Shirley Smoker Capacity on Shirley Fab.

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dwilson1980

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Looking for some advice. Will be putting a order in for a Shirley Fab smoker next week. Can anyone give me some ideas what smoker you have and how many butts it will hold and how many racks of ribs it will hold. Also how much more room does it give you going with the cabinet model or just going with the standard tank model. I've been looking at the Shirley options thread and really have gotten some great ideas that I want just really not sure what size to go with. Thank you in advance for any advice.
 
One thing I realized, that does not answer your question but might help in making choices, is that, as I have gotten older, my ability to lift things over my head has become significantly limited. I recently had to lift a door, much like a smoker, and it cause some pain in my shoulder. If I was to order any smoker, it would have to have doors like the cabinet style doors.

Note: I did actually have a Shirley on order, then had to cancel due to some issues. There is no doubt in my mind, that the cabinet doors would be the first thing I need in a custom smoker.
 
for me it came down to a price point that I really did not want to go over. I got everything I could within that amount. The straight back cabinets can be elevated to allow a 3rd or 4th rack. I think that is the better option than trying to get a standard door model that is longer. My 24x55 will hold more than a 24x90 with 2 racks. If I am cooking all butts then 1 rack has to come out since it will not fit them but I cannot imagine ever cooking 2 racks full of butts much less 3 racks. the smaller cook chamber also heats up faster and doesn't use as much fuel. I know that the majority of the cookers they do now are cabinet models. The cabinet models just give you more options.
 
Not sure how much I can help, but I've had 12-10lb butts and 3-15lb briskets in my 24X65 chamber at the same time without issue.
 
I have a 24x50 and you could get about 7-8 butts a rack.. If this will help with your estimates, whatever your total dimensions are, take about 10" off and you will have your rack length.. my racks are 40 Long and about 20-21 deep. I don't see enough difference to make the straight back worth while, but I guess I'm partial to the regular cabinet model.

As to cabinet verses regular - The cabinet doors are worth every penny. They're fantastic. When you walk out to the smoker with a tray of meat in one hand, you can pop the doors open and put your meat in without ever setting it down. The extra flat surface on top is nice too..

Here's some shots of her loaded up if that helps for visual..





 
On my size cooker, 24x55, the straight back allows an extra pan to fit on each rack. Not sure if that makes a difference but 4 pans vs 3 was big to me because I tend to cook nearly everything in pans. I was set to get the regular cabinet but the straight back came out just when my build was about to start. Can't go wrong with either.
 
I have a 24x70 regular model and trust me the door is very heavy. I would go for the cabinet model for sure.most folks seem to go with 24x60 or 24x 65.i think I heard Paul say a 24x65 should hold 16 big butts.
 
htrisna said:
Loving all the gratuitous pr0n in this thread
Click to expand...

OP asked for capacity and shag provided a visual aid.:becky: Wait until buttburner shows up.

First pic is how pans would fit in a standard cabinet. Second pic is an example of how the extra couple inches can fit an extra pan.

20150630_120253.jpg

20150630_120226.jpg
 
I have a 30x80 and I've had 36 8-10 pound butts on mine twice. I could have easily cooked another 12 in the end unit above the firebox. the cooker took a while to get back up to temp after being loaded but once it did I had no issues.
 
2001Heel said:
I have a 30x80 and I've had 36 8-10 pound butts on mine twice. I could have easily cooked another 12 in the end unit above the firebox. the cooker took a while to get back up to temp after being loaded but once it did I had no issues.
Click to expand...

Is that a standard or cabinet?
 
oifmarine2003 said:
I have a 24x58 with a 3rd rack and Paul thought it would hold 24 butts. I think it might be closer to 30!
Click to expand...

I'm with you on fitting 30. Paul probably has to say 24 to be safe so some knucklehead can't get 26 12LB butts and complain that they don't fit. I'm thinking mine will fit 10 per rack but they might touch or fit tightly until they shrink a little. Too bad I'll probably never be lucky enough to find out.
 
We ALL want the need to do a huge cook don't we? Gluttons I tell you ...:sick:

pjtexas1 said:
I'm with you on fitting 30. Paul probably has to say 24 to be safe so some knucklehead can't get 26 12LB butts and complain that they don't fit. I'm thinking mine will fit 10 per rack but they might touch or fit tightly until they shrink a little. Too bad I'll probably never be lucky enough to find out.
Click to expand...
 
landarc said:
One thing I realized, that does not answer your question but might help in making choices, is that, as I have gotten older, my ability to lift things over my head has become significantly limited. I recently had to lift a door, much like a smoker, and it cause some pain in my shoulder. If I was to order any smoker, it would have to have doors like the cabinet style doors.

Note: I did actually have a Shirley on order, then had to cancel due to some issues. There is no doubt in my mind, that the cabinet doors would be the first thing I need in a custom smoker.
Click to expand...

Good call never really thought of it in those terms of opening the lid. For sure going with the cabinet model.
 
I looked at shagdog and PJTexas's smokers a lot when I was finalizing my build which is how I ended up with a hybrid of their smokers. It is a 24 x 50 raise frame straight back cabinet model. So the width of shagdog's and the height of PJ's. I have 3 shelves (Shag has 2 and PJ has 4). I also have the wagon wheel set up with 12 inch tires which is also kind of a midpoint between their smokers.

It should be a great unit… Once I can finally get it here <insert grumbling about transporters here>

Smoker1.jpg
 
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