On Sunday I made dinner for 19 (admittedly, three were under the age of 7) with my 14" diameter "junior" sized drum cooker. We had plenty left over, and I could have cooked more. I cooked two 6 pound pork butts and one 5 pound chicken, boned and tied into a ballotine. As you can see from the photos, I think I could have cooked another pork butt without problem, and possibly, in a pinch have squeezed in yet another for a total of four. I rested the butts for two-and-a-half hours after cooking, during which time I cooked the ballotine'd chicken and had plenty of time for it to rest, too.
Attached is a shot of two 6-pound pork butts in the cooker, and a shot of a single ballotine'd chicken. As you can see from the photos, there was plenty of room for additional butts and chickens.
In fact, I had an additional chicken I could have cooked but two butts and a single chicken (a couple of the guests prefer chicken to pork) were sufficient. I'll add that I deboned and tied the chicken into a ballotine -- that's how I could've gotten up to four chickens in there. I've done 2 split chickens (4 halves) but I think I can get more in if they were prepared that way. Ordinarily, you can do one turkey in a 14" junior sized drum but I think I might be able to fit two boned and tied turkeys, for example. Above you can see the chicken hanging; below is a photo of a chicken ballotine, ready to be hung: think of it as a porchetta done with a bird. The ends of the drumsticks are there just for the shape, and to help close the body cavity. Otherwise, there are no bones and you can just slice crosswise. Sometimes I stuff the bird. This time I just seasoned with salt, pepper, fresh rosemary, and fresh thyme. The outside was rubbed with MMD. A ballotine is more compact and evenly shaped than a regular chicken, so it takes up less space and cooks very evenly.
Attached is a shot of two 6-pound pork butts in the cooker, and a shot of a single ballotine'd chicken. As you can see from the photos, there was plenty of room for additional butts and chickens.
In fact, I had an additional chicken I could have cooked but two butts and a single chicken (a couple of the guests prefer chicken to pork) were sufficient. I'll add that I deboned and tied the chicken into a ballotine -- that's how I could've gotten up to four chickens in there. I've done 2 split chickens (4 halves) but I think I can get more in if they were prepared that way. Ordinarily, you can do one turkey in a 14" junior sized drum but I think I might be able to fit two boned and tied turkeys, for example. Above you can see the chicken hanging; below is a photo of a chicken ballotine, ready to be hung: think of it as a porchetta done with a bird. The ends of the drumsticks are there just for the shape, and to help close the body cavity. Otherwise, there are no bones and you can just slice crosswise. Sometimes I stuff the bird. This time I just seasoned with salt, pepper, fresh rosemary, and fresh thyme. The outside was rubbed with MMD. A ballotine is more compact and evenly shaped than a regular chicken, so it takes up less space and cooks very evenly.
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