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8 replies

Smokette arrives today, first smoke tomorrow...Need Advice!

B budgeMember
Hi y'all! I finally took the plunge and laid down the bread for a CookShack. It should arrive today, so I plan to break it in by seasoning it this evening.

We're having a going-away party for my son tomorrow night. I'd like the first smoke to be 2 chickens (about 4 pounds each) and an 8 lb Boston butt for pulled pork.

I've read a lot of posts on here on techniques and written down some great recipes too. But my question involves cooking multiple pieces of meat at the same time on the first go around.

I was planning on seasoning the pork and brining the chickens today so that they are ready for tomorrow. Then I wanted to cook the pork overnight, and add the chickens in the morning during one of my basting sessions. My concern is that the chickens won't get enough smoke if they are not started at the same time as the pork. Also, if I do start the chickens at the same time, how do I keep them until the party tomorrow night so that they don't dry out? Another question is how much wood to add. Do you base the amount on total meat weight (pork and chicken) or do you err on the side of the lightest piece of meat so that it doesn't get oversmoked?

Thanks y'all. And by the way, this forum was one of the reasons I chose Cookshack.
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B bacchus2bMember
Mixing Chicken and Pork is not a great idea for a few reasons:

- Cross Contamination: You do not want semi-raw chicken drippings mixing with the Pork unless you plan on some quality time in the bathroom!

- Flavor: Poultry picks up smoke flavor quickly. I would only use one small piece of wood for two chickens, but 6 oz of Hickory for Pork Butt. If you combine meats one of the two will not come out right.

- Texture: Pork Butt needs low & slow temp like 225. Poultry has no tough connective tissue and the skin will turn out best if you pre-heat your smoker to 300 degrees or higher before adding the chicken.

Whole birds (around four pounds) only take a couple of hours at higher temps. Why not cook your pork, foil it in a cooler, and then cook your chickens? I'm sure the guests would like to see them coming out of the smoker.

Hope that helps!
FM Former Member
The key advice is to do the poultry below anything else, so that it doesn't drip on the food below it. You "could" do pork above chicken, but they'll be cooking different durations.

For first smokes, we suggest doing just one, so you can get the experience down with that one and perfect it first.
B budgeMember
Thanks for the advice. I got my Smokette at 3pm on Friday, and ran it from 5pm until 8pm THE NEXT DAY! Eight hour seasoning (with a disposable side of bacon), fifteen hours for the pulled pork, and four hours for baby back ribs. I took the advice and smoked two chickens in my Brinkman electric water smoker. All the food was FTC'd until it was ready to serve.

The pulled pork was the best I've ever had. I tried cooking it at 225, but after 12 hours, I bumped it up to 250-275. The ribs didn't come out as well as I'd hoped. I got fresh ribs from the butcher (no solution storage) seasoned them with the CS rib rub, and left them in the fridge for 4 hours (because the pulled pork took so long). I smoked the ribs 2 oz of hickory at 225 , and started spraying them with apple cider every 30 minutes after the first hour. I checked them for doneness at 3 hours, 3.5, and 4, then took them off. They were dry and little tough. Maybe I should have left the door closed and skipped the apple cider part. Oh well.

Regardless, that little Smokette is a workhorse. The only trouble I had with it was that the wood wouldn't smoke during the seasoning. So I CAREFULLY bent the heating elements upwards, and problem solved.
FM Former Member
quote:
Originally posted by Budge:
... The ribs didn't come out as well as I'd hoped. I got fresh ribs from the butcher (no solution storage) seasoned them with the CS rib rub, and left them in the fridge for 4 hours (because the pulled pork took so long). I smoked the ribs 2 oz of hickory at 225 , and started spraying them with apple cider every 30 minutes after the first hour. I checked them for doneness at 3 hours, 3.5, and 4, then took them off.


Congrats on the PP success. Start a new thread and we can discuss the ribs, but opening the door that often will not make it go fast, the spray isn't a proven success method and they definitely weren't done in 4 hours.

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