brisket and picnic shoulder

glenn · April 2004

I have jus started the biggest cook I have ever tried on the BGE
I have a 14 lb whole brisket, fat side down directly over the coals
on top of that I have a 8 lb picnic shoulder
dome is now stable at 250 and has been for about 2 hours
internal on the large end of the brisket is 120
the cook started at about 3:00 pm
I am hoping everything will be done by around 12 pm tomorrow so that I can put on 2 racks of st louis style ribs and 75 buffalo turds
Is ther anychance that the brisket can cook without burning??
and can any one give me any pointers for cooking ths much meat all at once.
I have my hi smoker temp set a 261 and the low at 190
looking to stay between 225 and 250
Plan to pull both the brisket and the shoulder at 185 internal
any input, insite or comments on this adventure would be appreciated
Thanx Glenn

James · April 2004

Glenn,[p]
Why is the Fat side down?[p]

Shelby · April 2004

Glenn,
I've only done a similiar cook once and did it indirect with brisket on bottom, fat side up; butts on a raised grill.
12+ pound brisket went for 16.5 hous; butts went for 20.

glenn · April 2004

James,
Because the meat is lose to the coals with no difusser
I thought that the fat cap would keep the meat from burning
this particular bisket had quite a bit of fat on both sides
but the fat cap was at least 1/2" thk
and with the pork being on top I thouht that would suffice to keep the top moist[p]Please let me know if my thinking is flawed
thanx again
Glenn

glenn · April 2004

Shelby,
How did you get everything to fit on the indirect setup
my lid would not close over the raised grid with the inverted platesetter set up
thanx again
Glenn

glenn · April 2004

Glenn,
I dont know if this is the correct way to add to a previous post but anyhow here it is.
I put on a 14 pound whole brisket and a picnic shoulder this afternoon
I could not figure out how to make everything fit with an indirect setup
first I tried an inverted platesetter with a drip pan in the middle, then the first grid on the drip pan
the brisket was put on first then I put on the extended grid and the shoulder but the lid wouldnt close.
so I broke everything down,took out the platesetter and the drip pan put the brisket on first fat cap down then the extended grid with the shoulder
eveything fit fine but the brisket was exposed to direct heat.average dome was 225-238
I figured on a 16+ hour cook for the brisket and mabe 20 for the pork[p]but in a tad over 7 hours I pulled the brisket and wrapped it in foil and put in a warm cooler with an internal of 195
(I didnot expect that)
The pork shoulder is at 170 after only 7 hours and 6 minutes[p]When I took the brisket up I went ahead and set up the platesetter to finish the pork indirect[p]but looks like it will finish in the next couple of hours anyway[p]The dome has for some reason decided to ramp up a little since I took the brisket off I have a jump from 238 to 254 in about 15 minutes.[p]Since I am still fairly new at eggin just thought I would share my adventure.[p]And a lesson learned for me is it is a risky thing to try to cook that much meat at one time with out good supervision.[p]I probably wont try to cook a brisket and a butt together again until someone enlightens me with the proper setup[p]And that is the great thing about this forum, I know some one wlll share with me the secret that will help make my next brisket/butt adventure a success
thanx
Glenn

MerlinEgger · April 2004

Glenn,
I'm glad to see your post. I had a similar experience a few weeks ago with a brisket and 2 shoulders. I finally got it all jammed on, but it was not a good fit. My shoulders were sitting right on top of my brisket with the fat cap turned up. The cook did go alright, with the exception that the cap didn't dry out on the brisket because air wasn't circulating between it and the shoulders as it should. If you are planning on doing these low and slows routinely, I'd recommend you get a BBQ guru or pitminder. Link is below if you aren't familiar with it. Maybe someone can shed some light on what we, the dimensionally challenged, are doing wrong.
[ul][li]BBQ guru[/ul]

tn slagamater · April 2004

Glenn, there are a couple of things you might try. You could remove the fire ring, just leave it out, and then put the plate setter in with your arrangement. The direct heat is not good on low ans slows.If you have a second, extra gid you could possibly use kiln posts to shorten the height also.

tn slagamater · April 2004

tn slagamater,usually it is the temperature guage probe that interfers with closure. Make sure you pull it out before closing the dome and then, once closed, slide it back into the dome hole...

James · April 2004

Glenn,[p]I did Briskett and 2 butts on a large BGE last weekend. I didn't have the grid extender to put a drip pan under the grid, so I just put my pizza stone directly on the grid, and cooked all 3 pieces on the pizza stone. It worked out really well. The Pizza stone was difficult to clean afterwards, but the food was great.[p]

brisket and picnic shoulder

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