Time to get serious about a new smoker.

[Green Monstah]

New house has a gas line on the back patio. Looking at getting a grill/smoker combo. Anyone have one of these? Thoughts?

[Joe Public]

New house has a gas line on the back patio. Looking at getting a grill/smoker combo. Anyone have one of these? Thoughts?

I’ll be interested to see any comments on this. I have been really pleased with the kamado, but we have the gas line to the back patio as well, and it might be nice to have a couple of options.

[Moliere]

New house has a gas line on the back patio. Looking at getting a grill/smoker combo. Anyone have one of these? Thoughts?

I don't but I do love having my grill hardwired into a gas line. It makes things very convenient to never run out of fuel.

[Copelius]

I don't but I do love having my grill hardwired into a gas line. It makes things very convenient to never run out of fuel.

Our new house has the gas line on the patio but my wife considers our grill to be part of our emergency prep. She is positive that the big earthquake that is coming will wipe out gas lines so we still have a propane grill. I tried to find a hybrid but most appear to be only gas or only propane.

[Bo Diddley]

The temperature sensor is malfunctioning in my Camp Chef. The smoker was cooking way too hot, so I turned it down to 175, and that got it cooking in a workable temperature range. I bought a replacement sensor off Amazon.

Have any of you had these things go out? I also had to replace the controller a year or two ago.

[Moliere]

I had one button on my Yoder control board that wasn't working. It was the "temp up" button, which is annoying since I can't increase the temperatue. But since the temp starts at 350 when you turn it on, if I want to increase the temp from 200 to 250 I can just restart the machine and push the temp down button until I get to 250. Anyway, this start happening in March and I finally called Yoder about it. My machine is three months out of warranty but the nice lady from customer service said she'd talk to her boss and see what they could do. She called me back about an hour later and said they'd send a new control board free of charge. Yeah, I'm a big fan of Yoder.

[Bo Diddley]

Yeah, Camp Chef sent me the replacement controller when I needed it as well. I didn't call to ask about the sensor. I'll just spend the $20.

[Eddie]

So - amid everything else going on around home, I've got a little shindig planned for Saturday at noon in our yard. We're trying to do some outdoor social distancing while having the manly equivalent of a bridal shower - which means eating smoked meats and accompanying BBQ sides, drinking homemade root beer, and giving tools and unsolicited relationship advice to the groom.

Tell me all of the ways that my plan is going to go wrong and what I should do different before I actually make any mistakes....

I wanted to have a full spread of meat options, of course. So here's what I'm seeing as a cooking timeline for a Saturday noon meal.

Friday night, around 8pm, pork butt goes on the smoker at 225. I pull it off at midnight, foil it up, and throw it in the oven at 225 until it hits somewhere between 195-200 degrees. Most of my big pork butts have needed more than 12 hours - I'm thinking this gives me enough wiggle room to get it done and hold it for up to 3-4 hours with FTC if needed.

When the pork butt comes off at midnight, the Brisket goes on, smoker still at 225. I've only done 2 briskets, but the longest either took was 9 hours (famous last words). I figure that still gives me some time wiggle room for it to hold for a last bit and break down tissue. Brisket stays on the smoker for 5 hours (till 5am) when it gets foiled and goes into the oven until it hits around 195. Then it either stays in the oven at a lower temp, or goes into the FTC with the pork butt.

When the brisket comes off the smoker at 5am, the baby back ribs go on. Smoker stays at 225, ribs go on for 3 hours. Wrap in foil and into the oven at 225 for another couple of hours, then unwrap, sauce, and back on the smoker for the last hour. Kind of a traditional 3-2-1 method. Done by 11am (with an hour so spare if needed)

Can I cook this stuff back to back to back and have it all done by noon?

(The baby backs were a last minute addition. That's what happens when you go to Smiths and they're on sell for $1.79 a lb.)

Thanks for any input.

[Bo Diddley]

Have you cooked the ribs that way before? The first time I tried them they looked ready for phase two after 2 hours. So now I do 2-2-1 on my ribs. As long as you're comfortable with that, I think it should work.

Address?

[old_gregg]

why not do the pork ahead of time and reheat?

[Jeff Lebowski]

why not do the pork ahead of time and reheat?

Great idea. If you pull and immediately vacuum seal and then heat up with hot water when you are ready to go it is indistinguishable from fresh.

Eddie: I salute you! That is ambitious. We are going to do jalapeno poppers and ribs this weekend.

