Memorial Day 3-Day BBQ Cook Guide

Your complete day-by-day prep and cook reference
Pulled Pork • Baby Back Ribs • Chicken

Let's Get After It

Memorial Day weekend is the biggest BBQ weekend of the year — and if you're planning to run pulled pork, ribs, AND chicken, this checklist is your game plan. Everything you need to prep, smoke, and serve without chaos.

This is the system I use. Day by day. Protein by protein. Use it, adapt it to your rig, and make it yours.

The Night Before: Get Everything Staged

Day 1 is not a cooking day. What you do tonight determines how smooth tomorrow goes. Budget 60–90 minutes.

Pulled Pork (Boston Butt):

• Trim fat cap to ¼ inch — leave a thin cap, not bare meat
• Apply dry rub generously on all sides — press it in
• Wrap in plastic or place in covered container
• Refrigerate overnight — minimum 8 hours, overnight is better

Baby Back Ribs:

• Remove the membrane from the back of the rack
• Apply rub on both sides — don't be shy on the bone side
• Wrap in plastic, refrigerate

Chicken:

• Wet brine: water + kosher salt + sugar + garlic + herbs — 4 to 12 hours
• OR dry brine: season directly, refrigerate uncovered on a rack
• Pat dry before cook — dry skin = better bark and crispness

Gear Check:

• Fuel confirmed — charcoal, wood chunks, or pellets. Check twice.
• Thermometers charged and calibrated
• Heavy-duty foil (the big roll — Sam's Club or Restaurant Depot)
• Aluminum pans for the rib bath and chicken hold
• Cooler prepped for faux cambro hold — towel in the bottom
• Serving tools, gloves, and cutting boards ready

Cook Backwards from Serve Time

The #1 system mistake: putting everything on at the same time. These proteins have very different cook times. Stagger the starts and everything lands together.

Example: 4:00 PM Serve Target at 225–250°F

Protein	Start Time	Est. Cook	Target Temp
Pulled Pork (Butt)	Midnight – 4 AM	10–14 hrs	195–205°F
Baby Back Ribs	10:00 – 11:00 AM	4–5 hrs	195–203°F
Chicken (Thighs)	12:00 – 1:00 PM	2.5–3.5 hrs	165°F min

These are frameworks, not guarantees. Cook to temperature — not to time. Your thermometer tells you when it's done.

Forget 3-2-1. Try This Instead.

Cut between the bones before the cook — you can see every rib, they cook faster, and you don't have to guess at doneness. Here's the full sequence:

1. Smoke bone-side down at 250°F for 3 hours
2. Pull ribs. Place in aluminum pan — add apple juice, a little butter, a hit of your rub
3. Seal tight with heavy-duty foil. Back on the smoker for 1 hour (the bath)
4. Remove from foil. Back on the grate for 30 minutes — firms up the bark
5. Sauce on. 10–15 minutes to set. Pull and serve.

Know These Cold — They Don't Change

PULLED PORK

Target: 195–205°F internal (pull-apart collagen breakdown)
USDA safe minimum: 145°F. We cook well past this for texture.

BABY BACK RIBS

Target: 195–203°F internal + bend test (pick up at one end with tongs — it should bend and start to crack)
USDA minimum for pork: 145°F.

CHICKEN

USDA minimum: 165°F internal — no exceptions, no shortcuts
Thighs & wings: 175–185°F for best texture. Dark meat improves above 165°F.

REHEATING

All proteins must reach 165°F internal before serving. Every time.
Hold hot food at 140°F or above to stay food-safe.

Cooking for a Crowd — Do This Right

CROSS-CONTAMINATION RULES

• Separate cutting boards for raw chicken and raw pork — never share.
• Wash hands between handling different raw proteins.
• Never put cooked meat on a surface that touched raw meat.
• Wear gloves when handling food for others. Always.

When Running All Three Proteins

My default for a multi-protein cook: hickory and cherry in equal proportion. Works with all three. Keeps the smoke balanced.

Individual preferences:

• Pulled pork: Hickory, oak, or pecan — handles the long cook
• Ribs: Hickory + cherry blend — cherry adds bark color and sweetness
• Chicken: Apple, cherry, or peach — fruitwoods only. Hickory on chicken over a long cook is too heavy.

Don't over-smoke chicken. Lighter is always better for poultry.

"Keep the fire going. Happy Memorial Day."

— Mr. B, Backyard BBQ-R