5 butts, and 3 racks of BBs on the 22" WSM. Will it all fit?


 

Tim K

TVWBB All-Star
Hi all. I have been put in charge of smoking the meat for a birthday party this weekend. The request is for 5 butts, and 3 racks of ribs, to be ready to serve by 16:00 Saturday afternoon. I know the 22 can hold 5 butts, and I can fit 3 racks of BBs on one shelf, but can all of the be achieved at the same time? My plan is to put the butts on early, then as they are nearing completion, put all 5 on grate to finish and the racks of ribs on the other grate. Is this do-able? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Tim
 
Tim, I think that sounds pretty reasonable,maybe when the butts hit stall, load the ribs. Is that your idea?
I haven’t smoked anything in two weeks, starting to sweat, and shake. Am I going through some sort of smokey treat withdraws!?
 
That's a very aggressive cook Tim. Hope you can post a few pic's and let us know how it goes. Sounds doable to me. It will just take some planning to pull it off as scheduled. The key for me, especially with butts or ribs, is to allow yourself plenty of time. Both are easy to wrap and place in a cooler even if they are 2 to 3 hours early. The heat retains nicely, and it takes a lot of the stress off too and makes the cook more enjoyable. Good luck to you!
 
I agree with Cliff, foil and coolers can be your best friends! Start an hour or two before you originally planned and you will have fewer grey hairs......sorry, bad mental picture. I’m down to about forty five hairs anyway and I honestly don’t care what color they might be!
 
What size are the butts?

3 on 1 rack, yeah, but 5, I don't see it personally; at least the sizes I get and not to mention after foiling.
 
At the risk of being accused of sacrilege, you could just take some of the butts off when you put on the ribs and finish the butts in the oven. By that point they'll have taken on about as much smoke as they're going to so the WSM is mostly acting like a big oven.

As to timing, I also concur with Cliff. Plan to have the butts done, rested, and ready to pull hours before you think you'll need them. A big cook like that is hectic enough without trying to rush things. If you're going to do a long rest, I suggest letting the butts cool a bit before wrapping and holding in a cooler. I had a bad experience last year where I wrapped when they were too hot and they continued to cook in the cooler for hours. When I went to pull them they completely fell apart, and not in a good way. You want at least a bit of collagen left to provide structure, otherwise you end up with mush. Let them cool to 160-170F before sticking in the cooler. They'll still be plenty hot hours later.
 
Thanks guys, the plan is this. I smoke butts and ribs at 265-275, and at that temp, butts usually take right at 10 hours. I will lad the butts 3 on top, 2 on the bottom and plan on having them on the smoker no later then 04:00. The plan then is for the ribs to go on the smoker at 10:00, hopefully payed flat on one grate. With shrinkage, I'm hoping that they will all fit (if placed on their sides) on a single grate. If they won't fit, rolling or a rib rack will be my next option. I'm hoping the butts will finish up around 14:00, with the ribs finishing around 15:00. I know the butts will be fine with a lengthy hold wrapped in a cooler, but can this be done with ribs as well??
Thanks again for all the input and guidance.
Tim
 
In a good cooler, given the thermal mass you'll have with five butts, I'd imagine you could hold them for 12 hours or more and they'd still be plenty warm enough to serve. Put the ribs in the same cooler and they should hold just as long.

As to timing, I would personally start the butts a lot earlier. I've had several take a LOT more than 10 hours. But that's me. I would also caution that the logistics of dealing with that much meat may well add a lot more time. You're planning butts on at 04:00, hopefully off at 14:00. Dinner at 16:00. If you rest the butts for an hour, which isn't that long a time, you've then got one hour to pull five butts. That's 12 minutes per butt. I've never timed myself but I'd be surprised if I've ever finished pulling one in under 20 minutes. If you don't have several extra sets of hands helping, that seems like really pushing it on the time. Plus you'll be dealing with the ribs, checking when they're done, saucing or whatever you normally do. If it were me, I'd want everything ready and holding in a warm oven at least an hour before dinner time. And that means starting a lot earlier than 04:00.
 
I'm with Jay on the timing. If the butts are done way early, there is no problem -- you can wrap them in foil and towels, then leave them in a cooler for up to 5 hours and they will still be plenty hot. If you are eating at 16:00, you might want to plan for the butts to be done at 12:00, giving you a doneness window and a good amount of resting time. Ribs stay hot for an hour or more when foil-wrapped and in a cooler, so rather than cut everything too close, look to finish cooking early so you can spend some time with guests before everyone dives in.

Jeff
 
Early is far and above better than “it’s not done yet” for three hours. Jay is right, that mass will hold heat a lot longer than you might think!
 
Let me add one more thought. Rather than determining a start time and how to optimistically squeeze it all in, start at the time you want to eat and work backwards. Think about all the individual tasks and how long you realistically think they're going to take. Then add at least 50% to that time. Make a timeline showing each activity, how you think they might overlap, who's assigned to what task, etc. Be sure to add gaps because things you didn't expect will almost certainly pop up. This will also be a significant amount of work so account for breaks now and again.

My family laughed at me for making a detailed schedule for preparing Christmas dinner. Nobody was making fun when everything was hot and ready at the scheduled time. The biggest benefit for me was the cook wasn't totally frazzled when it was done.
 
Personally, I'd allow much more time than 10 hours than you stated. And keep in mind, if you're used to a single but taking 10 hours you might be stuck with them taking longer with the WSM being loaded with more meat than what you normally do. I'm also in agreement with having the oven ready in case it is needed, which if need be, can allow you more time to tend to other matters rather than worrying about the possibility of having to refuel. But I do lack experience with fully-loaded cooks; I only did one for a grad party. My shoulders did take longer than normal, though, and I'm guessing that having the WSM packed with meat contributed to the extra time. Good luck!
 
One more thought: you state that you were requested to do 5 and 3. You might use your experience to assess on your own if this amount is adequate.
 
I know I'm coming in late on this, but I would have stood the butts up on their ends (or sides) to give each a smaller footprint on the grate.

A couple of skewers through the tops would keep them from falling over.

I think a rib rack would also provide a smaller footprint over curling them as shown in the picture.
 
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