18" WSM help, please


 
T

T Bounds

TVWBB Super Fan
Friends, I have a dilemma. I need to feed 70 people Friday night. They want my pulled pork.

The butts I get from Fresh Market are 10 lbs/per. I plan to do four. I'm not convinced I can get 4 10 lb'ers on my 18" wsm effectively for good pork. My thoughts or choices:

1) Do two overnight tonight until not quite done; foil them, fridge them, and then finish them in the oven Friday while the other two finish on the wsm from an overnight cook.

2) Squeeze all four on and do overnight tomorrow night.

I'm traveling with this q an hour and have no way to warm it up when I get there. I plan to foil it all and carry it in a cooler, then pull it when I get there. Any thoughts from more experienced q'ers would be greatly appreciated.
 
I have not tried this myself, but could you stand the butts "on end" to make them take up less grill space, and secure two of them together using metal skewers (if you don't normally turn/move them during cooking)? You could probably fit two per grate that way.

Failing that, I'm in Clemmons and won't be using my 18.5 WSM so if you want to borrow it to cook two butts per WSM I'd be happy to let you do so.
 
Larry--

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I highly regret not getting the larger Weber Smoker. The 18 1/2 just does not have the surface area for even two nice racks of spare ribs without me cutting them down and stuffing them into a rib rack. If your unit has never been used, I would exchange it for the 22 1/2 inch smoker. Otherwise, to answer your question, You "might" could get by with standing two on ends, assuming you could secure them somehow so they would not fall over. When a pork butt is done right, I can hardly get it off my grate without it falling apart due to its tenderness. I would never remove the blade bone until after, or right during taking it off the grate. Or, use the bottom rack for one and the upper grate for the second one. Keep in mind the upper and lower grates don't really get the same amount of temperature. On a real long smoke, I literally lift the barrell of my Weber off the charcoal bowl and set it aside, have an unlit chinmey full of charcoal ready to place where I think it needs it, throw on 2-3 more pieces of hardwood and grab the barrell and set it back on the charcoal bowl. You will lose 30 degrees of temperature +/-, but mine came back up to 250 pretty quickly using the Guru DigiQ 2 DX Temp Controller. The fan went to blowing and it did not take too long to hit 250 pit temp again. Most likely I could have finished my smoke without adding any more fuel, but I did not want to risk running low. I am confident I could have gone 14 1/2 hours with what was in there in hind-sight, but I erred on the side of safety. I set my DigiQ on 250 and it kept it nailed on 250 but I got up at 4:00 a.m to check it and it was still nailed on 250 and my internal meat temp on my 9 pound pork butt was 187. I wanted it to go to at least 200 and I am not experienced enough to know if I would run low on fuel before 200, so I added a chimney full and went back to bed. I didnt' really get back to sleep but I think I could have gotten by without adding fuel.

If you experiment with putting two pork butts on end on the top grate, be sure there is clearance first that the lid will fit on without hitting the butts. If they are cooked to wonderful tenderness, I have concerns they will fall apart on you unless maybe you wrap them with butchers twine to hold them together and not fall apart.

Good luck, keep us posted on how it goes.

George
 
Larry,

Your offer is incredible, and so is your suggestion! I think I'll try the skewer method to hold the butts apart but towards the middle. What I don't want, and the reason I was hesitant to do four big butts at once, is because I don't want any of them hanging out over the heat chimney on the outer edge. Everything toasts there. So I'll take your suggestion, tie them up tight, skewer them close but not touching, and try two on each rack. That way only one overnight, four hot butts, less stress, and hopefully better quality.

As a payment for your generosity, you ought to try the NC sauce in this month's Food Network Magazine. It is a knockoff of Allen and Son's sauce in Chapel Hill and is excellent. You can get the recipe on the web searching for Food Network Magazine June 2012 recipes, and it's the NC BBQ Sauce recipe. I made three batches last night and I can't get the smell out of my brain!

Thanks again for the insight and offer. I ought to win Brother-in-Law of the year for all this work!
 
I followed this recipe with a 9 lb. pork butt which I got from a friend who did the same, but with a 20 lb. pork butt both on one rack and the 18.5" weber, so I think it's possible. Only one way to find out.

Only thing I would mention is the more meat you put in the higher you need to get the temps. When I did mine I did a full basket of charcoal via the minion method and found it was too high for a 9 pounder, but having 4 of them would be a different story.
 
Oh ya, the recipe - http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/pork2.html

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Chris Grandoit:
I followed this recipe with a 9 lb. pork butt which I got from a friend who did the same, but with a 20 lb. pork butt both on one rack and the 18.5" weber, so I think it's possible. Only one way to find out.

Only thing I would mention is the more meat you put in the higher you need to get the temps. When I did mine I did a full basket of charcoal via the minion method and found it was too high for a 9 pounder, but having 4 of them would be a different story. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
 
Last July I cooked 4(four) 9 pounders with the bone in on my 18.5 and fed 85 people. I rubbed them and stood them on end and the lid was not a problem. I used two 12" Bamboo skewers criss-crossed through the two butts to hold them up. That left about 1/2" between the two and I got great bark all around.

Lessons learned on that cook:
Cook at least at 250-275 or it takes forever. I cooked 20 hrs at 225. Never again.

The top two finished first and I moved the two off the lower grate to the upper grate to finish.

It takes a full ring of charcoal plus more. You will have to replenish the coals.

The club members said the pulled Pork was great. I would only say it was pretty good.

