6 shoulders in a 18.5" WSM


 
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David Ward

TVWBB Fan
Ok, I've read it's possible to pack 6 shoulders in the regular WSM. I have a retirement at work later this week and we really need more than 4 shoulders so I want to try and pack in those extra two.

Any special tips I need to know about?

Will be using an older model 18.5" WSM with the Brinkman water pan and a Guru DigiQ2 for draft control (which is a fire and forget setup on 4 shoulders with one charcoal & water reload after 10 to 12 hours on a 20 hour smoke at 225*. We do this at least once a month so I have the 4 shoulders down to a pretty much exact science on my setup)
 
4 is the most I've ever done.

Only issue I can think of is squeezing them on. You'll probably have to stand them up. Maybe use skewers to prop them against each other?
 
I have packed my 22 with butts and brisket cooks and 1 thing I know forsure is the temp a take longer to come up on the cooker as the meat is a kina heat sink ! But how long depends on the temp of the meat when its put in the cooker ! I try to get mine as close to room temp as I can without risking it going bad .

The only other thing I can think of is you may have to kina cram it in a little on that 18 but that is not a big thing . It will shrink as it cooks so if a fit some way it a be fine and a cook fine IMHO .
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I've got some wire verticle chicken racks I was thinking of sitting in the middle of the WSM racks. Thought I would stand 3 butts up on each level with the chick rack to keep the middle open for more smoke exposure and bark formation.

I guess the bottom line is I will not know if it will fit until I get the suckers trimmed up and ready to put on the racks.
 
David,6 butts should not be a problem. A little tight maybe,but not a problem. Your chicken rack solution soounds like a good one. Let us know how it turns out.
 
I have done 4, but not 6 in my 18WSM. Standing them up would be a good thing to do if you can figure it out. Some good recommendations already. The one thing I have found when using the bottom grate with a lot of meat is that portion of the meat which is beyond the edge of the water pan really get done quicker and is exposed to much higher heat then the rest of the meat since it is almost a direct heat. So I have gone to great lengths to keep my meat off the bottom grate, and if I need to use the bottom grate, then I make sure all my meat is within the water pan edge. Not sure how you do that with 3 butts on the bottom, but just thought I would throw this consideration out there.

Good luck and let us know how it goes since I will be interested in your results.

Kg
 
The amount you cram in also depends on the size and shape of the butts themselves. The most I have ever done was 34lbs on a 21 hour smoke. It was 4 shoulders. I bet you could get up to 40 or 42 lbs, with however many shoulders that turns out to be. I don't think you could get 50lbs, but somebody here may prove me wrong. 50 lbs I think would clog up the chamber and not allow proper heat convection.


I would take the unheated grill grates to to my prep area and stand the butts on them as vertically as I could. Then I would use whatever I could to hold them in place. A chicken rack would help, but I would be using plenty of butchers twine to make them hold together. The beer can chicken rack might then serve to hold the center of the "meat ring" open to additional smoke, instead of making simply a "meat blob" on each rack.

Too bad Chris makes us use real names on here. I like "meat blob" as a user name.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by KeithG:
I have done 4, but not 6 in my 18WSM. Standing them up would be a good thing to do if you can figure it out. Some good recommendations already. The one thing I have found when using the bottom grate with a lot of meat is that portion of the meat which is beyond the edge of the water pan really get done quicker and is exposed to much higher heat then the rest of the meat since it is almost a direct heat. So I have gone to great lengths to keep my meat off the bottom grate, and if I need to use the bottom grate, then I make sure all my meat is within the water pan edge. Not sure how you do that with 3 butts on the bottom, but just thought I would throw this consideration out there.

Good luck and let us know how it goes since I will be interested in your results.

Kg </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I share your concern considerably if cooking ribs or chicken, but haven't had a problem yet with two big butts on the lower grate. I didn't rotate, either.
 
Thanks for all the good info guys.

I pulled the two wire chicken stands out this morning to do a dry run and see how much room I will have. Looks like the plan is the use the chicken stand in the middle of each grate and then truss 3 shoulders with cotton twine to compact them as much as possible and stand 3 per level on the ends leaning slightly towards the chicken stand to keep them verticle. I will go with the brinkman water pan instead of a flower pot base as I think this will give me a safety margin. Then fire it up and use a BBQ Guru Digi-Q II to keep it at the 225 mark for how ever long it takes. I'm going to start the shoulders about 2 hours earlier than normal to give me some breathing room on the time as well since they will hold temp in a ice chest just fine if done early. Will be over hickory and cherry wood chunks in Kingsford. When I do 4 shoulders (which is a regular thing), I have to reload about 1/2 a chimney of coals and reload the water pan after about 10-12 hours, but the Guru keeps it dead on 225 until then. I expect a slight spike as the fresh coals settle in but then it's 225 all the way with no more fiddling (normally). A power draft is worth it's weight in gold on a long smoke.

