Hey everyone,
When you're cooking just one rack of meat, say you're smokin' a butt or a brisket, do you usually use a middle rack so it's closer to the burner, or will the meat dry out more if its closer to the burner? Is it better to put it on a top rack, or will the temp be drastically lower and extend the cook time?
OK, now lets complicate things. Say now that you're cooking two racks of meat. Is it best to space them out, maybe one in the middle of the smoker and one on top, with plenty of air space between them? Or will this lead to drastically uneven cooking between the two racks?
Or should you put the two racks close together for a more even cooking? If you put them close together, does the lower rack of meat tend to "insulate" the upper rack, so it does not receive as much heat?
I got thinking about all this when I recently smoked a couple racks of ribs, close together on the top racks. I put a probe thermometer on the top rack just to find out the air temp. The air temp over time (I realize that the burner cycles on and off) was cooler than I expected, and the ribs seemed to take forever until they were done. That leads me to believe that when racks are close together in the smoker, there's an insulating effect, where the meat on the lower rack absorbs or blocks the heat goint to the upper rack.
Anyone care to weigh in on optimal rack placement when cooking one rack of meat or multiple racks?
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