Capacity of an 18.5 WSM


 
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Pat Taylor

New member
Hello and thank you for all the great info on this forum. It's amazing. I am doing a dinner for work on Monday of next week and need to cook a Pork and/or maybe do one brisket as well. The shoulders that I usually buy are 8-9 lbs bone in. Is it crazy to try to do 4 shoulders that size or 3 shoulders and a brisket in my 18.5 WSM ?

Also, I'm up here in the Great White North (Vancouver BC Area) and it's right around freezing out right now. Any tips to help me pull this dinner off like a champ would be appreciate. My usual cook is 2 shoulders and it looks like there would be room for 4 but any gotchas would be appreciated.
Thank you,
Pat
 
I have smoked four shoulders of that size several times with great results. At least once I did also combine the pork shoulders with a beef roast and again there was no problems.
Just remember that each piece of meat may cook at a slightly different rate. So monitor all of them separately as to when they are done.
Good luck,
Mike
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">it's right around freezing out right now. Any tips to help me pull this dinner off like a champ would be appreciate. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

low temps won't kill you, but wind will. If its going to be windy, make sure you have a protected area to work in.

I recall one cold, windy day where I had to throw a moving blanket on top of my wind break to get my temps up to a reasonable cooking temp.

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Here's how I do a full 12-15lb brisket over a couple 8 pound or so pork butts, and basically I try to think of anything I can do to help get up to temp...like starting off with room temp charcoal and wood chunks, which is gonna be hickory and some oak (which add more btu's to the fire than other woods).

I'll first put the better part of a gallon of hot tap in my Brinkman water smoker CHARCOAL pan, then finish filling with a tea kettle of boiling water. Charcoal and wood (some buried and some around the top of the ring) as high as I can and still put my pan in place, but I'll use a propane weedburning torch or four Weber firestarter cubes to light. You don't want your wood to catch fire, so just bury the hidden wood chunks deep enough and light 2/3rds or so of the top where the wood is not, but not just the center of the ring. Lighting dead center, and the three zones between the vents seems to work good.

J. makes a great point with an enclosure of some type. 55 gallon drums or plastic barrels will work as well. If windy, just be sure to leave some room at the bottom for a bit of draft or leave a gap as J shows with the plywood.
 
All great advice guys, Thanks.
I have a couple days to prepare so I'll get a wind deflector built and I will probably be putting this on around 5pm the day before and that way I will have 20 hours if I need it with a couple hours for the meat to rest foiled in the cooler. This is going to be a good test for me.

I'll post some pics of the final product !
Pat
 
Pat, I've also done 4 butts many times, and it's not a problem. If, however, you are doing a brisket remember that they take up much more grill space than a butt. Four butts or three and a beef roast might work better.
Anyway, being from TO I have a hard time worrying about your weather!
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But what you hear about windbreaks is right. And, welcome to the board.
 
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