Pork and Brisket - Sanity Check

[dcpendarvis]

I am having some friends over for football tomorrow.  I have a 12.5 lb boston butt and a 9 lb brisket ready to go.  I am thinking if I put them in by 7:30pm tonight, they should be close to ready by about 3:00 pm tomorrow.  My plan is to put the butt on a lower rack and the brisket up high.  I'll also put beans on the bottom rack so everything can drip down on them.  I think everything is in order, but wanted to see if there is any gaping hole in my plan that I am missing (I already started the beer drinking, so got that covered, but thus the concern about missing something).

[Wildcat]

Hard to say on the time thing.  For me, smoking/cooking only in the Bradley at around 205 cabinet temperature with that size load would take me 18 to 28 hours.  Many factors come into play.  I find it best to add at least 4 to 6 hours to your projected cook time for brisket and butts and use the FTC to take up the slack.

[beefmann]

id start as early as possable with a 3 to 4 hour smoke and a  cook temp of 205 to 215 and look for a IT of 170 to 180 in the meats...as for the beans.. the drippings from the meat into the  beans... should add a wonderfull taste.


might want to  consider every 3 to 4 hours if possable rotate the meat .. top to bottom.. and front to back.. and  leave the beans on the  botton ...just rotate front to  back at the  same time as the meat... and a  quick stir to mix all juices toghter

Beefmann

[Consiglieri]

What you might consider doing-- and something I never used to want to consider doing-- is pull the meat from the Bradley after the 4 hours of smoke and cook it the rest of the time in the oven.  The oven temp is easier to regulate and you won't have to worry about wind, outdoor nite temp, or other items that might prolong cooking time in the Bradley. 

You also might consider smoking the meat at between 210 and 220F.  That's still low and slow, but will the extra heat may cut down on the time factor somewhat.

Good luck!

[La Quinta]

I agree with Consigs....bring it inside...

[Gizmo]

Probably too late for this note but be carefull of the beans on the bottom.  Check them often and pull before they get overflowing.  Brisket and butt have a lot of fat and you may end up with a pot of bean fat. 

[Habanero Smoker]

I agree with Gizmo, with the butt and brisket on top that is a lot of fat that will be dripping down.

[dcpendarvis]

Thanks for the advice guys.  I actually ended up letting them stay in the smoker all night (its in the garage, so no wind/cold concern).  Its 9:45AM here now and I just pulled the brisket at IT of about 190 and FTC'd it (I may have to serve it a little before 3:00 - I think my guests will be able to handle it).  The Pork roast is sitting pretty with an IT of about 175.  Since I have a little extra time and room, I think I'll try some buffalo wings.  I should have thought of that with the beans ... I definitely needed to skim some fat off the top.

All in all it went well .... the only thing that went really bad was my wireless thermometer gave out sometime during the night.   :'(

[beefmann]

DCp..

did it up and  quite.. try  changing the batteries ... i have had a  simular problems in that i  would  loose the signal. or the  screen  would go  blank.. i  changed the  batteries and had  all the  information  back ... you  might have  weak  or  dead batteries

beefmann