Cooking for 60


 
Thanks for the invite. I have no idea where I'll be then. Could happen--but it's a total crapshoot. I am headed home--will be there Tuesday--but no idea how long I'll be there either.

I just noticed your quantity question from earlier. The thing about doing bnuffet-style service is you nearly always need to cook more just to make it look good. 60 people may not each have one thigh, for example, but it's hard to get away with, say, cooking 25 or 30. If the first 30 people nab a piece of chicken then what do you do--you know what I mean? The PP, especially if you vac and do an in-water reheat, is easier to deal with. You can get a bunch of it reheated and in chafers at the right time, but hold back several packs in the fridge (keep a pot of water going) and just add a pack or two to the water before you'll need it. If you don't, there it will be in the fridge already packaged and still cold.

Btw, remember to keep the cold foods cold too. If you are not set up for that, don't put it all out. Refill from containers kept cold in the fridge or in a conveniently placed iced chest.



Hmm. I'd likely get a chunk of ribs going first and then stagger subsequent racks--but only if I had a handle on the rest of the food and felt it would be no problem to do so.
 
Originally posted by LarryR:
except for pulling the membrane on all those ribs.
Click to expand...
I feel your up coming pain, Good luck Bud. If I were close, I'd come by and give you and Ed a hand. Hope it all goes well for you guys.
wsmsmile8gm.gif
 
Before I bought my WSM - I did ribs in my kettles all the time. With a rib rack, you can get at least 3 - possibly 4 racks of ribs.

If you throw your kettles into service - you could cook 8 racks on your kettles (no need to roll them) and 8 racks on a WSM (rolled) and have a grand old time.

If I'm doing a lot of ribs on the kettle I will bank the coals on one side only and then rotate my ribs in the rack every so often to make sure one rack doesn't get too much heat. I will also adjust which side they are facing (bone towards coals for the first while... etc)

I've always found that when serving ribs to groups of people that it is best to cut them into individual ribs ahead of time to avoid the people having to tear them themselves - and to avoid "that guy" who just takes a whole darn rack for himself
icon_smile.gif


Sounds like a fun party. I've never been in charge of a party that big - but I keep buying grills... and I dream of one day having an excuse to use them all at once. Preferably something where I'm also not playing a host - so I can just be a "caterer" and people will just leave me alone and do my thing (i.e. a party for my wife's friends or something)

Regarding pulling the membrane... That's definitely a pain to do all 15 or 16 by yourself. I bet there are a handful of guys who would be able to come by early if you teased them with "Hey, want me to show you some secrets about cooking ribs" or something like that - splitting that task up among 4 or 5 people would make it a lot easier on you and would be a cheap thrill for anyone who hasn't done it before.
 
Sounds like a fun party. I've never been in charge of a party that big
Click to expand...

Me either. This is the first cook of this size that I've done, I've done a couple of Thanksgivings for 30 and Eds done a couple Q's for 20 - 30 recently. With the help of everyone on this site I feel we've got a great (and manageable) plan. Even though the membrane is going to suck Ed and I will be able to bang it out pretty quickly.

All the invitations went out last week so we should start getting RSVPs soon. Less than two weeks away . . .
 
Dumb pulled pork cooling question. Is there any reason I couldn't put the pulled pork on the cooled baking sheets and then throw in the freezer and hit the "Power Freeze" button (in the Power Freeze mode, both the compressor and the freezer fan run for 10 hours continuously) until cool then bag?
 
Originally posted by LarryR:
Dumb pulled pork cooling question. Is there any reason I couldn't put the pulled pork on the cooled baking sheets and then throw in the freezer and hit the "Power Freeze" button (in the Power Freeze mode, both the compressor and the freezer fan run for 10 hours continuously) until cool then bag?
Click to expand...
Yes but, when you say cooking sheet, do you mean like a cookie sheet/jelly roll pan? If so won't most of the meat touching the pan freeze to it due to the moisture in the meat? Maybe lay down some parchment paper first.
 
i cook every year for about 250 to 300 people where i work. for that cook i focus on only two meats chicken and brisket. i used to cook up a bunch of sausage as well but gave up on that as it was not as popular as the beef and chicken. i use a big smoker on a trailer for cooking that event and uses nearly a pickup bed of wood to run for 24 hours.

anyway, i figure that the average person will consume .5-.75 lbs of meat and chicken. some more others less and i make sure to have at least .25 pounds of each meat for each person as some will take a bit others wont. that is cooked weight not pre-cooked. i usually tag on 15% extra to be safe. when making a guestimate.

if this is your first big event when starting out record how much meat you cooked begining weight and how many people served and record down any leftovers or lack thereof and adjust from there the next event. records of what you did are very important as that stuff will be forgotten later after the hectic cooking and servign and partying is done.

always plan on more than you think you need better to have to hand out leftovers than turn people away at the serving table...

a good standby is to be ready to send the wife friend or relative to the store for dogs and burgers if you run low and underestimate.

my trial of fire this year is on the 27th of june.
 