We fed 85 hungry people and we had leftovers so I believe I can easily make pulled pork to feed 100 people.

FWIW If you use two cookers the cook may be easier but it's definitely doable with one.

Have fun.
 
Lew,

Thanks for the words and advice from experience. And thank you to Chris and George. I truly value all the advice and glean truth from them all.

Lew, the advice on temp is well taken. I have BBG Guru and fan that I plan to use to keep the temp close to 300. I'm going to put them on at 8 Thursday night and swap top for bottom early Friday morning and PRAY I can start taking them off Friday afternoon. I've never done it, but I'll finish them foiled and/or in the oven if I have to. We must leave by 4 p.m. and I live by the mantra: it's done when it's done. I don't like smoking anything on a schedule. It never works for me.

I have some great silicone "rubber" bands that I use on all foods to hold them together, and I've used them on butts before so I'll use them this time. I like the idea of criss-crossed skewers and would not have thought 1/2 inch apart would have worked. Now I know!

So four Thursday night it is, and again I urge everyone to try the Food Network Mag sauce. I never would have expected to get my sauce recipe from them, but it is incredible. I'll try to have a few pics and let you all know how it goes.
 
Although it'll take longer to get up to a "comfortable" cooking temp, there's no problem smoking four big butts in your wsm. Start off with as much boiling water as possible.

Now to be honest, the largest four butts I've smoked averaged closer to 9lb each, but others like Glenn W. (and maybe Josh?) have done it with good success. Might do a search or two. Anyhow though, you can rotate the butts and/or foil them if concerned about cooking evenness or getting them all cooked tender in time. I'd do both if not using water in the pan, and have a finishing sauce of some sort ready in case any look dry upon pulling.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by T Bounds:
Larry,

As a payment for your generosity, you ought to try the NC sauce in this month's Food Network Magazine. It is a knockoff of Allen and Son's sauce in Chapel Hill and is excellent. You can get the recipe on the web searching for Food Network Magazine June 2012 recipes, and it's the NC BBQ Sauce recipe. I made three batches last night and I can't get the smell out of my brain!
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

This one?
http://www.foodnetwork.com/rec...ce-recipe/index.html
 
Len,

That's the one. I made 5 batches last night. The kids came downstairs smelling the vinegar thinking we were about to dye eggs! Still, the sauce is excellent and I can't wait to try it on the q.
 
T, if you follow this LINK you will see a 4 butt cook I did for a graduation party 4 years ago (can't believe it was that long ago). If memory serves me correctly it was about 36 lbs of butts (4) and I used Skewers. As you'll see from the pictures, the fit wasn't bad at all. I think you'll be fine.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Lew Newby:
Last July I cooked 4(four) 9 pounders with the bone in on my 18.5 and fed 85 people. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Oh my gosh, I plan to do 4 8LB butts this weekend just because I can fit it, and only planning on feeding 15 people. Tell me you had small portion sizes
icon_smile.gif
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by T Bounds:
I have BBG Guru and fan that I plan to use to keep the temp close to 300. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

What do you mean by fan? I saw something recently on ebay on a picture for a thermal gasket, but was curious what that was, have any reference? Or are you just putting a fan near the vent, lol
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Steve Pfisterer:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Lew Newby:
Last July I cooked 4(four) 9 pounders with the bone in on my 18.5 and fed 85 people. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Oh my gosh, I plan to do 4 8LB butts this weekend just because I can fit it, and only planning on feeding 15 people. Tell me you had small portion sizes
icon_smile.gif
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

One 8 pounder should do it steve, how about you replace the 3 butts with a brisket, some ribs, towards the end add in a burger or two =D
 
Chris,

A number of vendors make competing products, and many people on this site vouch for various ones, but the one I use is the BBQ Guru, which you can look up at www.thebbqguru.com

There is high tech and low tech, and most of the time I use no tech, but in a case like this cook that has importance attached to it I use the guru and let it help keep the temp steady all night. I rarely have a problem doing that "no tech", but my anxiety takes over some times!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by T Bounds:
Larry,

Your offer is incredible, and so is your suggestion!...

As a payment for your generosity, you ought to try the NC sauce in this month's Food Network Magazine. It is a knockoff of Allen and Son's sauce in Chapel Hill and is excellent...

Thanks again for the insight and offer. I ought to win Brother-in-Law of the year for all this work! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

You're welcome, as far as the offer goes. I may have to try that sauce - I've eaten at Allen and Son's a number of times, so if it's an accurate "clone" it should be good.
 
Chris, those were fishermen, recreational Shrimpers. One 8 lb. Butt will feed 15 people unless they have football player appetites.
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Here's a pic of a four butt cook I did for our niece's wedding a few weeks ago. I bought two cryo pack butts from GFS, and the total weight was around 37 lbs. so they averaged 8-9 lbs. each. I had no problem fitting two butts on each rack, and I have not had a problem with the ends getting too burned. I rotate them on each grate after 4 hrs. or so, but I don't change them from the top to the bottom rack. This was a few hours into the cook. After they shrink a bit through rendering, they fit just fine on the racks.

0519120721b.jpg
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by T Bounds:
I have BBG Guru and fan that I plan to use to keep the temp close to 300. I'm going to put them on at 8 Thursday night and swap top for bottom early Friday morning and PRAY I can start taking them off Friday afternoon. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

T, regardless of the meat load, I've never had butts take near that long cooking 250-275*, much less 300*.
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