I was asked by my church to smoke pulled pork for a social dinner this weekend, approximately 250 people. Mostly couples between 45 and 70.
It's just me and my trusty WSM doing the cooking.
I'm smoking 4 butts at a time, and accelerating the cooks by smoking for 4 to 6 hours. Then I pull the meat, wrap them in foil, and finish in a 250 degree oven. I then prepare another 4 butts, refresh the charcoal and start a second smoke.
I get 2 cooks done in a day, with a long enough gap for all the coals to burn out so I can empty the ash and clean the water pan, then do it again the next day.
I'm pulling the meat and vacuum packing each butt into large vacuum bags that leaves them only 1 inch thick. I cool them on the counter for an hour, then in the fridge for a while, then freeze them.
BTW a butt from Sams yields between 3 and 4 pounds of finished meat after removing bones and any excess fat.
While I'm at it, I'm also trying some different rubs on different cooks. Renoun Mr Brown, BRITU, Chris Lilly's, Weber Poultry/Pork, Bone Suckin' rub. I've never done cooks close enough together to really compare. I'll let you know our favorite when I'm done, but so far BRITU is winning.
My real quandry is over serving size. Is 1/4 pound each enough? Or 1/2 pound? Or More?
I'm going for at least 100lbs of finished meat and just wondering about how much more.
It's just me and my trusty WSM doing the cooking.
I'm smoking 4 butts at a time, and accelerating the cooks by smoking for 4 to 6 hours. Then I pull the meat, wrap them in foil, and finish in a 250 degree oven. I then prepare another 4 butts, refresh the charcoal and start a second smoke.
I get 2 cooks done in a day, with a long enough gap for all the coals to burn out so I can empty the ash and clean the water pan, then do it again the next day.
I'm pulling the meat and vacuum packing each butt into large vacuum bags that leaves them only 1 inch thick. I cool them on the counter for an hour, then in the fridge for a while, then freeze them.
BTW a butt from Sams yields between 3 and 4 pounds of finished meat after removing bones and any excess fat.
While I'm at it, I'm also trying some different rubs on different cooks. Renoun Mr Brown, BRITU, Chris Lilly's, Weber Poultry/Pork, Bone Suckin' rub. I've never done cooks close enough together to really compare. I'll let you know our favorite when I'm done, but so far BRITU is winning.
My real quandry is over serving size. Is 1/4 pound each enough? Or 1/2 pound? Or More?
I'm going for at least 100lbs of finished meat and just wondering about how much more.