Am I doing too Much?

[Larry Wolfe]

Okay, maybe my eyes are bigger than my WSM. I had asked a few questions about cooking 6 Picnics at once on my WSM totalling 48lbs. I received a few mixed responses. Some say it will work others say I am pushing the limits. HELP!!! Has anyone tried cooking that much meat at once? If so how did it turn out?? If this will work and I need it ready by Saturday morning around 11am, should I start Thursday afternoon or very early Friday morning? If I am doing too much at once please be blunt with me and tell me I have lost my mind!!! I am beginning to think I have! But need to make sure this will work. Thanks again for all of the advice.

 

[Mark Etheridge]

Larry,

I did 4 8-lb butts once and had a heck of a time with temperature control. They all came out great but it was a battle. Check this out: Minion Method Question But, I've learned a whole bunch since then and here's my what I recommend:

Six picnics at 8lbs apiece all at once is probably too much for the WSM. Why? Two reasons: First is airflow. Six butts are gonna take up alot of space on the grates and that doesn't leave alot of room for the heat to circulate around your meat.

Second is the heat load. Six butts at 40 degrees or less is a major heat sink and it'll continue to be a major heat sink for some time after you have put them on. Your temps will plummet after all those butts get put on and they will not come back up very fast and maybe not at all. This can probably be overcome with enough lit charcoal. At any rate you're gonna be working harder to keep those temps up.

Now, without knowing how experienced you are with your WSM, I would suggest that you cook 2 of the butts then, if you feel confident enough, you try the remaining four all at once or in any combination thereof.

BTW, if you are wondering if I'd ever do four butts at once again...yes, I would.

Hope this helps.
----------------------------
Mark WAR EAGLE!!

 

[Jim Minion]

Mark is right, it can be done but your cooking time is going to be greatly increased. If you are going to try it in one cook you will need to rotate the picnics from top to bottom rack and from the bottom to top half to two thirds of the way through the cook.
Give yourself at least 20 hours to get them done.
If they finish early they can be held wrapped in plastic and foil in a dry cooler.
Jim

 

[Tom Raveret]

Haviing done two batchs of four in the last week I would think your best bet its do two tonight and pull them tommorow and ziplock or foodsaver them and four tommorow (or you could do three and three). If your looking for an 11:00 pm finish I would put the Friday batch on early enough on Friday evening or even in the afternoon after you take the Thursday night ones off. Doing the three and three may give you a better instinct to time them for your Saturday finish.

I really didn't have the temprature control porblems that Mark did, I used mimnion method stabilized temps and after they were on for 3-4 hours I went to bed. Temps didnt even flucuate much through a torrential rain. The key for me is to make sure I manage temps on the way up and not light too many coals and get to temp too quickly.

Why did you choose picnics over butts?

 

[John L]

I'm pretty sure I could pull it off now with my BBQ Guru, but I wouldn't even have attempted 6 butts before. My only issue now would be getting all 3 grates evenly spaced so none of them touched the top of any pork beneath.

That said, I don't think I'd ever try more than 4 shoulders at once. Like Tom recommended, I'd do 3 and 3.

 

[Howard Barlow]

Man! Experiences sure seem to vary.

I've never found the amount of meat to have much to do with time. Whether I cook one brisket or two butts and a brisket or two, my times are not much different.

It only takes so long to cook a piece of meat. If you don't let the pit temp vary much, I don't see how it will be altered. The 1st butt doesn't know there are 3 more in there.

If time does stretch significantly, there are other factors involved.

At least, that's how it works in my WSM.

 

[Larry Wolfe]

Wow!! Thanks for the great replies and advice. I think I will do 3 & 3 just to be safe. Tom I choose picnics because they were cheaper. I have done both picnics and butts before and can't tell much difference. The only think I don't like about the picnics it the big piece of skin.

I will definitely go with you guys response's. I have only done one cook so far, it was two 5lb butts using the minion method and the mustard slather + rub. They were the best butts I have ever done and the easiest as well. Almost boring compared to loading up my old off-set every 30 minutes! Thanks Weber!!! Thanks again everyone for the advice I will let you know how it turns out!