I'm having a party Saturday. I'm gonna do a pulled pork and a brisket. Timing is gonna be tight. I have to cheat a bit and I may finish one or both in the oven. Starting Friday night.

My first issue is I doubt I can get both on the smoker (Oklahoma Joe offset). Even if I do get them on the smoker I prefer to use some mesquite for the beef and apple for the pork. I'm thinking of trying to get the pork done on the Weber Kettle with minion method. Does it make sense to try this without much experience. If I can just get a few good hours of smoke on it I can finish in the oven.

I know I can pull the pork and re-heat so I think I'll get that done early. I don't know if holding the brisket is a good idea. If I start early evening I'd be done some time in the morning. Party starts at 2. Anyhow any timing advice I'd appreciate.

Also on using the offset I have a problem. I use charcoal and wood chunks. When I need to add more fuel I always get dirty white smoke for a bit before it cleans up. Is this a big problem? IS there a better way to do it? Should I get even re-fueling done in the charcoal chimney starter? It's never ruined my meat but if I can clean it up it is probably a good thing.

Can you have the meat catered ,what you are trying might be a little tricky,been doing this for decades and still manage to over cook brisket[ alcohol related]And I have an old country smoker.
The pork can be pre nearly cooked and finished on the smoker
Brisket is a slow about 16-20 hours on low heat.
Smoke it for bark and wrap for stewing in its juices for hours and hours.
Electronic thermometer is a must.Least I think so

Classic technique in these parts mandates exposing brisket to mesquite smoke, around 200-225F, for 12 hours or more.

Aaron Franklin has some variations, post oak wood, a bit hotter.




Link to original video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pGZ39yYxeBk

I used the snake method on a Weber for pulled pork and it worked a treat. Nice steady heat for ten hours.

Smoke the Pork to done Wednesday pull and fridge in a pan, closed off with foil. Couple of hours before serving in the oven at 200 steal sealed with foil with apple juice to rehydrate. Wont have the crusty bark but will be almost as good as freshly smoked.

Plan to have brisket done 4ish hours to party. If done early wrap in foil,multiple layers, then towels, then in a small cooler to keep warm (will easily stay hot for the time you have left). If it takes longer than you planned you still have the 4ish hours for it to finish-although it should still rest before serving. Last time I did the wrap and set to finish the foil was still hot to touch at least 4 hours later.

JD

If it was me, the brisket would get priority because it is harder to get right, especially towards the end. So use the smoker for that. Also, if you need to add more fuel, I would use the chimney starter, remember smoke only occurs around 200F give or take. Many people have the smoker too hot and using the chimney helps get it to the right temp without flair ups.

For the pork, you can easily do it in the Weber. Assuming you are using shoulder, it is very forgiving, often times you can buy yourself 2 hours either way with temp adjustments. You could also, put it in the oven at 250 for 4-5 hours and finish it off on the Weber for another couple of hours, depending on its size of course.

quote:

Originally posted by JD2177:
Smoke the Pork to done Wednesday pull and fridge in a pan, closed off with foil. Couple of hours before serving in the oven at 200 steal sealed with foil with apple juice to rehydrate. Wont have the crusty bark but will be almost as good as freshly smoked.

Plan to have brisket done 4ish hours to party. If done early wrap in foil,multiple layers, then towels, then in a small cooler to keep warm (will easily stay hot for the time you have left). If it takes longer than you planned you still have the 4ish hours for it to finish-although it should still rest before serving. Last time I did the wrap and set to finish the foil was still hot to touch at least 4 hours later.

JD

Right on, especially wrapping in towels and a good cooler.

quote:

Originally posted by JD2177:
Smoke the Pork to done Wednesday pull and fridge in a pan, closed off with foil. Couple of hours before serving in the oven at 200 steal sealed with foil with apple juice to rehydrate. Wont have the crusty bark but will be almost as good as freshly smoked.

Plan to have brisket done 4ish hours to party. If done early wrap in foil,multiple layers, then towels, then in a small cooler to keep warm (will easily stay hot for the time you have left). If it takes longer than you planned you still have the 4ish hours for it to finish-although it should still rest before serving.

This is exactly how I'd recommend doing it.

This solves the problem of not being able to fit both on at the same time. It also allows you to use two different types of wood for the two meats. Plus, it prevents you from having to try to time the pork and brisket to finish at around the same time. And you have plenty of wiggle room if the pork and/or brisket take longer than expected.

When I cook pork butts for large gatherings, I almost always smoke it the day before and then reheat the next day a few hours before the party. It's 98% as good as eating it the same day you smoked it; most people can't tell the difference. And you're not worrying about whether it will be done in time if something is off, like an extra long stall.

Yup, agree with prioritizing the brisket and doing the pork ahead of time.

