Steve, if you're talking about the LARGE full-size restaurant aluminum pans, they'll hold about 3 butts each, if I remember right. The smaller half pan is what I use for a single butt - you could probably get one and half to two butts in the half pan if you packed it tight, but if you pack it TOO tightly that would make reheating more difficult. If you're looking at 18 lb cooked then you're probably looking at no more than 36 lb raw which is about 4 to 5 butts depending on size. I'm betting you could get it all in 2 restaurant-size pans, or maybe five half pans.
Several ways to go about reheating. If you put covered half-pans into the WSM at about 250 for, say, probably an hour and a half or so, it should get you back up to 160 temp or so for serving - you need to be back at a MINIMUM of 140 for serving. Don't know if all those half-pans OR 2 full pans would fit in a WSM to reheat, though. They MIGHT, I just can't picture it at the moment. An oven at 300 for maybe an hour and a half, more or less, would probably get you there. I'd keep a thermo probe stuck into the pulled meat to keep track.
Think about this, too - see what size pans will fit in the WSM and reheat as much as you can in there for the effect of pulling meats straight from the smoker (the dramatic effect adds to the fun, eh?), then find a great-aunt or grandma who has one of those old 18-quart electric roasters with the removable inner pan. An 18-qt roaster will hold 35 lb (raw weight) of pulled pork with extra space to spare (55 lb raw weight will pack it tight to the brim). To speed things along, load your pulled pork into the roaster pan insert, add about 4 cups or so of liquid to the pan full of pork (like juice collected from the cook and resting plus chicken broth from a can plus a little cider vinegar and a few tablespoons of rub, maybe). Seal the roaster pan insert with HD foil, set the roaster pan insert in a regular oven at about 300, and heat for about 1.5 to 2 hours, or till it's hot. THEN transfer the roaster pan insert back to the electric roaster to keep warm, with the roaster temp set about 175. I got this approach from a caterer.
Another idea is this (which I stole blatantly
from Steve in KC from the Forum a few years ago for my notes:
"On the pulling of the pork:
I don't know how to plan on doing it, but if you really do take it that high and let it rest, it will be a snap. I would suggest doing the following:
Put on a pair of white cotton gloves that meat cutters use, THEN put on a pair of latex ones over them. The latex keeps the near boiling juice out and the cotton will keep the heat out. It works like a charm! (save the bones for the pooch!)
On the reheating of pulled pork:
Costco has cheap chaffing dishes for sale. They are made out of wire and cost about $3.50/ea. Sterno comes in a 12 pack and costs about $7/box. The full length pans run at $7 for a 10 pack and the half pans cost about $6 for a 20 pack." [Note from KC - I got mine like this at Sam's.]
"When you fill the bottom (full-deep pan) with water up to the line that is about half way down the side, do so with HOT HOT HOT water. The hotter you can get it the better. The reason for this is, that if just use warm tap water, you'll eat up your sterno's trying to heat the water. If you start out with HOT water (boiling if you can) the sterno just helps the water maintain it's temp. I'd say it will take you at LEAST an hour to get it from 40 to 140 minimum IF using HOT water. 2 hours of using warm tap water. Take a couple of polders/meat thermos with you so you can check the temp."
Do any of these help?
Keri C, smokin' on Tulsa Time
