I've fit 6 butts on my 18.5 WSM and 4 butts comfortably. all around 10-11 pounds each. were those really big ones?
I was going to get a genesis and just decided I like the taste of charcoal too much to pay the money for convenience. I also found since I started smoking I use wood chunks for grilling too. I now always add mesquite chunks for burgers and steaks and alder wood for salmon and other fish. That might be a good reason for you to get the BGE, though weber kettles aren't exactly expensive if you wanted to get one later, but that would mean you have 3 grills which could be considered excessive (by your wife maybe).
I enjoy the convenience too much. We probably grill 4 nights a week in spring/summer, and 2 nights a week fall/winter.
I usually go a pound a person of uncooked pork butt per person if that's the only protein, so over 60 people. I always have massive leftovers though. If you are doing pork sliders you don't go through as much as you would if it was just by itself. though keep in mind to fit 6 I had to stand the butts on the short end and kind of lean them against each other a bit. 4 will fit comfortably. I saw no reduction in quality though. you wouldn't have that problem with the 22.5.
it's nice, just not $800 nice for me. I certainly wouldn't turn one down. I can get the kettle going in 20 minutes, so I still grill during the week quite a bit. charcoal is cheap. I just bought 4 20 pound bags of kingsford blue for $20 at home depot during their sale.
I may consider the 18.5. Most I usually ever have over is 25 or so, maybe 30. Will probably end up sponsoring a pig through a local high school FFA program this fall. A pound a person? Good lord!
Mine is 18.25. 4 would be pushing it. 3 is reasonable to leave a little space in between to get the the bark on all the butts.
Now that i am pretty proficient at it. i would like to get a custom smoker that i can pull on a hitch and enter BBQ contests eventually.
it would definitely be nice to have the extra space. mostly for ribs because outside of the middle portion the ribs don't fit great if you lay them flat. even with a rack I cut them in half a lot or 2/3 1/3 if I need the space. between the fat and loss of mass during cooking your end yield is closer to 50%. so really that's a half a pound per person. some of my friends eat a lot more than that. but last time I had a full two butts left over for that many people. but we had a lot of kids there too.
There is a local business guy whose employees made him one shaped like a moonshine still for his 50th birthday. It's pretty friggin' cool.
well on the lower rack I generally put the smaller of the 4 butts so that sounds about the same. I doubt the extra .25 of an inch makes much of a difference. unless the lower rack is significantly smaller than the top on the BGE.
on food I literally think I spent around $150. butts are cheap. so are beans, cole slaw, Hawaiian rolls, etc.