I'll try to post some photos of the smoke as well.

PS - if we can get 6 in a 18.5" I wonder if there is a way to pack 10 into a 22"
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Well, the best laid plans often go awary....

I have two bad discs in my back and today I'm down in the back again so the 6 shoulder smoke will not be taking place. I was going to try and do it tomorrow anyway, but the other staff insisted I not aggravate the situaition and worked a deal with a commercial BBQ joint down the road for a bulk purchase.

Still need to try the 6 shoulders later though

Old age is not much fun sometimes....
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Dave Russell: I share your concern considerably if cooking ribs or chicken, but haven't had a problem yet with two big butts on the lower grate. I didn't rotate, either. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Dave: Agree I have not had a problem with 2 butts on the bottom grate. I mentioned this since the OP wants to put 3 butts on each grate, and therefore, I think he may run into this "outer edge higher temp issue" with 3 butts on the bottom grate.

One thing I would try is to place an end/side with a fat layer/cap over the edge facing down to help shield the higher temps from the meat.

Good luck,
Kg
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by David Ward:
Well, the best laid plans often go awary... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

David: Sorry to hear about your back and I hope you feel better. I have problems too...L5/S1 disk.

I was looking forward to hearing how your 6 butts went with the chicken stands. I really like that idea and may try it myself in my 18WSM.....thanks for the tip.

Best of luck,
Kg
 
David, I'll ditto KeithG. Sorry, and I hope you take care of yourself.

Maybe we all need to try to find a bbq apprentice or two that we can teach and maybe fall back on for a big cook. There's unemployed and bored kids everywhere. I wish I could get my son interested. All he wants to do is eat it.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by KeithG:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Dave Russell: I share your concern considerably if cooking ribs or chicken, but haven't had a problem yet with two big butts on the lower grate. I didn't rotate, either. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Dave: Agree I have not had a problem with 2 butts on the bottom grate. I mentioned this since the OP wants to put 3 butts on each grate, and therefore, I think he may run into this "outer edge higher temp issue" with 3 butts on the bottom grate.

One thing I would try is to place an end/side with a fat layer/cap over the edge facing down to help shield the higher temps from the meat.

Good luck,
Kg </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

For sure, and personally, I wouldn't try higher temps for a cook of this sort. I'd probably try to keep the vent temp at around 250-265, and would set my alarm on my Maverick to wake me up if the temp went over 270.
 
Dave: I agree on keeping the temp low for butts. What I meant was the higher temperature the meat is exposed to when it is outside of the water pan edge due to the almost direct heat from the coals. If you do have to put meat in this outside edge, then putting the fat cap down on the grate will offer some protection for the higher temp.

Kg
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by KeithG:
Dave: I agree on keeping the temp low for butts. What I meant was the higher temperature the meat is exposed to when it is outside of the water pan edge due to the almost direct heat from the coals. If you do have to put meat in this outside edge, then putting the fat cap down on the grate will offer some protection for the higher temp.

Kg </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I knew exactly what you meant.

I wouldn't want to hang a butt end with no fat on it out there either.

To tell the truth, I still haven't cooked a packer on the bottom grate for the concern we're talking about. I've heard of trimming a bit of fat off the thickest areas and laying under the ends. It's not direct heat, but it's sure close to it.

Regards,
Dave
 
Agree. Thanks for the info. I am going to buy a 22WSM once we get into our new house mainly for packers and ribs.

Kg
 
I've seen big briskets folded and foil being the only thing to keep the meat from touching the sides of the cooker. Maybe that's all good, but I haven't tried it yet. I cut the end of the point off the only decent sized packer I've smoked in mine.

Regarding the ribs, I think you're right. I do think we all have to agree that the little wsm isn't the best (full length slab) rib cooker, and I probably will go back to cooking ribs in my upright drum smoker or char-griller w/ sfb. The slabs just seem to cook more evenly on other cookers unless you half or roll 'em on the little wsm.

I tell you what, if you're hesitant to spend the cash on a big WSM, it's really easy to make an UDS (cheap, too), and there's lots of info on other bbq forums. They're also some of the best chicken cookers there are, cooking without any heat deflector.
 
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