Drippings question

[oscarb]

I just got my new smoker and want to take full advantage of it by having something on all the trays while using it.  I want to try ribs, Pork Lion, and Brisket, maybe even chicken if their is room or butts.  My big question is what order should these be put in from top to bottom?  Does the drippings falling downwards of pork to beef to poultry  or from beef to pork to poultry make a difference?  Will one ruin another or should you only smoke all pork or all poultry in one batch?

[KyNola]

Oscar, my opinion is pork to beef or beef to pork is not a big deal but you don't want the poultry dripping on any of other meat.  You don't want to risk the cross contamination that you can get from poultry drippings.  Poultry definitely goes on the bottom!

KyNola

[lumpy]

I also agree with KyNola. I would'nt want any poultry drippings to touch any other meat. The other meats to drip on each other is a bonus for moisture.

Lumpy

[FLBentRider]

I Agree. Birds on the bottom.

[Habanero Smoker]

It depends on what you are cooking at the same time. If you are cooking brisket and chicken, or butts and chicken; the chicken gets done way before the brisket and butts. You only need to worry about cross contamination with raw meats, or if the chicken take much longer to cook then the other food that you are cooking it with, so then you may want to definitely place it on top. The final surface temperature of the brisket or butt will be close to the cabinet temperature when it is finish. That will ensure the destruction of any bacteria.