BBQ Timeline

I'd say it looks like you are more organized than we were for our first competition. Good for you on that front. The only part that looks a little off to me may be the pork timing. Putting pork on a 225 degree smoker at 23:00, I wouldn't expect it to be at 165 by 07:30. You're experience may vary, but I would expect it to be at that temp closer to 10:00 on my smoker. Again, that varies by size of the cut of meat and smoker. If you've done a test cook using that timeline and it worked, then you should be all set.

Few variables also to think of is on ribs. You must have multiple cookers and be cooking Loin Backs cause only 4 hrs at 225. If you only have 1 cooker, With all those meats on 1, the door will be open quite often.

We use a detailed schedule for our comps too... It's the only way to make sure you remember everything you need to as a new cook. Hopefully you've tested all three meats on the smoker already? We found that we had to do that at least once before our first comp. to make sure our times were reasonable...

Good luck!

I would put the ribs on earlier. Like some of the other posters said, try everything together. When the door is getting opened a lot for glazing, removing meat, etc. it slows everything down.

goofy8811 said:

Thanks for all the good advice ... were having a practice run with the timeline this weekend so I'll let everyone know how it goes. I think I'll make a few adjustments before then as wel

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Definitely do a practice run. I know it's inconvenient and expensive but you'll learn a ton about your cooker's efficiency and how much little things like opening the door, temp swings and hot spots affect cooking times...

I can't imagine how you can come up with these times without having your meat trimmed out and weighed. I use a ratio to make things easy. Once I trim out, I log the final weight and use 1.3 - 1.5 hours per lb depending on the type of meat (pork or brisket), how full my cooker is and where the meat is located. Make sure to keep a good record of your times and use them for future planning.

Good Luck and keep us posted - make sure to take some pics :thumb:

I agree with what others have said about the ribs. Even if you have a cooker solely dedicated to ribs, 4 hrs at 225 may be tough for even BB's. We cook at a higher temp and cook spares and it takes us closer to 5.5-6 hrs.

Practice will help you define your timeline. Best of luck and please let us know how you do.