Question About Cooking Multiple Butts on WSM At Same Time


 
R

Robin C

New member
Had my WSM for over a year now. Cooked a number of butts over that time and feel reasonably confident with the process - no one is complaining about the food which is a good sign.

This weekend was the first time that I cooked two at the same time. Both were similar size about 8Lb with bone in. One was placed on the top grill the other on the bottom.

I've got enough experience now to now that no two butts cook to the same timetable so I took the attitude that they were done when they were done.

Thing I noticed though was that despite using the same type and amount of charcoal as I do on a normal smoke I found it more difficult to get the temp of the WSM up to what I want. Normally I can get it running pretty steady around the 230f mark. This time it was hovering around 200f with the occasional shortish spike at 210f

The butt on the bottom grill was placed in a tray with some mojo. Whilst the one on top was covered with a normal pepper/paprika/salt/sugar rub.

Is it normal when cooking multiple butts for the cooker to run at a lower temperature? I'd assumed the cooker would behave the same regardless of the amount of food on it.
 
Robin,
Cooking double more meat mass should add to your fuel consumption also. Stoke the fire.

All other things being equal, heating a two bedroom house would cost you more than one.

Dennis
 
That's the bit I don't get. I'm not heating a two bedroom house as opposed to a one. I'm heating the same size house but with more people in it. The area within the WSM hasn't increased. Thanks for the reply - it's all a learning curve
 
My limited experience, and reading these forums a lot, have taught me this. Any mass inside the WSM acts as a heat sink. The WSM volume remains the same but increasing the size of the heat sink in it requires more energy to reach the same temp. I really noticed it last month when I did 35 LBS. of Butt. I'm sure someone else can explain it better but that's my take on it. I've learned that the number of hot coals required is not a constant. It varies and I just give it my best guess for each cook. Eventually my best guess will actually be an educated guess. Keep on cookin.
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Correct. While it might take more time and/or some more fuel to reach targeted cooktemps because of the additional mass, once reached the cooking and the time remain virtually the same. Going from one to two butts, e.g., doesn't change the dynamics all that much; going from one to 4, say, or 5 does. Conversely, because of their much smaller mass, going from, say, two racks of ribs to 8 doesn't change the early dynamics nearly as much.
 
Heat sink makes sense to me. I found myself having to feed the WSM with lit coals throughout the cook which is very unsual for me. Presumably I need to think about adding more lit than normal at the start
 
All great replies. The only thing I'd add concerns the difference in cooking one butt on a grate vs. cooking two.

Cooking one to a grate will result in more EVEN cooking. Whether you notice it or not in the final product is another issue, but that's why a few guys will turn the butts at some point.

Anyway, I find that more heat is "wasted" around the outer perimeter of the grate if only cooking one to a grate. In other words, you'll use more charcoal if you cook two eight pound butts centered on seperate grates vs. both on the top grate, even if it seems like the cooker is slower to come up to temp because of the large mass of meat up near the therm.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">
Anyway, I find that more heat is "wasted" around the outer perimeter of the grate if only cooking one to a grate. In other words, you'll use more charcoal if you cook two eight pound butts centered on seperate grates vs. both on the top grate, even if it seems like the cooker is slower to come up to temp because of the large mass of meat up near the therm. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'm kind of in the same thought. I've cooked the same items a few times and tried both grates and centered and fitting everything on the top and I agree the fuel consumption changes quite drastically between the two. Personally though I tend to have to rotate a lot more often if I'm using one grate so I sacrifice the fuel for the risk of burning from being too close to the edge and overcooking.
 
Mark, as to the turning butts vs. using both grates, I can't say which is best. The only thing that makes me decide either way if doing two butts is their size.

I will tell you that my last cook produced some of the very best pork shoulder I've ever smoked, and it was two butts directly over each other, both a little over nine pounds. Other than having to add charcoal for the last couple of hours, the other thing I noticed was that when done, the bones weren't poking out near as much as when I place two butts on the grate, bones (thicker side) pointed out. Maybe Gary Wiviott (author of "Low and Slow") and others that flip and turn butts on the wsm aren't just looking for something to do, after all.
 
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