How much pork have you fit in a Large?

Stoogie · September 2013

I was asked to cook as much butt on my large as I could fit for a tailgate party in October. Because I'll have to FTC the pork and drive ~120 miles, doing it in waves is out of the question.

I was wondering what is the most pork butt you've ever fit into a LBGE? I did a search on this forum and saw some posts from back in '09 where people said they fit 30 lbs on a LBGE. Is that about right?

Also, when I bought my LBGE early this summer, I didn't buy any additional accessories, like an adjustable rig. Any recommendations on which one to buy and who I should buy it from? I've read that there is one that is a swing arm... Should I go that route or something else?

Basically, I want to load my LBGE with as much freakin' pork as is humanly possible and I'm looking for suggestions on how to best accomplish that. Any thoughts?

Stoogie

Tjcoley · September 2013

I've done 30 pounds (3 10 pound butts) on the single grid. Adding a raised grid you could add more.

KennyLee · September 2013

Check out the Two-tier swing rack system from Ceramic Grillworks. If you really packed it in, I bet you could get 40-45 lbs. combined on top and bottom tiers. 30 would be a breeze.

http://ceramicgrillworks.com/products-page/product-category/large-2-tier-adjustable-swing-rack-system/

fishlessman · September 2013

with the adjustable rig you can pick the whole lot of meat up and set it down out of the egg to move the pieces and foil. add the spider and stone and skip the platesetter for more room. have done 34 pounds butt and brisket with just grates and firebricks. you will get more meat in there with boneless butts. you really need to trust your vent settings with this cook as there is no way to get a descent grid or dome temp reading with all that cold meat in there, you cant trust the therms for several hours after starting this cook

lousubcap · September 2013

If you aren't ready to pay big $$ for after-market gear, you can get a weber grate around 16" in diameter and place it on top of the butts sitting on your main grate and put a couple of 8 # butts on it. Given you can get 3 on the main grate that would give you 5 butts and 40+lbs of butt to cook.

Should you go with two levels, the ones on the top will likely cook faster due to being higher in the dome, unless you rotate them. Also make sure your dome thermo is not impaled in the meat or it will really confuse things. (You can remove the thermo clip and run your thermo thru a wine cork on the outside of the dome to raise it for the cook. FWIW-good luck.

piney · September 2013

I have done 4 butts at 8-9lbs each with an AR, however , when you do this use a large drip pan, I made the mistake by using a small pan it filled with grease, overflowed, got the egg so hot it set my table on fire. If I had not caught this when I did my deck and possibly the house would have been toast. I now have a stainless steel table and use a little more caution. Good news is the butts were fine and zero damage to the Egg.

SmokinDAWG82 · September 2013

I did 4 8lb butts, just as good as doing 1-8lb butt, you do get a lot of drippings!

biznork · September 2013

I've fit four eight pounders using the AR. I could have fit two more fairly easily.

jtippers · September 2013

Can you post pics once you get your rig all set up? Would love to see how this looks...

lousubcap said:

If you aren't ready to pay big $$ for after-market gear, you can get a weber grate around 16" in diameter and place it on top of the butts sitting on your main grate and put a couple of 8 # butts on it. Given you can get 3 on the main grate that would give you 5 butts and 40+lbs of butt to cook.

Should you go with two levels, the ones on the top will likely cook faster due to being higher in the dome, unless you rotate them. Also make sure your dome thermo is not impaled in the meat or it will really confuse things. (You can remove the thermo clip and run your thermo thru a wine cork on the outside of the dome to raise it for the cook. FWIW-good luck.

Also, when putting this much meat on the Egg, does it matter if the pieces of meat are touching? I can barely fit 2 x 10lb butts on my egg. I usually try to leave a little gap between them though...

-Josh

SmokeyPitt · September 2013

Here is an older thread with some set ups to give you some ideas:

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/915297/how-many-butts-on-a-large

IMO one thing you have to watch out for is the butts hanging over the plate setter. You will need to use foil or pans to help protect the meat from the direct heat coming around the plate setter or those sections will end up dry.

jtippers · September 2013

Wow... that is alot of butt...

Stoogie · September 2013

fishlessman said:

with the adjustable rig you can pick the whole lot of meat up and set it down out of the egg to move the pieces and foil. add the spider and stone and skip the platesetter for more room. have done 34 pounds butt and brisket with just grates and firebricks. you will get more meat in there with boneless butts. you really need to trust your vent settings with this cook as there is no way to get a descent grid or dome temp reading with all that cold meat in there, you cant trust the therms for several hours after starting this cook

Thanks, Fishlessman, can you give me some more information about the spider and stone? Is it essentially a grill that is lower in the Egg? Can I still use the AR with it?

Stoogie · September 2013

lousubcap said:

If you aren't ready to pay big $$ for after-market gear, you can get a weber grate around 16" in diameter and place it on top of the butts sitting on your main grate and put a couple of 8 # butts on it. Given you can get 3 on the main grate that would give you 5 butts and 40+lbs of butt to cook.

Should you go with two levels, the ones on the top will likely cook faster due to being higher in the dome, unless you rotate them. Also make sure your dome thermo is not impaled in the meat or it will really confuse things. (You can remove the thermo clip and run your thermo thru a wine cork on the outside of the dome to raise it for the cook. FWIW-good luck.

Thanks, Lou. After all the yapping I've been doing since June when I bought my LBGE, about how good it works, how great everything turns out, how my off-set smoker is a pile of trash and all other smokers are inferior.... well, it's time to put my money where my mouth is, so I think I'll shell out some $$ to get the gear that I know is proven and will work.

There is no sense jumping over a dollar to pick up a dime for this cook, if you know what I mean!

fishlessman · September 2013

spider sits on the ring and either hangs the stone below the ring under the rig, or use it alone with a wok, or for setting a castiron ring down low to the fire for searing. could also be used with a dutch oven. Tom's rig and spider combo is very well thought out, you cant go wrong with it

Scottborasjr · September 2013

@Stoogie call Tom @ceramicgrillstore 940-387-0100 and discuss not only this cook, but other cooks that you would like to try out with your Egg. If there is one mistake I made when getting everything for my setup is that I ended up getting 3 different shipments. Could have saved a lot of money on shipping if I got everything in one shot.

Tom is a great businessman and a better person. If you ask him about a product and he doesn't feel you need it in your situation he will flat out tell you. Good luck!

ShadowNick · September 2013

its ok if they touch initially, as the meat with shrink throughout the cook. I can fit two 9 pounders in my medium if they sit vertically with skewers to keep them up right, you should easily be able to double that in a large without an AR

pab · September 2013

I have cooked 45 pounds of pork on my large with an adjustable rig from ceramic grill store cooking on two levels. As others have stated, just give Tom a call.

How much pork have you fit in a Large?

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