Welcome to the EGGhead Forum - a great place to visit and packed with tips and EGGspert advice! You can also join the conversation and get more information and amazing kamado recipes by following Big Green Egg to Experience our World of Flavor™ at:
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Pinterest  |  Youtube  |  Vimeo
Share your photos by tagging us and using the hashtag #BigGreenEgg.

Want to see how the EGG is made? Click to Watch

Smoking Brisket & Pork Shoulder at the same time.

DannyDetailz
DannyDetailz Posts: 4
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
I am throwing a party for about 40-50 people (not all meat eaters) next Saturday at 6:30 PM. I have a large BGE and would like to server both smoked pork shoulder and brisket. I have never tried to do both at the same time. I figured I would start the pork 3 or 4 (8-10 lbs. each)butts around 10 PM and then add a packer cut brisket early the next morning. I figure both should be done around 5:00 pm. and will have time to rest for a couple hours in foil.

Has anyone tried this at home? Not sure it is realistic to do both on one large bge. Any opinions, suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Comments

  • Celtic Wolf
    Celtic Wolf Posts: 9,773
    Brisket won't be done and the Pork will be done long before 5:00pm. Brisket usually takes longer to cook then the pork butts, especially a packer.

    Plus I think you will have too much meat, unless you are feeding a pro football team.

    If you do not have a two tier system of some type I suggest that you go with just one meat. If you do have a two tier system then put the brisket on the lower tier. For a 5PM completion you probably could get away with a Midnight start. Followed by the Pork (2, maybe three butts) an hour or so later.

    You'll want to keep the dome at 250. If you don't have a Guru or Stoker you will need to keep a close eye on this amount of meat.
  • Thanks for the quick reply. I do have a two tier system and just purchased the guru 2 days ago (going to try it this weekend for the first time). As for temps. I have always done brisket between 200-220 for 10-13 (185 meat temp) hours and butts anywhere from 210-240 17-22 hour range (195-200 meat temp). Would you suggest not going any lower than 250 because of so much meat? Also I was thinking of trying a cherry oak combination of wood. Thanks again
  • Celtic Wolf
    Celtic Wolf Posts: 9,773
    250 dome will put you at 220-230 at the grate. This temp is good for both Brisket and Pork.

    Remember you are going for temp and not time. However a good rule of thump is 1.5 - 2 hours per pound. Just because you have 4 butts in that egg doesn't mean you have a 32 pound butt. It means you have 4 EIGHT pound butts and that your timing should be on the 8 pounds.

    At the most that mass of meat will be done in 16 hours.

    As for the pork you will lose 40% of the raw weight to cooking. 3 eight pound butts will yield about 14.4 pounds of cooked product. At a 1/4 pound per person that will yield 57.6 servings. Remember you have the brisket too. Two 8 pound butts and a packer with sides should feed your crowd nicely.

    Unless you want leftovers :)
  • Celtic Wolf
    Celtic Wolf Posts: 9,773
    Clip the Guru's Pit probe up on the Dome Thermometer.

    If you have another remote meat thermometer put it in the Brisket and the Guru's probe into the smallest butt.
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,665
    2005012055.jpg
    with a packer i would probably put it on at 10 and the butts on at midnight. be real careful with probe placement as the gages dont read right with all that cold meat. with all that meat in a cooler it will stay hot enough for 6 maybe 7 or 8 hours if things get ready early. this cook was 2 8 pound flats and 2 8 pound boneless butts, it went 12 for the brisket and 14 for the butts, dont tier it this high as it poses airflow problems, one packer and 2 butts would be easier. once into the cook, take a look at the fire, if its raging hot you need to move the probe, you cant always trust the gages
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • Thanks for the response. What temp do you use and did you use a temp controler like the guru or stoker?
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,665
    for that cook i would start out at 275 and drop it back to 250 dome about 4 hours into the cook. i dont use gadgets for temp control but its the big reason i say to check and see what that fire looks like a couple hours into the cook. if the probe is too close to cold meat that guru or stoker will build a huge fire to compensate for the lower reading. even with my big cook that i posted, i was chasing false temps in the beginning until i noticed there was a fire hot enough to cook a pizza in there yet my dome reading was 200. its worth it in big cooks to take that peak that everyone says not to do. if you have done enough low and slows you will know something is wrong just by touching the dome. if the meat is too close to the top the airflow can change as the meat shrinks on a conventional cook, but with the fan i dont think that poses a problem. with two butts over one brisket instead of two, its an easier cook
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • DonDon
    DonDon Posts: 89
    different times. One gets ready, foil it with a couple layers of heavey duty, wrap her in a towel and toss in the cooler. Next one gets ready, same thing. Just keep them in the cooler and when you add another one, it'll reheat everything. I've had them in the cooler for 4 to 6 hours before and when I pulled them out. I STILL couldn't handle them without gloves. Better to let them rest a couple hours in my opinion anyways. HOPE this helps ya relax abit bud. Once I learned about the whole cooler thing, man, made my life easy. Heck IF you want to you can throw in a heating pad on top of the top piece of meat and your cooler will stay warm longer!!!
  • Thanks everyone for all the tips. Do any of you have a preference of the type of wood to use when doing the combo of pork and beef? I usually use a combo combo of the jack daniels and apple wood with pork and use mesquite for brisket. I was thinking of using Cherry/oak.
  • Celtic Wolf
    Celtic Wolf Posts: 9,773
    You can skip the Oak. Your lump is made from Oak.

    Pecan is good for both.
  • jeffinsgf
    jeffinsgf Posts: 1,259
    The lump may be made from oak, but the properties of the wood that make it smoke are gone. A lump fire, properly built smokes very, very little on its own.

    Oak is a very pleasant smoke, but like hickory, has to be used carefully. It can be overdone easily.
  • Celtic Wolf
    Celtic Wolf Posts: 9,773
    Not that I want to argue with you, but the properties that make wood "Smoke" are the Volatile Organic Compounds and you want to get past them. Buy the time you get past the VOCs with any type of wood it will resemble your lump and the "Smoke" will be clear.

    Oak really isn't necessary to be added to your Egg. In the big offsets its many used for heat. Now red oak does impart a good flavor to beef, but really doesn't do much for Pork. Pecan, Hickory, Guava, Cherry, Apple are all good to add to a combo cook.
  • jeffinsgf
    jeffinsgf Posts: 1,259
    ...the properties that make wood "Smoke" are the Volatile Organic Compounds and you want to get past them. Buy the time you get past the VOCs with any type of wood it will resemble your lump and the "Smoke" will be clear.

    You are exactly correct, however, if you "get past the VOC's" what exactly is the point of using wood at all? If you're waiting to use your fire until the smoke is completely clear, you might as well use pure lump.
  • Beanie-Bean
    Beanie-Bean Posts: 3,092
    I did this for Memorial Day:

    IMG_1108.jpg

    The only thing I'll say is that the brisket didn't have quite the bark that I like because all the pork fat was falling on top of it. Other than that, it was good stuff!