Baby-backs and But Roast Together Advice - New Member

[tim1nei]

I just bought a Bradley Original and for my first real smoke I am going to smoke a 5lb butt roast and a couple racks of ribs for some friends.  First question, I have seen a couple recipes for each and decided how I would like to cook them, but how much do I need to adjust the cooking times and temp for that much meat going at once or is there not much adjustments needed.  On the ribs I was going to do smoke them using the 2-2-1 method (two hours on the rack, two hours in foil, and out of the foil to crisp them up for an hour or whatever the preference is) with a dry rub.  I was going to do the same rub on the roast as well.

Can a Bradley original cook that much meat at a time?  Will I need to cook it 2-3 hours longer on the butt roast to compensate for the other meat being in there?

I will also accept any suggestions on a good side recipe as well.  Going big on the first smoke and hoping I don't have to call for pizza;)

 

[beer-b-q]

First off Welcome to SMF.

You need to stop in the Roll Call thread and introduce yourself telling us a little about yourself and your equipment and experience.  That will give everyone a chance to welcome you...

Having gotten rid of my digital 6 rack Bradley after 2 uses because it took 23hr to do a pork butt...  I would say that in that smoker with its small 500 watt element you will find it will take quite a bit longer than the times posted on most smokes...

That being said, DO NOT SMOKE BY TIME...  Get yourself a good probe thermometer and smoke by temp on everything but the ribs.

Limit the amount of times you open the door as that will only add to the recovery time it takes to get back up to temp.

There are members here that own and like the Bradley and hopefully one of them can come in and give better info. 

One thing you can do to keep from having to buy those Bradley Pucks is get an AMAZE-N-SMOKER and save a bunch on the cost of wood for smoking.

Good Luck I think you will need it.

 

[adiochiro3]

As long as you have space around each piece of meat, you're good.  Your smoke times should not change just because you have more meat in the smoker, but Beer-b-q- is right: smoke by meat temps, not by time.  that 5lb butt could take as little as 5 and as much as 9 hours, depending on how many times you peek, how stable and high your temps are, how much connective tissue is in the meat, and whether you want to slice it or pull it (slice takes just 165* pull needs 195-205*).  The meat is done when it's done -- by temperature, not time.

Keep the smoke thin and blue -- avoid billowing white smoke.  Take your time and don't rush things; as Alton Brown says: "your patience will be rewarded!"

Cheers!

 

[tim1nei]

Yeah, I have heard people who love the Bradley and those that don't.  I picked it up slightly used but working just fine at an auction for $60 so I figured it was worth a shot.

 

[SmokinAl]

Welcome to SMF, good luck with the smoke.

 

[tim1nei]

I noticed on the A Maze N website they say that the recommended high temp is 185.  How does that work?