bigger butts on bottom or top?

[Howard Rowe]

I have seen many posts which suggest to put bigger cuts of meat on the top grate, and smaller on the bottom. I saw this mentioned in a post started by Chet this morning, and I decided to open this debate in a new post.

I have cooked 4 butts (at once) in my WSM on several occasions, and without question, the butts on bottom finish first. Granted, after about 12 hours or so, I usually stop refilling the water pan. I have been putting the bigger butts on bottom for some time.

I think it would be ideal to even out the weight and swap the meat from bottom to top halfway through, but I haven't tried it.

So for all the other q'ers that have loaded up the bullet with 4 butts, which ones really cook faster?

 

[Larry Wolfe]

Howard,
I have only done 4 butts at one time once. I was amazed when they all finished at the same time, go figure. They we all within a couple of ounces of being exactly the same size.