're applying sauce. Does a great job getting the sauce tacky.