Does this make sense?

[richardvoyageur]

Hi guys, 2nd time smoker this weekend and I'm ramping up the difficulty substantially and want to verify with the pros (you all)  8).

Our meat: 1 pork shoulder, 8.5 lbs (boston butt i believe, not picnic)
2 racks of side ribs, St. Louis cut
2 racks of back ribs

Our plan: dry rub shoulder (already done last night, Thursday)
            Friday @ 8 PM: preheat smoker to 250F, take out shoulder and put it on the counter to come up to temp
            Friday @ 9 PM: shoulder goes in, keeping temp between 200-225F with apple/hickory alternating pucks for three hours only
            Friday @ 10 PM: remove membrane and apply dry rub to ribs, wrap them and fridge them
            Friday @ midnight: take pucks out but leave smoker box on for extra heat (bad weather expected)

Saturday @ 11 AM: remove ribs from fridge and bring them up to temp
Saturday @ noon: place ribs in smoker and start the 3 hour blend of apple/hickory pucks (so this will make 3 hours of smoke for ribs and 6 combined for shoulder)
Saturday @ 3 PM: foil ribs with 1/4 cup of apple juice each and return to smoker.  Take out smoke pucks and leave smoker box on for heat purposes (it will be a dreary day)
Saturday @ 4 PM: remove foil if bones are poking out the ends and proceed with saucing ribs
Saturday @ 5 PM: remove ribs from smoker and FTC until 6 PM or so when we hope to eat

Somewhere on Saturday afternoon we're hoping the shoulder will be ready and we can FTC it as well.  I plan to remove the shoulder at 185 and hope it will rise to 190-195 for final pulling.  Is this optimal or should I aim for another IT threshold?  

Does this plan make sense?  We are working without a PID nor bubba pucks but we will have a leave-in digital thermometer (my new maverick 732 is on the way with bubba pucks).

Really need help on the small tweaks here guys and hoping someone can enlighten me.

           

[pensrock]

 Looks like you have done your homework. It sounds pretty good but I think the butt will be ready to pull by noon. That will be 16 hours. I have had butts ready in 12 hours or sometimes 18 hours, its kinda hard to be exact. Also I pull the butts around 185-190 IT and they have all pulled great.
If your planning to eat around 6pm then the butt will be done and may have to FTC for quite a while, but its better done and waiting then everyone asking.... 'is it done yet? I'm hungry'.  :)
I'm sure more members will be able to give more advice. Good luck.

[Ka Honu]

A couple of thoughts...

In this case, combining into one session seems overly complicated to me.  By the time your butt has been in the smoker/oven for 12-15 hours, if it's not done, it will at least be too close to done to absorb any more smoke.

I guess I'd probably simplify the process by putting the butt in the Bradley Friday evening about 8 or 9 PM for 4-5 hours of smoke, then either continue in smoker or move to 225^o oven till done (could be as early as 6-8 AM or as late as 1-2 PM), then FTC to pull before serving (reheat if necessary when pulled).

I'd do the ribs separately Saturday starting about noon.  Smoke for 3 hours, cook (with or without foil for an hour or two - the St. Louis cuts are like to take longer than the baby backs), and finish the last hour (on grill with sauce if you like). If they get done faster than you need them to, you can always FTC and finish the last 30-60 minutes before serving.

Just seems simpler to me.  Take pictures.

[beefmann]

Richard,

you have done your  home work and on track... only thing i might worry about is the pork shoulder having  too much smoke after being hit twice with  smoke... may take it  out and place in over at 225 till finished and go with your  plan as scheduled and stated

[Habanero Smoker]

Another thought, if the butt is not done and you don't have any oven space you can wrap it in foil. That will prevent any additional smoke for adhering to the butt.

[richardvoyageur]

Thanks for the tips guys, the butt has been in since 9 last night.  I'll definitely post some pics up of today's menu

[ghost9mm]

Will be watching for the pic's...and your plan looks pretty good...good luck..

[richardvoyageur]

So here they are guys, the results were great!  Everyone really liked everything.  Bark was crispy and intense on the shoulder, we had about 4 hours of apple/hickory blend.  Ribs were excellent, although I found the temperature dropped MASSIVELY when I put in the 5 racks at noon and took a really long time to come up to temp.  That cost us at least an hour.

[ghost9mm]

WOW !!! Don't ya just love it when a plan comes together...lol.. It all looks really good.  U Da man...

[beefmann]

love it  when a plan comes toghter

[wyoduke]

Nice Job ;D