1) 150 slabs St. Louis Style Ribs
-I was able to load 105 slabs on my FEC2000 (FEC750) by laying the slabs diagonally across the shelves (7 slabs per shelf). I might could have fit another slab per shelf by splitting the slab in half and filling the gaps on each end of the shelf. I cooked the balance of slabs on a Lang stick burner with a huge appetite for charcoal and wood
-I cooked at 250 degrees, with the first slabs coming off after 5 hours, the last at 7 hours. Most were where I wanted them at 6 hours.
-Due to timing, I foiled the slabs 3 to a pack and stored them in a giant cooler until time to eat. Foiling wasn't my first preference, but was necessary due to the quantity of ribs and the time we had to serve.
-All feedback was positive, and most said they were the best ribs that they had ever eaten.
2) 82 Boston Butts
-What was supposed to be 6-8 lb. butts ended up being MUCH larger on average. It was a tight fit (all butts were touching each other), but I crammed all 82 of them on my smoker at once. I no question had 700+ lbs. of meat on at once.
-In the future, if I can get small butts (6 lbers), I think I can stack them side by side and get 10 per shelf (100 total) at once.
-Cooked at 225 for 12 hours, and then bumped them up to 250.
-After 6 hours, most of the butts had shrunk / contracted enough that they were no longer touching. Others were not touching after 12 hours.
-I pulled the first butts after 16 hours, and then pulled butts every 1-2 hours for the next 4 hours. On average, the butts were 195-200 degrees. After pulling the first butts, I rearranged the remainder so that the spacing was more even.
-After 12 hours, I basted every time I pulled butts with a mixture of apple cider, apple cider vinegar, worchestershire, and soy sauce. This makes an awesome baste.
-The final product was awesome--I think there will be alot of happy campers!
Thanks again for all your help.
