I am going to really load the snoker up for my next cook. Instead of 3-4 lbs of meat prob 15 or so. Will this vary the cook time and are there any hot spots I should be aware of? I have always just used the middle shelf before. Thanks for the help.

What are you cooking?

Ribs and possibly a small corned beef brisket.

RJT - A full smoker shouldn't vary your times at all. Some actually claim that a full smoker may shorten cook times as the more mass, the more heat retaining properties, etc. But I am certainly no physicist (sp)! I've done 4 butts in my ST (same size as your 008) without noticing any significant time difference.

Just remember our Guru of Smoke's famous saying; "It's Done When It's Done!"

Wheelz is right. You didn't say if it was a CS or ST (hard to tell anymore, we've got so many ST owners in here)

Full smokers tend to cook evenly. Guess it's a heat sink sort of thing.

You can use rib racks to get more ribs in. If you put them on all racks, realize some will get done at different times. When I'm doing a full cook, I trim my ribs so they're all pretty much the same size. Or I put ribs of the same size on the same rack so I can watch them.

If you're smoking an already corned brisket, it will probably take longer than the ribs. And the ribs will be dripping on the brisket. Not a bad thing, but might make your beef taste like ribbeef.

Hot spots. You didn't say which smoker. So I'm assuming CS/ST. I temp map my smoker so I know where the hot spots are. The bottom rack closest to the heat will be hotter. The top will be hot because heat rises. With a full load there is less variance, but there is some.

Questions?

Well I loaded the smoker up (model 008) and everything came out great as usual. The Corned Beef took about 4 hours and is awesome. Kind of like a Pastrami.