To give you an idea of the cooking capacity of the Weber Bullet without any modifications, I have cooked the following quantities of meat at one time in my cookers. (Not the entire bulleted list at one time, just each line!)
14.5″ WSM
- 2 whole butterflied chickens
- 1 chicken on vertical poultry rack on bottom cooking grate
- 1 small turkey on bottom cooking grate
- 4 slabs of baby back ribs, cut in half, using two rib racks
- 2 8-lb pork butts
18.5″ WSM
- 4 chickens, cut into halves, flat on the cooking grates
- 2 whole butterflied chickens, 3 slabs of rolled baby back ribs, 4 sausages, and four baked apples
- 8 slabs of rolled baby back ribs
- 2 13-lb whole briskets
- 4 8-lb pork butts
22.5″ WSM
- 6 slabs of baby back ribs cooked in a rib rack using only the top cooking grate
- 6 beer can chickens
- 6 8-lb pork butts
- 2 13-lb whole briskets
Comparing Capacity Between 18.5″ and 22.5″ WSMs
Here are some photos showing how much meat you can fit in the 18.5″ WSM versus the 22.5″ WSM. Click any of the photos to view a larger image.
Beer Can Chickens
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- 18.5″ WSM
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- 22.5″ WSM
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- 18.5″ WSM
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- 22.5″ WSM
In the 18.5″ WSM, the chickens touch the underside of the top cooking grate—they do not in the 22.5″ WSM. Notice that I squeezed 5 beer can chickens onto the bottom grate of the 22.5″ cooker.
Baby Back Ribs
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- 18.5″ WSM
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- 22.5″ WSM
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- 18.5″ WSM
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- 22.5″ WSM
Three slabs of ribs can lay perfectly straight in the 22.5″ WSM, and it can easily hold 6 slabs of rolled ribs on the top grate.
Pork Butts
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- 18.5″ WSM
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- 22.5″ WSM
Three boneless pork butts on the top grate of the 18.5″ WSM; 4 on the 22.5″ cooker.
Briskets
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- 18.5″ WSM
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- 22.5″ WSM
These photos show the same 15.39 pound whole packer brisket on the top grate of each cooker. This brisket could be cooked in the 18.5″ WSM by “shoehorning” it between the grate handles or laying it across a small bowl or a chunk of smoke wood and it would shrink during cooking, but a 12 pound brisket would be a more comfortable fit.
Increasing Cooking Capacity
No matter how big your cooker, there are always times when you wished it was just a little bit bigger! See Increasing Cooking Capacity for ideas on how to fit more barbecue into your WSM.
