Brisket followed by po'k butts: I need 30 hours of heat!


 
T

ToddF

TVWBB Member
I'm catering a party tomorrow night (well, my own 40th actually!
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) with 67 pounds of meat (3 briskets, 4 butts--what a great way to burn a vacation day!). I got the briskets on about 9 this morning and will throw the butts on this evening when the beef comes off.

I've held heat in the "smoke" range on my 22.5-er for probably up to 18 hours in the past, though I know from other posts that some of you have gotten even better results. It was 39 degrees outside when I started, so I'm certain I'll be adding fuel at some point--perhaps multiple times. I'm counting on about 30 hours of smokin', give or take. My question: Is it best to just keep adding chimneys of hot coals and keep the momentum going, or will I hit a point of diminishing return with the ash build-up (eventually restricting airflow?) and need to disassemble the WSM to dump the ash and essentially start over? If the later is the case, best that I do it at the meat switch so as to not disturb the butts...

Thoughts, experiences...?

Thanks in advance.
 
Todd,
It depends. What are you using for fuel? If lump, then you should not have a problem. If using Kingsford you may get a lot of ash. I really wouldn't worry about it and just add fuel as you need. I don't think it will really choke airflow enough.
Lance
 
Yep, should have been more clear--good ol' Kingsford... Already had a bit of ash fall out (after only four hours) when adjusting a vent.
 
Todd,
If you already have that much ash then I would do a clean and reload when the brisket comes off. It may be a little tricky since everything will be hot. I hope you have some good gloves.
Lance
 
I did a giant smoke once when Safeway had one of those 88 cents per pound of pork shoulder sales. I bought eight shoulder in four cryopacks.

After I had refilled the smoker with the second load of meat (that was about 14 hours in to this ordeal), I tried to chase declining temperatures by shoveling in more charcoal. Unfortunately (mainly due to my own poor judgment) I never reloaded with enough charcoal, so I was putting more charcoal in every two or three hours. This process made my temps erratic. I was chasing temp spikes and dips with vent setting changes, and that made me angry! Eventually I pulled the center piece off of the base (I left the grills with the meat and the water bowl attached as I moved it). I then refilled the charcoal ring and rebuilt the smoker. This worked great. The temperature settled and I finished the smoke.

However, this was not a fun event. It took all of a weekend, and at least for me, one of the great things about the Weber Bullet is its ability to perk along with little tending from me once it settles to temperature. This smoke was the opposite of that! As a result of this affair I was prompted to buy an extra center section for my smoker, so now I have three racks instead of two! Now I can smoke plenty of meat in one go. I have vowed to never try to smoke so much meat that I would be required reload the smoker with meat.

Good luck.
 
I 'm leaning towards a re-load at half-time, darn it all. Yeah, I've got some welder's gloves that'll serve me well. Just wish the WSM had handles like my ol' ECB, but they're gone courtesy of the lawyers... (Oh, wait, that's me!
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)

A second center section--genius! Too late for that today, but usually the 22.5 is enough for my needs...
 
Where do you practice?

(And I guess we could "transplant" those ECB handles to the WSM. I've got two ECB's that I can't stand to toss, but can't stand to cook on with the WSM, a CB and a Kamado Joe sitting there!)

Pat
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Lou Tarnay:
I did a giant smoke once when Safeway had one of those 88 cents per pound of pork shoulder sales. I bought eight shoulder in four cryopacks.

After I had refilled the smoker with the second load of meat (that was about 14 hours in to this ordeal), I tried to chase declining temperatures by shoveling in more charcoal. Unfortunately (mainly due to my own poor judgment) I never reloaded with enough charcoal, so I was putting more charcoal in every two or three hours. This process made my temps erratic. I was chasing temp spikes and dips with vent setting changes, and that made me angry! Eventually I pulled the center piece off of the base (I left the grills with the meat and the water bowl attached as I moved it). I then refilled the charcoal ring and rebuilt the smoker. This worked great. The temperature settled and I finished the smoke.

However, this was not a fun event. It took all of a weekend, and at least for me, one of the great things about the Weber Bullet is its ability to perk along with little tending from me once it settles to temperature. This smoke was the opposite of that! As a result of this affair I was prompted to buy an extra center section for my smoker, so now I have three racks instead of two! Now I can smoke plenty of meat in one go. I have vowed to never try to smoke so much meat that I would be required reload the smoker with meat.

Good luck. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Lou, What a great idea to double the center!! How is that working out for you? I have a WSM18 and wonder if it will be too tall?? also how do you remove the meat from the very bottom rack? I assume that you remove the upper middle section first??
 
Hi Alex

It works great! I didn't buy the second middle section from Weber. It came from another outfit, but it fits fine. I got the idea from someone on this site. I'm sure that if you do a search you will find the link. It is made of the same weight material as the Weber, but I note that the finish has dulled a little more than the Weber.

Cheers
 
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