Smoke 8 - 7lb Butts in an 18" WSM


 
J

Jason H.

TVWBB Member
All,

For awhile I have been trying to come up with a way to do a bit more inside my 18" WSM. I was able to get up to 6 ~7-8lb butts (what I typically find at my local sams) but was trying to think of a way to bump that up. Add to that that I did not want to increase the horizontal cross section of the meat in the smoker as I don't want to restrict the heat/smoke flow going up or create a hot pocket of air below alot of obstructions so I wanted to keep it to the 2 grates if possible. The idea I came up with is illustrated in the below 2 simulations (yes, I got bored one weekend and made the racks in my WSM virtual). Basically my idea is to stand the butts up on their fat (size, not actual fat) end and then lean them like dominos on the threaded rods. So from above it will look like all the butts are falling in a clockwise direction. This way no 2 butts are actually touching each other and each butt has plenty of space around it for smoky goodness. Also on the lower grate I added in a handle so that using the same structure I am putting in for the butt holding gives me a nice handle to lift the bottom grate in/out easily.

Also I think this could be used to do alot more ribs (think of putting the ribs in the threaded rod in concentric circles) especially if I added another layer of steel (think the handle but lower down). This way the ribs would be standing up and in concentric circles. This way there is no wasted space such as when you do a straight rib rack.

Of course the materials I am planning on using for this are 304 uncoated ss which I will clean and bake out on my grill prior to using for food.

But, any suggestions on this design?

http://i1312.photobucket.com/albums/t536/jasonherrington1/bottomgratewithdevice_zpseea82945.jpg

http://i1312.photobucket.com/albums/t536/jasonherrington1/topgratewithdevice_zps469b9d29.jpg
 
So it looks like you are designing a "butt rack"? lol. I would think that would let you stand the meat up against the bars. Just have to make sure its sturdy enough so it doesn't fall over or bend and let things touch.

Might want to check the spacing between bars for ribs to make sure you have enough space.
 
LOL, well you know I want my butts to be held correctly. Right now the bars are going to be 1/4-20 304 SS threaded rod and the bottom plates are 1/8" thick 304 SS. Unless I get a mamoth butt in there I think they will hold up fine, of course need to actually try it.

Yeah, the ribs were an afterthought, the main purpose of this being the butts. Will have to see how it comes out.
 
Creative, in more ways than one, I'll give ya that. :)
I like it and think it'll work well. I'd like to see it built and in action.
If I need more room than my 18" offers, I just fire up the 22". lol :p

You were so close to getting your links to post in the thread. Type in [imgg]ThenPasteYourLink[/imgg] and you'll be good to go.
NOTE - only use one "g" in the img brackets. I have to type it in wrong otherwise the coding thinks I'm posting a pic and gives an error.


bottomgratewithdevice_zpseea82945.jpg

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topgratewithdevice_zps469b9d29.jpg
 
Chad, thanks for the tip! I was wondering how to get them to show up in the post like that.

Good news is that I have all the materials to do them now. Bad news is that this idea came out of a 10 butt cook (if I need more than my 18" WSM can do I have to fire up my other 18" WSM :) that I just finished a couple of weeks ago so not sure when next I am going to be doing pulled pork especially at that volume. At the very least I should be able to get one set of racks done within a week or two and get pics on here of that.
 
^^^ Sweet, looking forward to it.

Likewise, I've only done an 8-butt cook once before. Not sure when it'll happen again, but I'm armed with 2 WSM's and ready for the task. lol
 
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