OK, guys sorry but another question; I want to serve a couple different sauces at the event and this is what I've come-up with so far, No. 5, Carolina Red and a Mustard based Sauce (I did one recently but I cannot remember which one, it had balsamic vinegar in it if any one knows which one it is please post). Any other suggestions or thoughts? I have a couple people coming who rave about the sauces (and selection) at Famous Daves, I've only eaten there once and cannot remember what sauces they had there. Thanks in advance.
 
Serve them what you like. Whatever you put out will get used anyhow. Might as well give them something you know is good. Mustard sauce is really different in a good way but I bet you use more red sauce.
 
Mustard sauce is really different in a good way but I bet you use more red sauce.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Here's what I'm thinking of doing portion wise - 6 bottles No. 5, 3 bottles Carolina Red and 1 bottle mustard.
 
OK Guys (and gals) the cook starts tonight for the Grad. party; putting 4 8 lb butts on tonight, I'm leaning towards going with Pecan on this one, my other option is Red Oak (which I love too). I'm going to do this one a bit higher than my usual 225, I'll probably go 250 top grate which should be around 235 - 240 bottom. Just don't want this to turn into another 23 hr butt cook, got to pull and cool tomorrow afternoon.

Ed and I are going to start the Ribs Saturday a.m. bright and early, we've both swore off drinking too much beer until we've served the food but we agreed that we could have a few throughout the cook
icon_wink.gif
Weather is calling for 101 on Saturday so a cold one from time to time will go down nicely.

Pictures to come . . .
 
I'm not a beer guy but was in D.C. a few weeks ago and went for dinner to a French bistro near Dupont circle. I sat at the bar while awaiting my friends to join me and had a glass of wine. Lower end French wine is often the pits and the one they poured certainly was--so I switched to Hoegaarden White beer that they had on tap. They serve with a lemon wedge perched on the glass (which I squeezed in) and the beer was wonderfully refreshing. I remember thinking at the time that it would be perfect for hot day cooking sessions. So if you can find it in your area give it a try and see what you think.

Good luck on your cook!
 
Hoegaarden White
Click to expand...

As luck would have it I have access to it here locally through beverages and more. Here's a bit more info on it - "91 PTS ALL ABOUT BEER. Pale hazy yellow hue. Pours with a generous frothy white head. Smooth and creamy with a generous yeasty character and subtle clove and brown spice notes."

Interesting, I'll pick-up a six pack and let you know how it goes down on a hot smoke day
icon_biggrin.gif
 
After work I buy 1 Hoegaarden white nearly every day.
icon_biggrin.gif
Love the stuff...although I always thought the main spice in it was coriander.
 
OK, first decision point, 36 lbs of butts, I usually use the clay saucer, will there be too much drippings and the fat will overflow my saucer? I know with three I'm OK, I'm concerned with 4. What does everyone think? I use the clay saucer with my stoker as I find it just runs better with it.

Just rubbed the 4 butts, that really sucked. Going out to setup the WSM now.
 
Originally posted by LarryR:
I usually use the clay saucer, will there be too much drippings and the fat will overflow my saucer? I know with three I'm OK, I'm concerned with 4.
Click to expand...
Larry, you should be fine but give yourself some extra room just incase. Instead of folding the foil down over the top of the rim of the saucer, leave it up in the air an inch or two above the rim. This way if you have a little bit more than the saucer will hold at some point during the cook, the Heavy Duty foil will hold it. The longer you cook the more that will evaporate and in the end, all will be swell Wally.
icon_wink.gif
From leave it to Beaver.
icon_biggrin.gif
Go get em Bud, good luck with your cook.
icon_smile.gif


Hey Larry, how long does it take to make the charcoal and fire that WSM up? It's been an hour now. You didn't grab a bottle of wine instead of the chimney did you?
icon_razz.gif
 
So here are the PICTURES of the start of this cook.

That was a lot of cold meat on the smoker, 36 lbs to be exact. Took my stoker around 45 minutes to get her up to temp, 356 top grate.

I have a whole new respect for the guys who do this as a business. Prepping, rubbing and getting them on the WSM was a pain in the A#$.
 
OK, first glitch, my Stoker is set at 235 top grate but my Maverick is reading 282 lid. I've never cooked this much cold meat before so I'm thinking because my Stoker probe is placed so close to the cold meat that maybe it's throwing my readings off? I did have a little issue with my Stoker probe wire, it seemed to come loose as there's some play in it, maybe where it was crimped down on where the wire meets the probe came loose but it still is intact up inside the probe, and if this was an issue it just wouldn't work, it would give false readings . . . hmmmm what to do. I'm considering bumping my grate temp down to 225, but then the meat on the lower rack is going to be sub 220. What to do, lid now 279, grate 234.3 . . .

EDIT: so my Miller Lite and I were sitting her talking about this and here's why I think I have such a high lid temp; with a Stoker you're forcing the hot air to the top of the lid vs. it naturally just rising, I think that maybe this could contribute to the disparity in temps. or have I had too much to drink? Either way, I kicked the grate temp down to 230 and Im off to bed . . . got to love the fact that Stoker is on Night Watch over the WSM.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top