Brisket, Butt & Ribs

[dogstyler]

I would like to have a sort of "Bradley Buffet" for some of my friends.

Any experience with doing a Brisket, Butt and Ribs at the same time – staggering the "put in" times so they all complete at about the same time; keeping in mind the FTC?

Thanks for your help

bill


Team Dogstyler "Pirates From The Jaws"

[nsxbill]

Boy, not me.  I would do the Butt first, shred it and vacuum pack with sauce.  Brisket next, slice it up paper thin, and again vacuum pack in small batches.  Do the ribs and after the FTC thing and just about pull them out of the cooler after a couple of hours drop your bags of already prepared butt and brisket into boiling water then serve everything hot with the side dish du jour.

Bill

<i>There is room on earth for all God's creatures....on my plate next to the mashed potatoes.</i>

[JJC]

Got to agree with Bill on this one, DS.  Without tons of experience and dual meat temp probes plus a cabinet temp probe I wouldn't even think about it (and even then I would probably lie down on the couch until that thought went away--just like I do when I think about going out for a run).  

One of the great things about the BS is that you can cook meat in stages and put it up in the refer or freezer until needed.  Lots of foods cooked in the BS actually tast better if they sit for a couple days and then get re-heated.

For example, if you followed Bill's order of cooking and wanted to do a Saturday evening dinner, you might consider doing the butt on Tue or Wed evening, the brisket on Thurs or Fri evening, and then the ribs on Sat.  You wouldn't need to freeze anything unless you were keeping it for a much later time--just keep the pulled pork and brisket in the refer and reheat before guests arrive.  A vacuum sealer is a terrific item to have, but if you don't have one you can survive quite well.  Personally, I don't have one--spent the money on a Reveo vacuum marinator instead and I'm glad I did.  A vacuum sealer and ProComm4/Guru combo are still high on my wish list, however.

John
Newton MA

[Habanero Smoker]

I have staggered items out, such as when I did a brisket, butt and a couple of chickens at the same time. The only thing I staggered in was the chicken, because it required a one hour less smoke time, and a different flavor of wood. I use 1 mesquite and 2 hickories for the first hour, and used pecan for the final three hours after the chickens were place in. I was using two meat probes, one from my Maverick and the other from the Guru. I put the Maverick probe in the Chicken, and the Guru in the brisket. After the chickens came out I put the Maverick probe in the butt. This was the only way I could do multiple meats, and control the amount of smoke that was applied.

As Bill and John have stated that brisket and butt reheats well, so you can cook them in advance. If it's large quantities that need to be reheated, I place the meat in disposable aluminum pans; if it is brisket I may add 1/4 of beef broth, for butts I add vaunted vinegar, and tightly cover with foil. Reheat in a preheated oven at 350 degrees, until reheated to the desired temperature.

[Chez Bubba]

Bill,

Your event will turn into a marathon that you never want to compete in again. Been there, done that, there is a better way. I agree with all above....butt & brisket can be pre-done & either refrigerated or freezered. Properly re-warming is the key.

In the past, we've done big smokes with hundreds of pounds of varied meats in multiple smokers & it simply kicked our ass! By the time it's all ready, your only wish will be for the guests to go home & let you get some sleep!

This year at the 2005 Indy 500 Brian's Wish Benefit Chez Bubba/CampAndBrew cookout we are going to pre-smoke about 150# of butt, vacu-suck it, freeze & re-warm in a big pot of boiling water via a turkey fryer.

We're only gonna take 2 smokers to do the other meats (andouille, chub sausage, pork loin, chicken parts) as they have similar cook times....only the pork loins have to be staggered.

If you're going to do multi-meats, you have to have a bunch of probe thermos to monitor each one.

Good luck & happy eats,

Kirk

http://www.chezbubba.com
Ya think next time I check into a hotel & they ask "Smoking or Non?" they would mind?

[MallardWacker]

Kirk and Bill,

The discussion came up with me this week about vacuum suckers.  We are always getting emails to provide meals for folks in and for people at our church, new babies, funerals, you catch my drift.  I have taken butts before, but the cooking time is somewhat prohibiting .  My question is; does the butt really taste good after doing that?  I think we have all seen re-warmed butt that looked like crapola.  Personally I think it would be great to drop a couple pound bags, a package of buns and some of my wife's slaw in a big box and deliver it to the folks needing it.  Also this would be a GREAT excuse to the Hen Mallard for a new toy....


SmokeOn,

mski
Perryville, Arkansas
Wooo-Pig-Soooie

If a man says he knows anything at all, he knows nothing what he aught to know.  But...

[dogstyler]

I appreciate the input.  I really thought there might be something lost in the reheating process, but apparently not.

I will plan on making my butt and brisket early in the week; doing the ribs the morning of our party.

Thanks again for all your help.

bill


Team Dogstyler "Pirates From The Jaws"

[Chez Bubba]

MW,

The key is to re-warm it low & slow, just like you cooked it. If you contain the moisture during re-warming, it will taste virtually the same as the day you cooked it, IMO.

Cook it, shred it, sauce it, suck it, freeze it. Let it come to room-ish temp before sucking & freezing....too many ice crystals.

Kirk

http://www.chezbubba.com
Ya think next time I check into a hotel & they ask "Smoking or Non?" they would mind?

[MallardWacker]

Thanks Kirk,

I would think that most folks can boil water.  Whe could bring the meal and they could eat it when they wanted to much easier.  I think I will put this in the O'l budget.


SmokeOn,

mski
Perryville, Arkansas
Wooo-Pig-Soooie

If a man says he knows anything at all, he knows nothing what he aught to know.  But...

[Chez Bubba]

Just make sure they understand that they're <b>warming</b> it, not cooking it. It's not entirely foolproof.

Kirk

http://www.chezbubba.com
Ya think next time I check into a hotel & they ask "Smoking or Non?" they would mind?