Cooking for a family reunion

[Steve McKibben]

Hi gang,

I'll be cooking for our upcoming biannual family reunion. There will be about 40 adults/teens and another 6-10 little ones (from infant to 8yos).

Other family members will be bringing ample side dishes and desserts, I'm just in charge of the meat.

I've been asked to make pulled pork, grilled chicken, bb ribs, and some kind of beef. I'm pretty sure that I can get the right quantity, I'm mainly looking for advice on logistics.

Since we only have all of us get together every couple of years, and many of the folks coming from across the country won't be arriving until Friday and will be leaving as early as Sunday afternoon, I'd like to try and maximize the time that I can socialize with them rather than just showing up with the food in time to eat Saturday afternoon!

I'm thinking of cooking the ribs on the WSM as much as a week ahead of time, pulling them a little sooner than I would if I was going to eat them right away, then cool, vacu-seal, and freeze. Thaw them in the refrigerator a couple of days ahead of time, and warm/glaze them, possibly on site, the day of the feast.

I'd like to go visit at my sister's house on Friday night, then come home, put the four butts on the WSM, brine the chickens, and go to sleep. Saturday morning I can rest the butts, then cook the whole chickens (spatchcocked) on as many of the three 22.5" kettles as I need to.

Still not sure about the beef - I'm deciding between a brisket that I can slice or a chuckie that I can pull. I haven't done but a couple of briskets and never have done a chuckie. Does either one of them have a distinct advantage over the other, particularly since I may needd to cook it ahead of time? Would it be risky to try and do a brisket on the WSM after the butts come off, since we're looking at a mid-day to early afternoon eating time?

Thanks for any and all insights, suggestions, etc.!

 

[Frank S]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Still not sure about the beef - I'm deciding between a brisket that I can slice or a chuckie that I can pull. I haven't done but a couple of briskets and never have done a chuckie. Does either one of them have a distinct advantage over the other, particularly since I may needd to cook it ahead of time? Would it be risky to try and do a brisket on the WSM after the butts come off, since we're looking at a mid-day to early afternoon eating time? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

A chuck roll is larger than a brisket and because of the fat content, a lot more forgiving to cook. You cook it like a butt, wrap it in foil at about 165 degrees, then remove it at about 195 degrees. If I was you and wanted to reduce my risk of failure in front of a lot of family, I'd choose chuck roll over brisket. A

 

[Jon Merka]

never half cook food. any of it can be made ahead of time and re-heated. the problem with half cooking is plenty of oppurtunity for spoilage and botulism to build up in half cooked food.

pulled pork is the easiest and most forgiving to reheat so do that well ahead and just oven heat. ribs can be done the same way as well as brisket. chicken is the least forgiving and i would cook that the day of service to avoid rubber chicken on reheating.

just dont half cook that is the worst mistake you can make.

 

[Paul K]

I agree with Jon. The butts can be done in advance, pulled and frozen. On the beef, I'd opt for brisket as you're already going to have another pulled meat. Do a high heat brisket (or 2) and you can have them knocked out in 4-5 hours. Definitely do the chickens same day.

Paul