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Top or bottom rack?

Posted: 14 Aug 2013, 19:20
by Dduffs71
Hi all, Newbie here......I have purchased a great ProQ Frontier from a fellow member tommo666) today and plan to cook a piece of brisket and pork shoulder at the same time. Both joints will not be huge and easily fit on the same grill. My question is, would they be better placed on the bottom or top grill? Thanks in adavance, Dave

Re: Top or bottom rack?

Posted: 14 Aug 2013, 22:52
by paulfire
As its your first use of the Q I would use the full unit, put both joints on the top grate and see how she cooks, are you using the bowl with water or some other way? I use a clay saucer in my excel, works for me.

Re: Top or bottom rack?

Posted: 15 Aug 2013, 09:55
by keith157
In all honesty I would do smaller less expensive cooks till I had a good grasp of how and what my smoker works and what fuel it prefers.

Re: Top or bottom rack?

Posted: 15 Aug 2013, 10:52
by RobinC
Would agree with Keith. Spend the first couple of cooks learning how the cooker behaves. I would also start with a single meat whilst you learn how long things take etc. In terms of which rack personally I always use the top rack in the WSM unless I need to use more than one.

Re: Top or bottom rack?

Posted: 15 Aug 2013, 11:13
by Dduffs71
Thanks guys, the meats are only smallish supermarket pieces and were cheap, so I am not expecting great results first time out, as the grill has been well seasoned already, I'm keen to give it a go. ;)

Re: Top or bottom rack?

Posted: 15 Aug 2013, 11:27
by paulfire
Go for it, try foiling the meat for the later stages it really does help
Many recipes recommend it.

Re: Top or bottom rack?

Posted: 15 Aug 2013, 11:36
by Dduffs71
Thanks Paul, I will certainly do that :D

Re: Top or bottom rack?

Posted: 15 Aug 2013, 11:38
by RobinC
well have fun

Re: Top or bottom rack?

Posted: 15 Aug 2013, 12:57
by Dduffs71
I'll try! I find having a bottle of beer in one hand always eases the frustrations..... ;)

Re: Top or bottom rack?

Posted: 15 Aug 2013, 14:03
by Swindon_Ed
Personally i use a clay saucer and a BBQ Guru with my WSM, and i find it best to cook brisket at 225f on the top rack and then the lower rack ends up being hotter which is better for the pork.