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Smoker Time Calculator
How long to smoke brisket, pork shoulder, ribs, chicken or turkey by weight — and what time to light the smoker.
Your results
Smoking time
13 h 14
Rest
1-2 h
Target internal temperature
203°F / 95°C
Add a buffer of
2 h
Ninety minutes per pound at 225°F for brisket, ninety-five for pork shoulder, seventy-five for ribs, and far less for poultry — chicken and turkey are cooked to temperature, not to tenderness, so they finish in a fraction of the time.
Build in a buffer of at least two hours for any large cut. The stall — the hours where the internal temperature sits still around 160°F while evaporation cools the surface as fast as the fire heats it — does not arrive on schedule and does not last a fixed time. Finishing early is easy to fix; finishing late is not.
A finished brisket or pork butt holds for hours wrapped in foil, towelled and put in a cooler with no ice. That is not a compromise, it is how competition cooks manage a serving time. Poultry does not hold the same way; smoke it to land close to when you eat.
Questions people ask
How long to smoke a 4 lb pork shoulder?
About 6 h 20 at 225°F, plus a rest. Pull it at 203°F (95°C), when the bone twists free and a probe meets no resistance.
How long to smoke a 10 lb brisket at 225°F?
Around 15 hours, and you should plan for 17. Wrapping in butcher paper at the stall shortens it; opening the lid to look lengthens it.
Does smoking time scale with total weight or per piece?
Per piece. Two 5 lb pork butts take about as long as one, because heat travels into each of them independently — a full smoker takes longer to recover its temperature, but not twice as long to cook.