Advice for multiple meats

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mark h

Newbie
Original poster
Ok, I have a question on smoking different meats at the same time. I am doing chicken thighs and drumsticks, a small (2.5lb.) beef eye roast and a rack of ribs. All of them will be going in the same smoker, a Masterbuilt Pro dual fuel. I will be using propane with Apple and cherry wood for the smoke. Which should be on top, I'm thinking the chicken or ribs with the eye on the bottom closest to the heat source. I figured they should all take approximately the same amount of time to cook. Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks.
 
I did a little testing yesterday morning to measure the temperature difference between the top and bottom of my propane smoker.  The top rack was within a couple of degrees of my bottom rack, so I'm not concerned about temperature differences between the two locations.

That said, I put my chicken directly on the bottom rack (or one up from there) and let it drip into my water pan below.  The only other meats I've done are pork butts, and I do those in a disposable aluminum tray.  If I were going to do an eye roast, I'd do it in an aluminum pan as well.  I've never done ribs, and I haven't read much about it, but I suspect I'd put those directly on the rack above the eye roast.

Disclaimer:  I've only done two smokes, so I'm far from the best source but I thought I'd share anyway.
 
I would also suggest separate probe thermometers, at least for the chicken and the roast.
 
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Typically you want to put chicken and pork below anything else you are cooking. Your chicken is going to be done before anything else. Your ribs are going to take the longest. If they are baby backs figure 4-5 hours, spares take 5-6. Both the chicken and the roast should take a couple hours . Cook the chicken and roast to temp. Chicken is done when it hits an IT of 165. The roast depends on how you like it. Rare-medium rare I'd pull it right at 135, then foil and let rest for 30-45 minutes before slicing. The ribs are done when you have pull back on the bones, and when you pick up the ribs the rack bends 90 degrees. Research the 2-2-1 method for baby backs, 3-2-1 for spares and beef ribs. Always remember you don't want raw meats dripping on partially cooked meats.
 
They way to look at it is the minimum final cook temp goes to the top.

So I would do it this way top to bottom:

Vegetables/Cheese

Beef Roast

Pork Roast

Ground Meats

Poultry

Note: I did not include seafood, due to the flavors IMHO do not mix well with other meats. So I do not use the same smoker for meats and seafood. But if i had to cook seafood in the same smoker at the same time I would put it towards the top with a pan under it so it did not drip on the other meats.

I got the chart below from here: http://www.foodsafety.gov/keep/charts/mintemp.html

Category

Food

Temperature (°F) 

ReRestst Time 

Ground Meat & Meat Mixtures

Beef, Pork, Veal, Lamb

160

None

Turkey, Chicken

165

None

Fresh Beef, Veal, Lamb

Steaks, roasts, chops

145

3 minutes

Poultry

Chicken & Turkey, whole

165

None

Poultry breasts, roasts

165

None

Poultry thighs, legs, wings

165

None

Duck & Goose

165

None

Stuffing (cooked alone or in bird)

165

None

Pork and Ham

Fresh pork

145

3 minutes

Fresh ham (raw)

145

3 minutes

Precooked ham (to reheat)

140

None

Eggs & Egg Dishes

Eggs

Cook until yolk and white are firm

None

Egg dishes

160

None

Leftovers & Casseroles

Leftovers

165

None

Casseroles

165

None

Seafood

Fin Fish

145 or cook until flesh is opaque and separates easily with a fork.

None

Shrimp, lobster, and crabs

Cook until flesh is pearly and opaque.

None

Clams, oysters, and mussels

Cook until shells open during cooking.

None

Scallops

Cook until flesh is milky white or opaque and firm.

None
 
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Thank you all for your expertise. I put the roast on top then the ribs and chicken at the bottom. I used Jeff's all purpose rube for the ribs, Big Bald BBQ Rub for the chicken and and kosher salt, black pepper and garlic for the pan smoked brisket from Jeff's cookbook. This is only the second smoke with the new smoker so I'll cross my fingers.
 
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