Hey WBH - Q question

So let's say I want to smoke some ribs & brisket for a noon tailgate, and I don't have a drive around cooker....what are my options?

I have a WSM (18.5), coolers, meat & beer - how do the logistics work out?

For the brisket, I would start it the night before. Let's say it weighs X lbs. I would put it on X hours minus 30 minutes from when I planned to leave for tailgate/game. I would set my vents to where I know the WSM would cook between 250 and 275. Put water in the bowl. And go to bed. Wake up, double wrap in HD foil, and wrap in a towel, put in cooler. Unwrap when you're ready to serve and serve it. (standard response - separate flat from point, slice each against the grain)

Ribs are trickier. Presumably you don't want to stay up all night. Presumably you don't want to wake up in the middle of the night. If you're ok with waking up in the middle of the night, throw some STL spares on ~ 5 hours before X minus 30 minutes. Pull them, wrap them the same way, cooler. If they're not quite done, reheat them on propane grill on low, still wrapped in foil until they're well north of 200 and bending like rubber.

If you don't want to wake up in the middle of the night, Cook them Friday morning for 4.5 hours or so. Double wrap. Fridge. I am assuming you will have a propane grill at tailgate. Again I would just pop them on that still wrapped Saturday AM on low until they got to bend-tender.

I might have to try a dry run on this, as it isn't for the Purdue game....the problem is I usually text myself start times/temp and shit like that, but for late night cooks the drinker I get the less idea I have about what I've done once I wake up.

Ribs are one of my favs, but you are right they take more time & effort; brisket is always a huge hit. Do you have any suggestions to use as a replacement for ribs (FWIW - I prefer St. Louis over baby back)

You're over thinking it if you need to text yourself start and finish times. You can use a maverick (I think you have one?) to gauge general times but for the most part it's pretty easy to tell status by the eye/bend/probe test. 

My suggestion is don't try to serve more than one type of meat at your tailgate because it's too difficult to track internal temps and cook times. 

If you don't have a portable cooker, I think I would stick with large cuts that have long cook times and will get better with long rest periods. Brisket, Pork Shoulders (asses), Beef chuck roast, Beef ribs

WHB,
What smoker are you using?

I use a 18.5 WSM and/or a 24x48 offset trailer made by Peoria Cookers.

This is the best thread I've read here so far. Damn now I am hungry for some ribs.