[Lost Student]

So - amid everything else going on around home, I've got a little shindig planned for Saturday at noon in our yard. We're trying to do some outdoor social distancing while having the manly equivalent of a bridal shower - which means eating smoked meats and accompanying BBQ sides, drinking homemade root beer, and giving tools and unsolicited relationship advice to the groom.

Tell me all of the ways that my plan is going to go wrong and what I should do different before I actually make any mistakes....

. . .

Thanks for any input.

A guest could have COVID-19 and they infect the bride and groom, ruining their honeymoon plans.

[Eddie]

Have you cooked the ribs that way before? The first time I tried them they looked ready for phase two after 2 hours. So now I do 2-2-1 on my ribs. As long as you're comfortable with that, I think it should work.

Address?

I've actually thought about this some- starting them later. But I want to be sure they're done on time. If they're a little too done and fall off the bone instead of pull off, I'm OK with that. Most of the people there will likely think that's how they're supposed to be anyway. But it's worth considering what I'll do if they're done early to hold them without overdoing them.

why not do the pork ahead of time and reheat?

I could - but that just means doing the pork today instead of tomorrow. I finally just decided that if the timing works OK to do it that way, I'd rather cook it all at once than spread it out over a couple of days.

I'm also thinking about throwing some pork and beans on the grill in an aluminum pan - and part of me likes the idea of leaving them on overnight while all of these various items are cooking to see how much smoke they can pick up.

A guest could have COVID-19 and they infect the bride and groom, ruining their honeymoon plans.

Don't think that hasn't crossed my wife's mind. We've tried to convince my son that he and the fiance need to start playing it safe (they think because stores are open, they should go shopping to all of them. They refuse to wear masks anywhere. They really just don't take any precautions.) My wife has told them that these last couple of weeks before the wedding are the most important of their lives - because if one of them gets sick the wedding is off. Can't go to the temple to seal the deal if you're sick.

But, truth be told, I think they'd just hurry and do a civil ceremony over zoom or something hit the temple later when they aren't sick anymore. I can think of worse things for a honeymoon than being locked in your place together for 2 weeks and no one is allowed to visit. That actually sounds like a pretty good honeymoon, all things considered.

[Shaka]

Great idea. If you pull and immediately vacuum seal and then heat up with hot water when you are ready to go it is indistinguishable from fresh.

Eddie: I salute you! That is ambitious. We are going to do jalapeno poppers and ribs this weekend.

This is what I do for Lake Powell trips. Works great.

[All-American]

So - amid everything else going on around home, I've got a little shindig planned for Saturday at noon in our yard. We're trying to do some outdoor social distancing while having the manly equivalent of a bridal shower - which means eating smoked meats and accompanying BBQ sides, drinking homemade root beer, and giving tools and unsolicited relationship advice to the groom.

Tell me all of the ways that my plan is going to go wrong and what I should do different before I actually make any mistakes....

I wanted to have a full spread of meat options, of course. So here's what I'm seeing as a cooking timeline for a Saturday noon meal.

Friday night, around 8pm, pork butt goes on the smoker at 225. I pull it off at midnight, foil it up, and throw it in the oven at 225 until it hits somewhere between 195-200 degrees. Most of my big pork butts have needed more than 12 hours - I'm thinking this gives me enough wiggle room to get it done and hold it for up to 3-4 hours with FTC if needed.

When the pork butt comes off at midnight, the Brisket goes on, smoker still at 225. I've only done 2 briskets, but the longest either took was 9 hours (famous last words). I figure that still gives me some time wiggle room for it to hold for a last bit and break down tissue. Brisket stays on the smoker for 5 hours (till 5am) when it gets foiled and goes into the oven until it hits around 195. Then it either stays in the oven at a lower temp, or goes into the FTC with the pork butt.

When the brisket comes off the smoker at 5am, the baby back ribs go on. Smoker stays at 225, ribs go on for 3 hours. Wrap in foil and into the oven at 225 for another couple of hours, then unwrap, sauce, and back on the smoker for the last hour. Kind of a traditional 3-2-1 method. Done by 11am (with an hour so spare if needed)

Can I cook this stuff back to back to back and have it all done by noon?

(The baby backs were a last minute addition. That's what happens when you go to Smiths and they're on sell for $1.79 a lb.)

Thanks for any input.

Is your brisket a full packer or just the flat?

9 hours for a brisket would never be enough for me. I’m surprised to hear you say you’ve never needed more.

I would do the pork now, seal it, and reheat it so you can give your brisket more time. To me that is the obvious place where the plan can go awry.