How many briskets on 22" WSM? Need to cook 100#


 
B

Brad L

TVWBB Member
How many full packers can I get in my 22" WSM at a time?

I ordered 100 pounds of whole packer briskets from my butcher last week. I will be picking them up later today, but I anticipate 6-8 briskets depending on size. My only time constraints are that I would like to have these cooked by late in the day on Monday. All of this meat will be sliced, vacuum sealed, and frozen for my wedding in 4 weeks. I plan to put the first few briskets on about 11:00 tonight (Friday). I was planning to on cooking L&S the whole time.

Has anyone has any success shoehorning 2 briskets per rack on a 22 WSM?

I have never done a HH brisket, would this be a better method based on the quantity I will be cooking? (I have 2-22" grills and access to a third if I need it.)

I looked at the capacity chart Chris has posted and he says 2. I have only ever needed to cook 1 brisket at a time before, so this is new territory for me. Any insights are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Brad
 
For packers I only see 1 per rack.

I can't remember the original spacing between the top & bottom rack on the 22" (I dropped my lower rack and added a 3rd rack) but you could possibly put some sort of support on your bottom rack, put the 1st packer on the lower, then put an extra rack on top of the support, put your next packer, then add your normal top rack. That would give you 3.

I also use the Big Green Egg grate extender which attaches to a grate and gives you an extra great. I use it on my 18 and 22 when cooking ribs to add capacity.

I prefer HH for the time factor. If you only did 2 per cook on a HH, you would probably want to make sure to rotate them half way through.
 
I just cooked for a wedding on a 22, mine fit 2 per rack. Also once you pass a knife through meat you will loose moisture. I'd freeze em whole, thaw em, then reheat @225 till meat is 155 . Also make sure the meat is foiled in at least 2 layers
 
I wouldn't try to cook 100 lbs. all at once on my big 22.5, but you should be able to get the better part of it on the cooker with a middle grate and a extender grate on top.

As Josh mentioned, you need a top extender rack to take advantage of all the dome space. If you don't have a BGE extender grate, I don't know why you couldn't take a 18.5" wsm grate and mount it on top of two big carriage bolts that are bolted at both ends to roughly the center of that grate and the 22.5" grate below it. Of course, a fourth grate would be another 22.5" grate mounted between the two OE grates. If you don't want to add supports to the grill straps you can mounts three big carriage bolts to the bottom rack for the middle grate to sit on. That's the setup on my 18.5" wsm, and it works just fine.

My 22.5" wsm has the OE grill straps modified to hold an extra grate, but I'm planning on putting in longer grill straps eventually that will lower the pan and take advantage of all the unneeded space under it like Josh has done. Even with a middle grate using the OE grill straps though, two average sized briskets will fit on a grate and shouldn't be too thick. So depending on their size, seven briskets should be no problem with the added middle and extender grates. Cook with a dry pan, foil 'em, and good luck with it.
 
I got one full packer on the top rack so I would say (though"ve not done it) you could get another on the bottom rack.
 
I have done 6 on 2-22 WSMs. 3 per WSM on three racks. Added the additional grate in between the OEM grates by using soup cans on the lower to hold the 3rd middle grate.

My briskets were about 12-15 lbs. I don't see how one could fit two per rack but maybe they can be shoehorned in somehow, I just wouldn't attempt it.
 
Just loaded 2 in for the night. Going to rig up a third rack for the next 2 cooks. I ended up with 8 big packers, I put the big two on tonight. I usually place 2 drip pans on the lower rack and add a grate to help with cleanup. I will either remove that setup to get a middle rack in, or put some charcoal rails on the top rack and add an 18inch grate on the top. Im was really hoping to avoid firing the smoker 4 times, I am happy with only 3.
 
J Reyes said:
I have done 6 on 2-22 WSMs. 3 per WSM on three racks. Added the additional grate in between the OEM grates by using soup cans on the lower to hold the 3rd middle grate.

My briskets were about 12-15 lbs. I don't see how one could fit two per rack but maybe they can be shoehorned in somehow, I just wouldn't attempt it.
Click to expand...

I hear ya, J, and if memory serves when I recall cooking two to a grate on my old UDS, I'm thinking they probably weren't any heavier than around 12 lbs. As I said in my OE, I wouldn't try to fit 100lbs of brisket on one wsm.
 
I can only get one per rack and using the high heat method, I need the room to get an disposable roasting pan in there to cook them in. Using high heat, you could probably cook them all in 2 days with little effort.
Tom
 
Thank you to all that responded. I took the last 3 briskets off Monday afternoon, everything turned out very well. I ended up using two old style charcoal baskets to support a third rack above the top cooking grate. Cooker temperatures were not reading correctly; I assume because the meat was so close to the vent/thermo. I raised the lid with my rotis collar and the temps were more consistant. Monday morning brought some rain which required a little more babysitting of the cooker, but the meat came out well and everything went smoothly. It has been a fun couple of weekends with 100# of pork last weekend and 100# of brisket this weekend; not something that I have ever done before and probably won't get to do again for a long time.

Brad
 
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