Maximum Loads?

[CGreenTX]

I just received my 4D last week and broke it in this weekend with a few whole chickens. I come from wood burning pit and switched for capacity reasons. I'm working on trying to determine the maximum load I could pull off in the 4D. So far I'm thinking the following for the primary things that I smoke on a regular basis.

• Whole Chickens (6-7 lbs roasters) - Max 16 (4 per shelf, 4 shelves)
• Boston Butt (Approx 8 lbs each) - Max 12+ (3 per shelf, 4 shelves)
• Briskets (Whole Packers, 8-12 lb each) - Max 8 (2 per shelf, 4 shelves)

Am I realistic on these max loads? Has anyone used their 4D at these capacities?

Thanks,
Chris Green

• Tweet
• 

[Jimeo]

That’s a ton of food!  Enjoy the new setup...

[PhatterMike]

Chris,
Welcome aboard, I’ve had my 4 a little over 4 years and I only use it for large smokes. I just pulled 10 (8 of them were huge) pork butts this morning (108 lbs), 4 on top 2 racks and 2 on the third rack. I keep them as high in the smoker as possible. Your #’s certainly are realistic. Tomorrow I have 21 slabs of babyback ribs going on. I don’t anticipate any issues with that quantity at all. Good luck and enjoy your new cooker.
Mike

[old sarge]

One of our members did 6 turkeys in his 4D:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9ri468ZpZg