Help, Tailgate for 35!


 
R

Richard Diaz

TVWBB Pro
My buddy asked me to bbq some meat for a tailgate we have on Saturday for 35. I'm doing 12 slabs of bb's and 15 lb of butts. He is doing all of the sides, baked beans, cole slaw & mac & cheese.

I think this should be enough for 35 people, I'm calculating 4 oz of cooked butt along with 4 bones per person plus all of the sides and beer.

Food has to be ready by 12 on Saturday, I'm thinking butts on at 5pm Friday to be ready by 7am Saturday then throw the room temperatured bb on and try to have them ready by noonish. I'll be running the butts at 250 the ribs at 275. I plan on doing the MM using 3/4 of a lit chimney to get me going to help get my temps up quickly.

What are your thoughts?
 
Probably could start the butts a little later, maybe around the 7pm timeframe, that would allow cooler time in the 1-2 hour range. I did an 8.5lb'er the other weekend and it took 15 hours, averaging about 230-250 at the top grate, full pan of water.

The 12 slabs of BB's plan looks good. Should be done right around noon or a little thereafter. Do you have rib racks? I know the 22.5 is large, but I'm not sure if you can fit 6 racks laid flat on each grate.
 
When we cooked for the throwdown it was for about 70 2 briskets 4 butts 10 racks 6 chickens and 10 lb of hot links. the only thing we had left was a half pan of PP and a few pieces chicken. I would add some sausage maybe 5 lbs. make for good appetizer and can be inexpensive. If you foil the PP and put them in a cooler they will stay hot longer not pulled. good luck
 
You never know exactly how long a low temp cook will take. If you start the butts at 5pm, you shouldn't have any problem having them ready in time. What are you going to cook 12 slabs of ribs on? How many can you cook at one time? I'd allow 7 hours (maybe 6 if lucky) to clean smoker, re-fuel and cook 1 batch of ribs. You could shorten cook times if you skimp on unfoiled cook time, crank up the heat, foil and finish, 4 hours per batch maybe. Good luck.
 
Sounds like it should be fun. I'd stick to your original plan for the butts - they're very unpredictable. If you put them in a cooler packed with newspaper they'll stay hot for hours. You can also always stick them in an oven in baking pans and covered with foil.
 
I picked up all of my meats from sams club today. I have 2 butts total weight 16.5 lb. and 12 racks of bb ribs total weight 35 lb. I usually wrap my butts in sarran wrap and put in a cooler for upto 4 hours with towels. I've never done aluminum foil, is one better the other? If figure to get the butts done in 12 hours at 250-270 based on prior experience. I have two ribs racks that hold 6 ribs per rack. Once the butts are done I plan on throwing the ribs on for 5 hours at 275. If the butts take a little longer I will probably pull the butts and throw them in the oven to finish them off, the butts will have gotten all the smoke they need after 10 hours. I also plan on doing a fattie for my close friends if I have time. What do you guys think?
 
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