cooking for a large party


 
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I've had some success smoking pork buts and chicken in my WSM and I have perhapse foolishly decided to invite 80+ people over for bbq next weekend.
I would like to serve pork and chicken, and as I make my audacious plans, I figured it might be a good idea to ask for any recomendations that the people here may have. I bought another WSM because I don't think that one will be enough, but I am not sure about the maximum capacities and corresponding cooking times.
1)how much (many) pork buts can I cook at once, and about how many hours am I looking at?
2)how many chickens can I cook at once, what is the best way to situate them (on beer cans?) and about how many hours?
What is the best way to keep the pork safe while I cook the chicken (I imagine it will be six to eight hours?)?.
My plan is to cook the pork buts first(over night) and then start the chicken first thing in the morning.
3)any thoghts on how pork and chicken I should make? Maybe I won't have to max out my capcity.
thanks, I'm sure I will more questions as the week progresses. Eddie
 
I would make the pork butts a day ahead and reheat, rather than relying on them to get done on time so you can do the chicken. You're going to be hard pressed to get them done at just the right time so you can empty the cooker, but not so far ahead that you can't keep them at temp until you serve. With that much food, you may find yourself in a serious time crunch on the day of the event.

Personally I'd recommend agaisnt whole chickens. Do yourself a favor and get thighs or whole leg quarters. The leg quarters make a nice presentation and you can fit more into the WSM. You'll also save yourself the trouble of carving so many birds.

As for amount, those who cater can probably give better advice than I can, but 1/2 pound pork per person (before cooking) and 1-1/2 thighs per person is what I would plan for. The amount of sides you have will weigh into this of course.

Sounds like a great time. Make it as easy as possible on yourself so you can enjoy your guests.
 
Eddie,

You're an idiot.

I know because I'm cooking for 60 to 70 people this weekend and I'm definitely an idiot for trying something so crazy. What have we gotten ourselves into???? Fortunatly for us the good lord looks after people like us who are too foolish to look after ourselves. So maybe everything will be okay.

Seriously, good luck with your cook. I like to smoke/cook chicken at a much higher temp than pork. I usually cook it at 350* whereas I like to do the pork butts low and slow between 210* and 250*.

So the way I would approach your particular combination of foods is as follows: Assuming the pork butts are around 7 lbs each and you want to serve at 1:00 or so, I'd fill both WSMs with pork butt between 6:00 and 7:00 pm the prvious evening. Let them cook overnight at 250* or so. Take them off the smoker between 9:00 and 10:00, wrap them in foil or plastic wrap, then wrap them in towels and put them in a cooler.

Next, add a lot of hot coals to your WSMs and get the temp up to 350* or so. Around 11:00 put your chickens on the WSM. They should be ready by 12:30. Remvoe them, let them sit, carve them. And serve everything at 1:00.

Hope this helps (and I hope you have a good sense of humor).

Bill
 
thanks John and Bill.
How many chickens or leg/thighs or 7# butts can I cook @ once?
Bill, why do you like to cook the chicken @ higher temps?
Any ideas on how ling it will take to smoke these meats with a packed WSM (about 14hrs for the butts)?
thanks again and good luck with your party Bill. Eddie
 
Chicken doesn't have all that cologen that needs to be broken down over a long period of time so there is no benefit to cooking it low and slow -- it won't get any more tender. On the other hand, a higher cooking temp will make the skin nice and crispy (low and slow will leave the skin rubbery).

You can probably get 2 7lb butts on each rack. That means with two WSMs you should be able to cook 8 of them. That should be enough to feed about 60 people. I'm not sure how many chickens (or chicken parts) you can get onto a WSM, it really depends on how you configure them. I like to cook whole chickens on a vertical roaster. You can get 2 on each rack (if you're really lucky and good at jigsaw puzzles you may be able to squeeze a few more on there). When I use vertical roasters, I like to put the chickens on them upside down, with the legs in the air. I find that this allows the fat from the dark meat to drip over the breasts, keeping them moist.

As for time, I usually figure 2 hours per pound of pork butt, however it can vary quite a bit. That's one reason I like to start a few hours early. The extra time is there if you need it, and if you don't you can always store the wrapped butts in a cooler. I find that they'll keep in there for 4 or so hours if necessary.

The whole chickens should take about 90 minutes. So again you have a little wiggle room.

Bill
 
I have never cooked for that many people(although I have cooked for 20-25 or so on 1 WSM) but I will someday join the idiot group and try. I don't know if this is of interest to you but I like my chicken low and slow. Before I season them I cut off all the skin(tastes lousy smoked low and slow) so the seasoning is directly on the meat. I usually have two butts(Sams 2 pack) on top(already cooked for 11 of their 16 hours) and 10 lb brisket on bottom(already cooked 11 of its 15 hours). With about 5 hours left things have shrunk enough to get about 3 chickens on the bottom rack and some bb ribs on the top rack. All should finish in the following 4 to 5 hours. Always(twice) been a success for me.
 
Doing leg quarters, I have cooked as much as 30 lb at a time. When I've done that, I've filled the bottom grate, set out 3 soup cans on the edges of the bottom grate, used the cans as a base for a 2nd grate in between the two standard ones, filled it and the top standard grate, and added one more above the top standard grate for a total of four cooking levels. I fired two full chimneys of burning charcoal into the cooker, got meat in place, kept it blasting as hot as I could, and it was done in two hours. I don't actually SUGGEST doing this, but it has worked for me in a pinch when necessary.

Keri C, smokin on Tulsa Time
 
Put me in the group of idiots. Cooking for about 40 or so for Friday night. Butts are rubbed and ready to smoke, but I am so busy at work it has put a rush on my week. Sams Butts are $1.36 a lb right now here in the Bluegrass FYI.
Dale
 
I've done Q for a group of 40+ people, I did butt's(4 10lbs) the day before, started them at 10:00 A.M. Let them go 20+ hours rotating them top to bottom at about 10 hours. Pulled them off around 10:00 the day of the party, wrapped them in foil and old towels then placed them in a warm cooler until we ate at 3:00. They were still hot when I pulled them. I did have some left but not much. Good luck.
 
Wow 80 people. I thought I was going a little crazy in saying I can do 25-30 folks this weekend.

You ask the question why do we put ourselves through this. The answer's in the Smoke and Spice cookbook: "BBQ is braggin' food..." It goes on to say something about bragging so much they'd have you belive they can milk a bull. Ok bragging is a little harsh of a word, we just gotta share the goods with others.

Have fun!
 
I am just going out to pick the up six butts. I will start them tommorow morning.
I am figuring 70 leg/thighs that I will start early on saturday and have some still cooking when the party starts (a little smoke will be good for the bbq atmosphere).
10# of beans...1o heads of cabbage...100 ears of corn(anyone have a good pudding recipe?).
 
I just cooked for a group this size a couple of weeks ago for the first time. i did beer can chickens on weber kettles and reheated my pork butts. While the beer can on the kettles needs to be timed it was a great hit and I'd do it again in a flash. I think chicken is almost always better over a kettle than a WSM (but thats a whoe different dicusion. I cooked 8 burrs for 90 people and had some left overs but I also served brisket. You easily have the capacity to do 8 and pork is cheap I'd get 8 to be safe.
 
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