Can I cook 6 chickens on an 18" WSM?

Hi guys,

Iv got quite a big party coming over for the weekend and im thinking about doing chicken.

I've looked at the pictures here: http://virtualweberbullet.com/wsmcapacity.html

If i do top and bottom grates, can I get 6 chickens in a 18" WSM?... any one got any experience of this?

Tim

That’s a reasonable load, three upper, three lower, sure.

Odd, but the first three posters to this thread are all Tims..also my first name.

Anyhoo, I've done four birds on an 18" with plenty of room to spare. 4-6 pounders each.

Personally, I prefer vertical roasting, and to fit 6 yardbirds on there, you might need to go that route (depending on their size). I have a couple of these that came as a bonus when I bought something else (I forget what):


Buying 6 of these may not make sense (unless you'll frequently be cooking 6 birds at a time), but you could get by with some large tin cans with both ends opened up. I much prefer the wire type because they allow better convection of heat and smoke. Tried the tin can method once and found that it took longer to cook and the white meat dried out a bit.

Also, you should probably plan on rotating them top to bottom and vice-versa about halfway through.

just a quick message to say thank you - it worked out great!

I and things slightly hotter - more like 125c and the chickens cooked in around 2 hours.

It made a real cloud please to the church bring and share.

Tim