Cooking Capacity Questions


 
M

Mike Dunphy

TVWBB Member
Hello everyone,

I'm the proud owner of a 5-6 year old 18" Weber smoker, and have enjoyed many successful cooks on it.

I'm about to test the limits of its capacity though and wanted to throw this out to the group. I'm wondering if I could possibly place (3) 8lb pork butts on the top grate and (1) 15lb brisket on the bottom. Would this overload the unit?

In the past I've done (2) 7lb butts on top and an 11 lb brisket on the bottom, and seem to recall having a little room left over.

I'm trying to plan on feeding 30+ people with the quantities mentioned above.

The other option is using a second smoker, problem is it isn't a bullet, but a brinkman with an offset firebox.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

-Mike
 
YES, you can. If they are big butts, set them on the bone side, it will give you a bit more room. Even if they're touching in the beginning it's okay, after 2-3 hours they will shrink down enough to provide sufficient airflow.
 
If it doesn't fit you must not quit. It's nothing but a "Q" thing. All kidding around aside, you should be golden as Larry has already stated.
 
Mike, 3 weeks ago I did 6 pork butts - 56#'s total, 3 up & 3 down. I ran a bamboo skewer thru the top corners of them to help keep them upright. I used 4 skewers for each set of 3. The middle 1 gets poked from both sides. For me, this was just reassurence that they would not fall over. HTH.
 
Does the quantity of meat you put in the smoker effect the length of time required to smoke any of the individuals pieces? For example if a shoulder is smoked by itself, would it take the same time if it were smoked with another shoulder and some ribs in the same smoker?
 
This is a great question.
In theory, I don't think it should take any longer. Think of all the huge pits stuffed with hundreds of pounds of meat at once.
However, remember a few things:

1. The more cold meat you put in the smoker, the longer it will take for the smoker to get up to your desired temperature. Many folks suggest letting the meat sit on the counter for an hour or more to help offset this.

2. More meat = more fuel. If it takes 5lbs of charcoal to cook a 10lb butt, I'd plan on 10lbs of charcoal for 2 10lb butts.
 
Thank you all for the valuable comments. I will move forward and plan to cook everything in my Weber. I was most concerned about cramming a 15 lb brisket on the bottom rack, but you guys have restored my confidence.

I love smoking....

Thanks again...
 
Thanks Brad and everyone else!

I've actually changed plans somewhat, and here is what I'm hoping to do. Rather than a single 15 lb brisket I ordered (2) 10 lb ones.

So, I'm going to attempt getting (2) 10 lb briskets and (3) 8 lb pork butts in there.

I will keep you posted!
 
I had a party of similar size a month ago, and had three 7-8 lb butts on the bottom and 4 racks of baby backs on the top (30-35ish lbs total meat)...it was a little snug, but everything fit and cooked beautifully.

I stood the butts on end and held them up and spaced apart with skewers.
IMG_3597.jpg
 
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