HELP!!! FIRST TIME SMOKING A LOT OF MEAT.

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rmoranojr24

Newbie
Original poster
Mar 29, 2013
8
11
Farmington NY
hey everyone,

i am hosting a fathers day smoking dinner. i am having beef brisket (8#'s cut in 1/2) and 2 chickens (5#'s ea), i have a 4 shelf master forge duel fuel propane/charcoal, i will be using propane. when do i start smoking and for how long? this is my first time smoking this much any help would be great.
 
A good estimate for brisket is 1.5 - 2 hours per raw lb. for each cut @ 225-250* cooker temp.  It's always good to allow an extra hour or 2 as a margin for error.  Just remember that cooking times are always just guesses.  A brisket needs to cook to an internal temp of 190-200* to be good and tender.  If it gets done early, you can foil and towel wrap it and place it in an ice cooler for several hours.

Poultry can cook at considerably higher temps...I normally do chicken @ 275*, and allow about a half hour per lb. per chicken.  Again, IT is more important than cooking time.  Poultry needs to reach an IT of 165-170* in the deepest parts of both the breast and the thigh (make sure your meat probe doesn't touch a bone...that will give you a false temp reading).  If you put the chicken and brisket in the smoker together, make sure you put the chicken on the lowest rack of your smoker...you don't want raw poultry dripping on your other meat.

Hope this helps...Good luck!

Red
 
Last edited:
thanks Red i was not sure if all the meat in at 1 time would take longer and if i would have to raise the temp more. i was thinking of it like doing pancakes on a griddle the more you add the cooler the griddle gets and in turn takes longer to cook.
 
 
Red has you covered there. I've been smoking my briskets at 265* and haven't found there to be any undesirable effects. To check for tenderness in your brisket, use a toothpick. Probe multiple places. The toothpick should push in without any resistance.

Like Red said I too like to cook my chicken at higher temps, but that is not possible when cooking with other meats that you want at lower temps. If your down in the 250* smoke chamber range your chickens should hit IT somewhere between 2-3 hours. If you spatchcock the chickens that time will decrease. I would suggest if you can for the last 20 minutes cranking the temp up to crisp the skin.

Good luck and show us some Q-view!
 
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