Instead of apple juice I like to use what Myron Mixon calls "50/50", just a mix of half BBQ sauce and half water. Keeps it moist and adds some flavor.

I've reheated pulled pork many times like described above with apple juice in the oven and most people didnt have a clue it wasn't fresh off the smoker.

Why apple juice?

When reheating in the oven, you need to add back in a little bit of liquid to the pan, to create a moist steamer effect in the foil-covered pan and keep it from drying out when sitting in the oven for a few hours.

And apple is commonly paired with pork in various dishes, as a complemetary flavor.

Thus apple juice. I not only use it when reheating in the oven, but also use apple juice as part of my pre-smoke injection mix for pork butts.

Some people I know prefer to use beer when reheating. You could use any liquid in a pinch, even just water. But it doesn't take much. You don't want to drown it and make it soggy.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
But it doesn't take much. You don't want to drown it and make it soggy.

This is very important, don't use too much or it'll probably suck.

What Franklin doesn’t share in his videos is that the meat he serves today was cooked yesterday. Resting the brisket is nearly as important as the cook itself. He’s putting his briskets into an insulated chamber that really allows for a super slow cool down, 12-15 hours. You can achieve something similar with a decent cooler. I use a Coleman Extreme 70 quart cooler. You could cook the brisket the day before and let it rest overnight. The smoker would then be available for you to cook the pork butt the day of.

To minimize the thick white smoke when you add new wood to the fire, I’d highly recommend preheating the wood before adding it. My smoker has a warming plate on the top of the fire box. I put wood on there to preheat and it gets hot enough I have to use gloves to touch them. When I do toss them into the fire, they ignite immediately. I also get very little temperature swing preheating the wood also.

Use hickory wood and do both at once. It's a very versatile wood.

Jallen, I've cooked brisket with great success already. I learned from Aaron's show. He did one show where he wrapped the brisket in paper, one in foil, and one no wrap. All came out good but different. If it's wrapped in foil there is no reason it can't be finished in an oven. Cheating, yes, but the end product is the same.

Everyone else, thanks. Some good ideas. I don't think I'll have time to do anything tonight. My only time is starting Friday.

I think I have 2 options. Either one on the kettle and one on the smoker or if they both fit then I could do what Scurvy said and use hickory. I have hickory on hand as well. I'm getting the brisket tonight so I'll see how it fits.

I think timing on the brisket will actually be fine since I can hold it in a cooler for a long time. Now that I think of it, even when I reheated my last brisket from the freezer it was always awesome. I had a 14 lb brisket and I live alone . I don't think my guests will have any issues with it.

I will update after my party Saturday. Oh, and for the pork I'm not a big fan of apple juice in the cooked meat. Generally I just use some Carolina vinegar based sauce for flavor, no sweet stuff. But I'll see how my timing works out.

I will also pre-heat the wood/charcoal when adding. Seems like an easy way to keep clean smoke.

Thanks guys.

Well so far so good. I did a pork butt first. It went from 2 PM to 6:30 in the smoker. Then in the oven at 225 until 11 PM and it was done. It rested in the cooler and was pulled at midnight. That will just stay refrigerated until I heat up for the party.

I put the brisket on at 7 PM, put it in foil in the oven at midnight. The meat at the point is at 186 degrees right now (7 AM). The rest is 198 so I'm taking it off it may come off and putting in the cooler. The texture seems right on. It may go back in the oven at lowest setting before serving. My oven can go to 170.

One thing I've noticed is how inconsistent the temps are in an electric oven. It's all over the place. I put probe 2 in just to see and wow. I go so overkill trying to keep my smoker at constant temp and then see that I've been cooking lots of food in the oven with 50 degree fluctuations all the time.

The pork...

Get an Orion Cooker. You can cook either the day of and they come out perfect. Ace Hardware and Bass Pro carry them. Can't recommend them highly enough.

https://www.theorioncooker.com/

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:

One thing I've noticed is how inconsistent the temps are in an electric oven. It's all over the place. I put probe 2 in just to see and wow. I go so overkill trying to keep my smoker at constant temp and then see that I've been cooking lots of food in the oven with 50 degree fluctuations all the time.

I'm guessing it's an electric over? They cycle just like electric stoves do. Instead of actually regulating the elements so they don't get too hot, they just cycle from on to off at set intervals to keep the 'average temp where you want it. Set it to 350 and it might heat to 375, cool to 325, heat up to 375, cool to 325 etc.

quote:

Originally posted by KurtZ66:
Get an Orion Cooker. You can cook either the day of and they come out perfect. Ace Hardware and Bass Pro carry them. Can't recommend them highly enough.

https://www.theorioncooker.com/

Interesting. I'll try to take a look at the store. They don't mention the dimensions. I don't think I could get a whole brisket on there.