I’ve had issues getting a full Brisket on the 22" kettle, and from what I’ve seen people hang them in the bullets using bacon/rib hooks. But I’ve heard about them breaking up and dropping off those. So there are various racks and stands for getting larger cuts down in the body without mashing them up.
A full Brisket is a big chunk of meat, but a lot of shrinkage happens and you really want a big one for reasonable sized groups. Say more than 5-10. And the big ones tend to cook up better. But its very much a diameter and lid hieght issue over a capacity on. It tends to sneak up when you are doing bigger or oddly shaped cuts and you end up playing meat Jenga. It’ll fit but how?
There are also benefits in terms of fire management. Its a little easier to manage even and low temps in a bigger unit. And for smoking at these sizes there’s not a ton of difference in fuel consumption.
I do know the 18 inch is nearly as popular on competition as the bigger ones, particularly for ribs. For what that’s worth.
