Please help!!

[chrisr]

I have been getting ready for my first competition coming up in September . I've been doing mock runs at home and having trouble with my turn in times. Sometimes my briskets and pork butts stall to long and I end up going over my turn in time. I know if this happens in competition I'm out. I was thinking about starting hours sooner so I know my food will be ready and just let my butt and brisket rest in a cooler for a couple of hours. Is that what you guys would do? Also what size brisket and pork butt do you recommend? Thanks for the help.

 

[Lake Dogs]

Yes. I plan on the cook ending 2 hours ahead of time. Frankly, I've never had them vary more than an hour in either direction...

Whether at home or competing, I like big butts, I cannot lie. 9# is probably the average.

Briskets, I use whole packers, usually in the 15 to just under 20# range.

 

[Ackman]

I shoot for the big meats to come off around 10AM, vent then wrap or into the cambro

 

[chrisr]

Hey lake dogs how long does it take you to smoke a 9 lb butt and 15lb brisket? What temps are you running at?

 

[Swamp Donkeyz BBQ]

We always plan to finish our big meats at least 2 hours before turn in. We cook whole packers, average of 12 pounds, and 9 to 10 pound butts.

 

[nucornhusker]

I shoot for the big meats to come off around 10AM, vent then wrap or into the cambro

Same here.

 

[dano]

Yup...shoot for 10am and rest in a cooler or cambro

 

[Lake Dogs]

Hey lake dogs how long does it take you to smoke a 9 lb butt and 15lb brisket? What temps are you running at?

My smoker likes to settle in at 260, give or take 10 degrees. I cook everything there, butts, briskets, ribs, etc. Not chicken, because that'll get you rubbery skin every time, but that's another story...

Cooked fat cap down, I foil both right at the 4.5 hour mark. Still; fat cap down. Both cook for 9 to 9.5 hours. If we're fast on the foil and the smoker isn't open long; its usually more like 9 hours. If open longer, more like 9.5 hours. Rarely does it dither much more than 15 minutes...

I then relocate them to a cooler (used as a warmer). They'll continue to cook. Oh, I pull briskets first. The reason is that everything will continue to cook in the warmer; the brisket can get over-cooked in a big way...

If I'm playing the Money Muscle game with butts I remove them on temperature, not time, and they still cook wrapped up. I remove them at 180, because they continue to cook... In this case, I cook 4 butts; 2 for MM's, 2 for pulled pork. Sliced (or cubed) pork doesn't play well here in the deep south. I'm not sure how it does it other areas, but not here..

 

[chrisr]

What type of smoker do you have? I'm cooking on a Oklahoma Joe offset smoker.

 

[PigxelPerfectBbq]

I competed in my first KCBS comp this last weekend and I was so worried about my big meats not finishing in time for turn. I started my Brisket at 10pm and my Butts at 12:00am ran at 235 on my yoder. Both were finished at around 7:30-8:00 so now I know I can wait a bit longer to get em goin. A lot of the more experienced teams waited a lot longer to put their stuff on than me but they have it all timed out perfectly for how long they want things to rest prior to turn in. I am usually impatient at home when it comes to letting my larger meats rest... but after 4 hours of resting in a cooler my Brisket was still where I wanted it to be (even a little over because I kept it on a little long and it somewhat continues to cook once holding it to rest). As a first timer I would suggest just start earlier than you would think you need to. Everyone kept reminding me it would be fine resting not to worry. Knowing its done is a lot less stressful then dealing with a stall right before turn in. Good luck!

 

[Lake Dogs]

What type of smoker do you have? I'm cooking on a Oklahoma Joe offset smoker.

I use an early version of a Lang 84; reverse flow offset. I dont list/post the times I put these on because the I compete in different sanctioning bodies and the turn-in times and the level of detail needed at box-build and presentation time varies greatly among them.

 

[Big Mike]

I try to get my butts and briskets done a couple hours ahead as well. You can hold them 3-4 hours easy enough. One comp I actually had a brisket cook way fast. Actually everything except my chicken cooked way fast that day and I still have no idea why. Anyways, I held that brisket for 7 hours and it got a top 10 call.

 

[Gowan]

Big meats generally benefit from several hours holding time. Move your timeline back and de-stress!