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Using Jim's and Derek's figures: If each 7# butt produces 4# of edible pork and if you say 1/2# of pork per person; then each butt would make 8 servings. 1000 persons divided by 8 persons per butt equals 125 butts. Are you serving any sides? 1/2 lb may be a bit much per serving. joe

I have done it both ways, some in racks and some flat, in the same cook and in the same smoker, a 24x48 w/up-right GATOR. Couldn't tell the difference. The ribs turned out tender, juicy and flavorful. IMHO when the ribs are in a rack, the heat and smoke circulates better if not evenly on...

Greg... maple is a very good smoking wood. Besides maple, I use alder and apple since all three are available here in the Pacific Northwest; sometimes free for the hauling. joe

Looks like you have the prep of a great meal on the way! I like tri-tips but never smoked them, since I reverse sear mine rare to med rare. Please let us know how the tri-tip came out. Thanks in advance.... joe

I was at Lowes the other day and saw that too. I'll just stick to my 2 sheets of paper towels and moistened with 2 to 3 tablespoons of cooking oil. joe

Hi Mitch... Never done a HH followed by a LS, but won't the temp drop off while loading the butts (lid off). Then adjustments of lower vents plus leaving the access door open for a while help drop the temp. The temp recovery should be slower since the cold meat would absorb most of it... just...

When I worked in Seattle, we would go to Dixies at least once a month. Great "Q" and the Man Sauce was really, really HOT! A little spoonful would be more than enough for me.... RIP Gene...

Aloha and welcome Todd. Good to have another Pacific Northwestner as part of the forum. Lots of great people with tons of info here. Looks like your on your way with briskets. Thanks for sharing the pic. What part of the PNW you "q'n" in? Good luck... joe

Corey... the clay saucer works best for me.

Brady... Last July I smoked 108 slabs of spares. I did them the day before the reception, refrigerated overnight than reheated 6 at a time in four 22.5" Kettles. Indirect low-med heat for 1-1/2 hour, wrapped in foil and placed in a cooler. Sat in cooler for another hour of so until service...

Aloha and welcome Miller. In general, rotisserie cooking gives a moister product. I been rotissing whole 125 to 150 lb hogs for over 50 years. The constant rotation of the hog, at 3 to 4 rpm keeps the juices flowing within the hog basically basting it. I also rotiss turkeys and it too comes...

Chris if you get the proper temperture by using the Minion method; go that route. Proper management of heat is important and without the proper supply of oxygen, complete combustion will not take place. Run 2 simple tests; start with 1 chimney of unlit, light up a chinmey of briqs and set it up...

Like Jim, I cook spares @ 225 to 240 deg. The only thing that I can think of is that you started with the lower vents closed, cutting off the oxygen supply and prevented the fuel to reach optimum temperature thereby not allowing the unlit fuel to ignite properly in a timely fashion. As the...

James... I have a hook on the inside of my Kettle lid. I use it to hang the lid on the lip of the Kettle. I assumed that since I got my Kettle off of GL and came w/o directions and it works. joe

Chuck... for grilling I use either the Platinum or one of my 22" Kettles. One half of a chimney for me is sufficient to grill 2 NY steaks, one med-rare the other rare. I bank the coals. joe

I finished in the oven before I accumulated all this bbq hardware. IMO, meats can absorb only so much smoke flavor up to a certain temperature. After that point is reached finishing in a smoker or an oven, gas or electric doesn't matter. My 2 cents... joe

Me and my family also prefer ribs with some "bite" to it. So now I never foil and when the meat pulls back about 1/4 to 3/8 inch on the bone I pull it off the smoker. I also use a clay saucer placed in the water pan. joe

Gerry, what is the timeline for the event? Time of service, distance from your cooking site to library, will you cook the day before? I have done dozens of dozens of events and parties (dinners to luaus for 400) and a schedule is important. You will need time to unloading the car, set-up etc...

Gerry... In my experience hosting and catering parties, the chafing dish w/ sterno takes too long to get the ribs hot. That arrangement is good to keep foods warm. Your La Caja would be more efficient. It took 1-1/2 hours to reheat the hog that I did for my son's party. joe

Bill... I have a 24x48 Gator w/ upright, and I used 4 "after-market" rib racks. Did several batches. Briskets were done in my WSMs. The La Caja China works good but never did a whole hog, works great for turkeys, and roasts and butts. The sheet metal work is too thin on the lid and tray for...