Heh... I suppose you think that it somehow makes your server more secure to not enable it?  That's a very frequent but incorrect assumption. 😉

That, not withstanding, you don't need to use xp_CmdShell for this... you could use a CmdExec step or you could do it from a good ol' fashioned batch file.

Or you could use that "Maintenance Plan" method I previously mentioned to fan out the work.

Understood on the "gotta try it" thing you speak of.  I agree.  You won't know for sure unless you try.  As a good friend and fellow denizen of this site once told me, "A Developer must not guess... a Developer must KNOW" and trying it is about the only way to know for sure.