Question about smoking multiple items at the same time

Arkysmokin · January 2018

First off, I have an AR.

This past weekend, for the first time, I smoked beef and pork ribs at the same time. I started the beef ribs early in the morning since they would take the longest. About 4hrs out from finish, I popped the pork ribs on by placing them on the rack below the beef ribs.

The beef ribs were kicking butt. They were sitting at 175IT when I put the pork ribs on. This is where it got weird for me. When I put the pork ribs on, the IT of the beef ribs only went up 5 degrees over the next 4hrs. Now I understand about the stall and most of mine take place earlier in the cook. But it just seemed very odd to me. The pork ribs should have been perfect by the 4hr mark but after taking a bite they probably could have cooked another hour.

So my question is, does it slow down the cooking process for all items when smoking multiple items stacked on top of eachother? So something that would normally cook in 10hrs might take 15hrs.....

dmourati · January 2018

A few thoughts:

Ribs are difficult to gauge for accurate internal temperature. The bones make things uneven.

Having more meat, or even other items like pans, deflectors, etc, can impair the airflow. I'd make sure to create enough space around the ribs that they cook as separate pieces of meat rather than one larger chunk.

Those things probably conspired together to alter your cooking experience.

lousubcap · January 2018

I have never taken the temp of a rib cook. I go with the tooth-pick test for the win. Insert into the between bone meat-no resistance and you are there.
@dmourati has some solid insights above. I have not experienced anything like you describe but I'm sure there are many pit-falls yet to be discovered.

tjv · January 2018

the pork ribs probably messed a little on temp over the beef ribs as the pork ribs are long and placed below the beef ribs. Next time, try cooler meat on top and goose the temp for a bit to account for the addition of something cold.

Ribs are not much on mass but they are long and can impact a bigger area for a shorter period.

t

jtcBoynton · January 2018

Cooking relies on convective air flow around the surface of the meat. I am guessing that the placement of the pork ribs right below the beef ribs reduced the air flow on the bottom side of the beef ribs. This could account for slowing of the beef ribs finishing off and taking longer for the pork ribs. You may have had a layer of cooler air between the ribs that slowed everything down.

bucky925 · January 2018

Arkysmokin said:

First off, I have an AR.

This past weekend, for the first time, I smoked beef and pork ribs at the same time. I started the beef ribs early in the morning since they would take the longest. About 4hrs out from finish, I popped the pork ribs on by placing them on the rack below the beef ribs.

The beef ribs were kicking butt. They were sitting at 175IT when I put the pork ribs on. This is where it got weird for me. When I put the pork ribs on, the IT of the beef ribs only went up 5 degrees over the next 4hrs. Now I understand about the stall and most of mine take place earlier in the cook. But it just seemed very odd to me. The pork ribs should have been perfect by the 4hr mark but after taking a bite they probably could have cooked another hour.

So my question is, does it slow down the cooking process for all items when smoking multiple items stacked on top of eachother? So something that would normally cook in 10hrs might take 15hrs.....

I did the exact same cook today. I put 5.5 lbs of beef ribs on my raised rack around 10:15 am. Around 11:30 I slid the bb's below. At 4:15 - 4:30 they were both done. No foil, nothing. I cooked between 250 -275. I try and not chase temps, just roll with it.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/qn/i9av0fccxe44.jpg

Arkysmokin · January 2018

I appreciate all the information. It was helpful. Some of you are saying what I was thinking.
I should have been more clear. I'm not checking the temp of the pork ribs. Never have but I do check IT for beef ribs until they reach about 180 IT then I begin to probe.

Arkysmokin · January 2018

This is what the cook looked like prior to me adding the pork ribs and after adding

Arkysmokin · January 2018

Arkysmokin · January 2018

Arkysmokin · January 2018

I used a new butcher and all he had at the time was pork ribs cut in half

Question about smoking multiple items at the same time

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