British BBQ Society Forums

I've decided to scrap the burgers and sausages so i'm going all out BBQ.

Planning on an 8am start, as in put the meat in the WSM at 8am and eating it for dinner.

Which level would each meat go on, and what temperatures do i need to stay within for an approximate 6-8pm eat? So 10-12 hours of cooking.

No wet rubs, this is just a dry rub and leave it alone when in the WSM, i'd rather not open the lid to turn the emat either but i think I may have to once, if people think this is important, at what point do i do it?

I need to get a meat thermometer from somewhere too, but what affect would it have if it was actually ready after 10 hours, but i left it cooking for up to 2 more hours?

Going to butchers tomorrow to order brisket and pork, i know packer cut brisket with 1/8th to 1/4 inch cap with the rest trimmed, but what do i ask for when it comes to the pork?

Also BBQ sauce, any recommendations for shop bought and easy to find, or alternatively an easy recipe to make some.

Sorry for all the questions!

Also quantity, me and friends labouring all day on my garden so I need to feed 10 people, how much do i need?

With both Brisket & Boston Butt (pork shoulder / hand in the UK) you want to a good resting period after the cook. So plan on having it ready two hours or so before eating & wrap it in foil & towels until you are ready to eat to give you some wiggle time. They need to rest an hour at the least though.

The common weight / time ratio is quoted is 1/5 hours per lb of meat - obviously this can vary massively, but aim to finish nice & early as both of these meats will benefit from sitting after the cooking anyway. So if you have 10 hours to cook (on at 8am and off at 6pm) you're looking at big pieces of meat you should be able to cook in that time (15lbs / 6.8kgs) which you may or may not need.

I wouldn't turn the meat personally. As to what level for each to be on: which do you want dripping on the other?!

For temperature, I would start out at 225F or near to. Then if you need to, raise the temperature at a later point if it looks like you are not going to hit your desired temperature / time. Steve on here reckons to not foil until after the meat has gone through the stall - I tried this on my last pork shoulder I did and it was the best one yet. So much more tender than previous attempts.

With Brisket, butchers in the UK tend to get it in as a rolled joint rather than a packers cut. So you might need to order it unrolled.

For the pork shoulder (hand and spring), personal opinion is that it seems to cook better with the bone in - but again you may need to order that as alot of times these are trimmed & rolled into roasting joints.

Hope that helps.

Simon

benkeenan2005 wrote:Going to butchers tomorrow to order brisket and pork, i know packer cut brisket with 1/8th to 1/4 inch cap with the rest trimmed, but what do i ask for when it comes to the pork?

Sadly i'd be very suprised if a UK butcher would know what a packer brisket is. Use this cutting guide and i'd even suggest printing off the page of the cut that you want. http://www.bbbqs.com/Forum/viewtopic.ph ... 190#p17190 also i'd suggest calling them today to see if they've got any whole briskets in as sometimes these need to be ordered in.

With the pork ask for a neck end pork shoulder with the skin, spine & collar ribs removed but the paddle bone left in.

Cooking temp's you'll get alot of different answers about this but i would say to cook at 280f as normally when i cook at this temp' my pork is cooked in about 8hrs which will leave you enough time to rest it for a few hours which i find it really benefits from. Also if you've not got a huge amount of time to cook i'd suggest foiling the meat once it hit's the stall about 160f internal temp'.

You will need a thermometer!!! these are one of the most important peices of equipment when cooking on the BBQ. If you cook without one you won't know when you've hit your taget temp's and missing these can leave you with very tough and dry meat!!!

Similar to what the other guys have said.

Be very surprised if your butcher knows what a packer is! If he does chances are he's into BBQ. I always order in the big cuts of meat well in advance.

Re the pork shoulder I typically cook at 250f as that what my WSM seems to like to settle at. I personally don't foil when cooking. Not against it, just never really felt the need. Do plan on a decent rest period - my experience is that this makes a big difference in the quality of what you produce not that a butt directly off the smoker is a bad thing.

Won't offer any advice on the brisket as I don't cook this often enough.

Re the thermometer - you need one. Absolutely don't cook without one. Whilst people can give you guidelines on "typical" cook times there is always variation.

I always cook a brisket and 2 pork butts together both in competiton and at home. I cook the brisket on the top shelf. All meats are cooked fat side down. As stated above, use the final 2 hours before serving to rest the meats tightly wrapped in foil/blanket and inside a cooler. Working your timeline backward, estimate 1-1/2 hours/lb. to figure your starting time. I cook at 250 F. for home use. For competitons, I cook at 216 F. I foil and add marinade when the meat reaches an internal temp of 160 F.

Good luck,
Benny

Thanks everyone.

Ordering tomorrow for next weekend to give them a week to get it.

If I put them both in at the same time and remove and wrap at the same time, what weights would I need fir each, some maths knowledge would be good here!

Also any suggestions on cooking for 10 people, what size do I need

You're making it harder for yourself if you are trying to finish both at the same time especially on your first cook. By resting for up to a couple of hours you give yourself a window in which to get both finished. You may end up with one of them not resting for as long as the other, that's not the end of the world. There's a saying in BBQ "It's done when it's done"

benkeenan2005 wrote:Thanks everyone.

Ordering tomorrow for next weekend to give them a week to get it.

If I put them both in at the same time and remove and wrap at the same time, what weights would I need fir each, some maths knowledge would be good here!

Also any suggestions on cooking for 10 people, what size do I need

I hope my earlier post did not mislead you. I return the meats to the WSM after foiling and marinading until the meats are done. I do that at around 160 F. The meats are done when a probe goes through the meat (not fat) without much if any resistance. That could be around 195 for pork and 205/210 for brisket. That is when the meat is placed in the cooler, wrapped in blankets to hold.
Benny

Pork is ordered, he gave me a idea of size and it didn't seem it was going to be a big cut.

He pulled out a brisket untrimmed with the ribs still in, for some reason I thought the point was ontop of the flat, he's cutting it when I'm in next weekend, it was a big piece of meat as in width wise, do normal briskest fit in a 57cm ok?

Do I buy the whole thing flat and point completely trimmed except for a cap of fat?

He showed me some ribs with a big layer of meat on top and he said some people BBQ these too. It was £12 so I'm probably going with that too.

The link is to the topic that has Toby's guide to Brisket, this will give you an idea of what to expect.