How Many Butts in a Bullet?

[Guest]

Hi All.

I'm new here, but have owned a WSM for about four years. Mostly do ribs and chicken, and the occasional butt. Hope I can be of use, and would like to get to know some fellow WSM users.

We have a party coming up (after our wedding) where I'm going to attempt to cook BBQ for around 80 people. Whew!!!

I'll spend the two days before the event cooking ribs. I figure I can do ten racks a day (two batches of five racks per day). On the BBQ day I'd like to make some pork for pulling.

How many butts can a WSM take? I'd like to do two on the top rack and two on the bottom if possible. Ever done it?

Other question... usually I like bone-in butts, but would boneless ones be more space-efficient?

ps.... Please tell me if you think this is beyond the normal scope of a single WSM.... we can always get someone to flip some burgers too (actually, I'm looking for an excuse to buy a Weber Kettle!!!)

Thanks a mil.

Scott.

 

[Guest]

OH Oh......

I now see the 'Quanity of Butts' thread below which answers most of my questions.

Hey Steve.... If I were to do three boneless butts per grate, say about 5 pounds each, how many pulled pork sandwiches do you think it would yield?

Much thanks,

Scott.

 

[Guest]

Scott,

I guess it depends on the size of the sandwiches

I would plan on losing half the initial weight of a bone-in butt to trimming, shrinkage, and waste. So a guesstimate would be 15 pounds of pulled pork from six 5-pound butts.

If I were you, I would *definitely* cook the pork in advance, and cook the ribs the day of the party. In my experience, cooking a full load of butts can take up to 16 hours to reach "pullable" temps. Then the resting and pulling will take a considerable amount of time. The ribs will take only about 6 hours. You can do at least 6 slabs at a time, coiled and skewered.

Take into consideration the number of kids in the crowd; they don't eat much.

Hope this helps,
Steve

[This message has been edited by Steve Bennett (edited 08-05-2001).]

 

[Guest]

Steve:

It helps lots, thanks.

Ok, so if I were to cook the butts a day or two in advance, what would the schedule be?

- cook-refridgerate-pull-warm-serve?

- cook-pull-refridgerate-warm-serve?

- cook-refridgerate-warm-pull-serve?

- other?

In your experience, does the quality of the pulled pork suffer with a delay like this? (In my experience, ribs are great after one cool/warm cycle, especially if served 'wet'. This is why I was going to do the ribs first. Is pulled pork as forgiving?)

Thanks,

Scott

 

[Guest]

Scott,

My sequence of events would be: Cook (overnight, starting at 10:00 PM or so, 2 days before the party), pull (after resting, mid-day the day before the party) refrigerate (I vacuum-pack mine using a FoodSaver), re-heat (I use disposable aluminum food service pans. 2 butts will fill a standard half-size foil steam-table pan. Spritz with apple juice, cover pan tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil, heat through in the oven, then put in a chafing dish rack over flame to keep warm while serving), serve (I serve mine "nekkid", with sauce on the side in a bowl with a small ladle, with buns, bread, onions, and pickles). I sauce my ribs 10-15 minutes before removing from the cooker, cut them up into individual bones, and dump them into a steam-table pan which then goes into the chafing rack.

By the way, the chafing rack sets can be found at Sam's Clubs and at party supply stores; they really make your presentation look professional

Steve

 

[Guest]

Steve:

Thanks, that's a wealth of info.

I will report back on how the 80-person barbecue went. (The gathering is August 25).

Cheers,

Scott.