Butt & Brisket together - help!

maXim

I have a 9 lb butt and an 11 lb brisket that I want to cook together for tomorrow night. I searched the forum and found some answers but really want your opinion on this. How should I place them in the egg? Butt over brisket? If I want everything off the egg by 5 tomorrow afternoon (at latest so everything can rest), when should I put my meat on? Is this a bad idea in general? Sorry to bombard y'all with questions this morning

FearlessGrill

Maxim,

I've never cooked both at the same time, so I can't really comment on the best way to set up for that.

In terms of the cooking times, the rule of thumb at 250 degree dome temp is about 90 min/lb for brisket, and 2 hrs/lb for butt. So your 9lb butt needs about 18 hours, and your 11 lb brisket wants about 16.5 hours. So you can either put them in together and pull the brisket first, or start the brisket a bit later so they get done at the same time. Don't forget that these are approximations, so give yourself a bit of extra time in case one or both take longer than expected.

No reason this is a bad idea. Both cook at approximately the same temp for the same amount of time. Only real decision you need to make is what kind of wood to use for smoke, since you'll be using the same for both (I'd probably go with hickory or oak)

Hope this helps,

-John

thirdeye

I like to cook the butt over the brisket for the self basting action. What pit temp are you planning on using? This will help us dial in a time.

maXim

Thanks John,

I agree with the wood. I have on hand, cherry, apple & maple! I was thinking cherry?
I think I'll start with butt and add the brisket a couple of hours later appreciate the help!

Maxim

maXim

Thanks thirdeye,

I'm thinkin 230-250 dome temp. Is that too high? Also I'm going to start with the butt for the first couple of hours, then adding the brisket and placing the butt on top. I also like the idea of self basting...pork fat...mmmm....sorry.

I'm thinking that add the brisket will bring down the temp for a while and may help? your thoughts?

Maxim

thirdeye

No, I don't think a dome temp of 250* is too high. I often shoot for 270* dome. And I think you are right about giving the butt a head start. And yes, when you add the cold brisket, your pit temp will dip for 20 minutes or so, but it will recover.

maXim

Thanks thirdeye, much appreciated. Hopefully I'll post pics of my results tomorrow