Maximum Rib

[Guest]

Ok, so I've read about rolling, about racking, about laying slabs horizontally, et. al.

I might as well cut to the chase:

How many slabs of (spare) ribs can one smoke at once, successfully, in a WSM?

So far, I've done five complete slabs (St. Louis cut), trimmed to fit on one rack per level. I've never needed to go beyond this limit, and would like to hear if others have.

I have 80 people to satisfy on August 25, and I need to do the math. (And I definitely don't want them dancing around singing, a la Mick Jagger, "I can't get no......")

Thanks,

Scott.

[This message has been edited by ScottM (edited 08-08-2001).]

 

[Guest]

Hi Scott, the most I have ever done at one time is 6, using rib racks on the top and bottom grill racks. I'm not sure if the guys who are rolling the ribs get more than that.

I think it will be hard to get enough ribs on to feed 80, at least in one cook. Have you thought about doing a few butts?

Doug W.

 

[Jim Minion]

Steve
You can also lay one or two racks on top of the ribs in the rib rack.
I've also heard of someone who had hung the ribs under the top grate, with the bottom grate removed. Not sure you can get more done in that manner.
Jim

 

[Guest]

Thanks Guys.

Doug, yes, I'm going to do six butts as well. I've got three days to prepare, with the dinner being the evening of the third day.

Here's how I hope the schedule goes:

Thursday: Smoke two batches of ribs. Lets say this will yield 12 slabs.

Friday: Smoke 6 butts at once. This would start as about 30 lbs. I estimate it will yield about twenty lbs of meat. (Am I right here?)

Saturday: Get up early and smoke two batches of ribs before dinner.

This would yield a total of 24 slabs of ribs and 20 lbs. of pulled pork.

Waddaya think? Should I put a ham in the oven just to be sure?

Much thanks,

Scott.

 

[Guest]

Scott, I'm no expert on feeding large groups, but I did remember reading something about that in the BBQ Faq. Here's an extract:

[I got a job catering a tire show. Probably around 75 mechanic/tire guys. They want pork, beef and chicken. Can anybody give me an idea of how much of each I'll need, I was thinking pork butts, brisket and leg quarters?]

Danny Gaulden--
If you want to provide about 1/2 lb. per person with the butts and brisket, and divide the meats equally into three parts( 1/3 pork, 1/3 brisket, 1/3 chicken), here's what you will need to barbecue. You will need to cook about 32 lbs. of pork, 32 lbs. of brisket, and 50 leg quarters. Brisket and butts cooked, trimmed, and served properly will yield about 40%. This will give each person a choice of either 2 leg quarters each, or 1/2 lb. of pork or brisket, or, of course, a mixture. This is plenty to fix and stay within a reasonable fee. If they eat it all, one thing is for sure--they won't go home hungry and have bad things to say about you.

One thing you must remember when doing a cater--you don't want to fix too much and have to charge a price that seems unreasonable. Nor do you want to prepare too little. A fine line is drawn here. When giving a bid on a cater, always make sure the customer knows how many pounds of meat your are providing, and how many pints, quarts, or gallons of sides are included also. This allows the customer to "really" know what they are getting for the money. Also this lets them see that the "cheaper" bid isn't necessarily the best bid.

When talking to a potential customer about a barbecue catering job, the first question I ask them is to define the average age, sex, and how many small children are going to attend the event. This helps me "size up" the meal, and determine how much they will need. I basically have three sizes--small portions (usually senior citizens or women only), medium portions (this is for the majority of folks that are all ages, sex, and some children) and large portions (the kind of group you are feeding--mostly men, and hard working folks.)

If you are preparing sides, figure about 3 people to the pint for average eaters, and 2 to 2 1/4 for heavy hitters.
END OF EXTRACT

Here's a link to the full faq:
http://www.eaglequest.com/~bbq/index.html

Good luck to you, let us know how it goes.

Doug W.

 

[Guest]

'Afternoon All:
Once again, this site and you guys are a life saver! One of my company cohorts and I've just been tasked with smoking ribs, butts and chicken quarters for approximately 100-125 folks (company picnic). Since neither of us have ever attempted to prepare for a group of this size, we've really been struggling with what quantity per person to cook, etc. and this post gives us a tremendous leg-up on resolving our dilemma. Bless y'all and may all your BBQ be of the Kirk variety and your brisket, Doug, be equal or better than Sonny Bryan's!
?.John

 

[Guest]

what a perfect topic for today as I'm planning the smae kind of party that Scott is(same date also) and was wondering how many racks one could fit on a wsm--thanks for the help again
Buzz

 

[Guest]

Hey John!

How many smokers do you plan to use? Will you pre-cook things and then reheat on the day? That's a monster-sized meal you've got to manage.

Have you thought about side dishes? We plan to make a ton of pinto beans, slaw, and tossed salad. As far as the pulled pork goes, I'm thinking about offering a couple of finishing sauce options that people can apply themselves: one vinegar-based (NE Carolina Style), and one sweet tomato-based, and maybe even a mustard-based one too. The ribs will be served wet with a sweet honey-garlic-tomato sauce.

This no doubt makes me seem like some sort of fence-sitting, vacillating, spineless bit of milquetoast; incapable of deciding how to present my product. But around here people haven't formulated strong opinions about what BBQ style is best, and I figure I'll try to expose them to a few feeble attempts at replicating authentic recipies.

Get stuffed, (With BBQ!)

Scott.

 

[Guest]

'Morning Scott:
My partner-in-crime and I will be using two WSMs and his 6x4 trailer-mounted grill. We have discussed taking as much as two days (48 hours) to have all meat smoked and ready by noon on picnic day (September 8th). Yes, we will be stacking meat in our respective refrigerators and plan to use the grill to merely warm the product before the masses descend! All other employees have been asked to bring the sides so we'll avoid that issue altogether. I'm glad you mentioned sauces because you're probably right that many if not most folks will want to spoil there "professionally" smoked meat with some type sauce!! I have considered applying Danny's glaze to a portion of the meat but since my friend is excellent at sauces maybe I can offer to smoke an extra set of ribs and throw in a six pack of adult beverage if he'll make the sauces! Stay tuned; we'll keep y'all posted.
?.John