With the full upper shelf, I did 4 at a time for a friend's daughter's graduation party. We cooked ten butts total. Had we split the first batch butts in half, we could have done two runs of 5 butts each, but we did 4 whole butts the first round, and 4 butts cut in half the second time, and then two. Live and learn. Could possibly find room for 6 butts, but that would limit airflow and probably not be a great cook.
This is a pic of the 2nd batch where we did 4 butts, cut in half. Plenty of room:
Not sure how many briskets but I could see room for 4, with them oriented opposite each other (point toward stack, point of another toward hopper, repeated on each set of shelves). But, you'd need to rotate since the hopper side is hotter, and the upper shelf is cooler than the bottom shelf. They'd all need to be in the 12-14 lb range for that to work as well, I'd think.
The upper grate runs cooler? At what level is the exhaust? I'm used to the top being hotter in every smoker I've owned.
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