brisket / butt - where in smoker

[calis72]

Hi Guys,

Still pretty new to smoking here and had some questions.   I have a bunch of people over tomorrow for a party and I have a 11.7lb brisket and two 5lb butts sitting with Jan's rub (2 days on brisket, 1 day on butts).

I was going to use pecan and the crown royal blends at 225 for 4 hours.  With the bradley digital 4 rack where should I place the brisket and butts in the smoker?  Which should be on top?

I figure I will put them in around 9pm tonight.  Company is over at 5.

Thanks!

[GusRobin]

sorry for the late response but you probably shouldhave started that much meat earlier.

[KyNola]

sorry for the late response but you probably shouldhave started that much meat earlier.

Yep, I'm with GR on this.  When you posted would have been about right to get that load in the smoker.  If it finishes early you could always wrap in foil, then wrap in a towel, and put in a dry cooler, microwave(don't turn it on) or house oven(don't turn it on).  The meat will hang out for several hours and still be hot 4-6 hours later. 

[DTAggie]

Wish you the best of luck but I do not see how all that will be done in time.  Assuming normal smoke/cook times, put the butt second from bottom and brisket one rack up.  Keep vent WIDE open!

Let us know how it turns out, with pics!

[Habanero Smoker]

If you are running short on time, what you can do is take the butts out of the smoker (after the applied smoke) wrap them in foil, place them on a sheet pan and cook at 325°F; or if you don't want to speed things up use 250°F. Once the butts are done, and it looks as if the brisket will not finished in time you can move the brisket to the oven. If the butts get done too soon you can FTC them.

[calis72]

Hey guys, thanks for the feedback.   If by 2pm it's not at a decent temp I'll throw them in the oven.

I think it's pretty much guaranteed I'll have to do that now anyways.  I got up at 5:30 am to have a peek at the temps and they were doing great at about 158 each.  Went back to bed and came back down at 8am and temps are at 135.   I forgot to add time to the digital timer :(  oh well.

[ghost9mm]

Hey we all went through a learning curve, and the only time we can walk on water is in the winter when it is frozen...lol..we have all been there..