If you had to have briskets and Boston butts ready at 5pm, when would you put the on?

Put on as late as possible. Take off and wrap and place in ice chest.

Haven’t bought them yet but I’m getting full packers. Guessing 12-14 lbs. say I put them on at 10pm. At 250 deg they should be done around 10am. Think they can survive for 7.5 hours in an ice chest and still be warm? If not I guess I may could stick them in a 200 deg oven for a few hours then wrap and ice chests...

Do you have a smoker big enough to fit all the meat or do you have to stagger them out?

Too many variables, but brisket will take much longer than a butt. I got the bones to slide out of two butts the other day after 7 hours. My briskets usually go 16-18 hours.

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Too many variables, but brisket will take much longer than a butt. I got the bones to slide out of two butts the other day after 7 hours. My briskets usually go 16-18 hours.

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The OP's question is too general. Answering the question would require knowing the weight of each and the temp that he plans to cook them at. I've had butts take longer than brisket.

All I can say is it's easier just to play it safe and start earlier rather than later, because you can always keep it warm in an ice chest for several hours.

brisket and pork will hold in a cooler with towels in it for a while.

You can always cook at 225-230 for longer if you are worried about the meat sitting out for too long.

I just did a full brisket 13lb at 250.

Started at midnight-1am Friday night. It was at the stall when I got up at -8ish. I let it ride like that for a hour and then wrapped in butcher paper. I took it off at 2pm and let it sit in a ice chest wrapped till 6 and it was warm...not hot. I could have wrapped it sooner...I also let out a lot of heat taking off the point to do burnt ends.

Id wrap it and id plan on some time sat morning between 12-2am for the brisket. Butt might not be as long but is more forgiving sitting in a chest for longer and/or reheating in the oven than brisket. I would almost put them on at the same time.

Make sure you let those briskets rest for a half hour before wrapping and stuffing into a cooler. If you don’t they’ll continue to cook and you’ll have beef mush instead of brisket.

I smoked a 14.6 lb. packer on the July 4 weekend. Went on the Weber Smokey Mtn at 10 pm and cooked at 225-250 until 1 pm the next day.

I usually foil to get through the stall but let it go natural because I had plenty of time. When the probe went in like butter at around 195, I wrapped it in HD foil and a towel, and put in ice chest.

Was still hot as hell at 4:30 when it was sliced.

I have also cooked the same size brisket on high heat, around 350, and with the aid of foil had it ready for the ice chest in 6 hours. The bark does not develop quite as well, but it still tastes great and is a one-day project.

I always do pork butts on low heat,and they take longer than brisket. 14 to 20 hours depending on volume of meat in the cooker and weather conditions. Some folks do them high heat with success, but I’ve never tried.

Always better to start early. The meat will hold a long time in a chest. The flip side is having hungry people waiting on you, and that sucks for everyone.

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Make sure you let those briskets rest for a half hour before wrapping and stuffing into a cooler. If you don’t they’ll continue to cook and you’ll have beef mush instead of brisket.

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This is good advice.