My girlfriend volunteered me... OMG, what have I gotten into?


 
H

Howard Warren

TVWBB Fan
I've been smoking for years using my WSM 22. I've cooked pulled pork and babyback ribs, plus the occasional chuckie or brisket flat. I have a good rub, and my girlfriend (and her co-workers) all love for me to cook for them.

My girlfriend's employer does a lot of charity events in the community, and they have an upcoming one for cancer research. It's a big competition among local businesses to volunteer and raise money, and a lot of community spirit and pride is generated. Last year her company sold bowls of gumbo for $5 each and did very well. But this year, the gumbo guys are going to be out of town. So my girlfriend "volunteered" me to cook pulled pork. They want to sell pulled pork sandwiches and expect to sell at least 100 sandwiches. At 5 oz per sammie, that's 34 lbs of cooked pork, or 70 pounds of raw, bone-in pork. Call it between 8 and 10 freaking pork shoulders.

Ain't love grand? ;) (She's worth it!) But I only have 1 WSM.

My technique is: only use the top rack. No water in the bowl. Cook at 275, exposed to smoke for 5 hours then wrap. I can finish on the smoker or in the over inside. A couple of times in the past I've done two 9 lb shoulders at the same time, but the WSM always seemed to be too small for 3 shoulders. I like having plenty of space between the pork butts to let the smoke flow freely between them. So I'm looking at 4 or 5 cooks, each cook between 8 and 10 hours.

The event is the first weekend of May, so I'm thinking about getting ahead of schedule. I'm thinking of cooking half the butts during the weekends, pull/chop the pork, then vacuum seal and freeze. The days right before the event I'll cook the other half, pull/chop and refrigerate. During the event, heat up the meat, mix the fresh and frozen and serve. Then I think, "What have I gotten myself into?"

Has anybody done a big cook like this with only 1 WSM? Any tips/tricks?

Thanks!
 
I’d use both racks and do four at a time and, reverse position halfway through. That would cut down hair pulling by half, they will take a little longer but not twice as long.
Vac sealing would make perfect sense, when you get ready for service, mix with the freshest batch and foil pan them add a little liquid when you reheat.
You will be fine!
And, yes, love IS grand!
 
Thanks, Timothy! Because of back issues (yes, I'm mid 50s) I don't like to use the lower rack. But here's an idea:
  • Start at 6 AM, run 2 pork shoulders on the smoker.
  • At 11 AM, wrap the two shoulders and move them to the inside electric oven to finish.
  • Once the first two are in the oven, start two more on the smoker.
  • At 4:30 (ish) move the second pair into the oven to finish. Since I cook at 275, the first two will be getting close to finishing.
  • As they finish in the oven, rest them in blankets/cooler and then pull/chop and bag.
It wold be a long day ;) but I would still get the 4 done in a day.
 
Do they have to be cooked on-the-spot? If not, why not cook a day ahead, pulled them, place the pulled pork in a three of four big alum trays, and keep them refrigerated. The day of, pour some chicken broth over them and place them in the WSM to heat: one on top, one on bottom. As one is pulled to serve, put the bottom one on top and put a cold one on bottom. Repeat until it gone. I think you can get three pulled butts in one pan.
 
Someone here cooked 8 pork butts at once in wsm 18....so you are just averse to trying hard. 4 on each grate, standing on edge.

My wife volunteered me to cook 2 for a wedding reception in 2 weeks....out of town. There will be lots of other food, but she thought this would be nice to do and much cheaper thàn them buying cooked meat. Im cooking in advance and freezing it. They can thaw it in microwave or boiling water...it comes out great. Im not stressing about it. It will be better than smokeless mush kept in a finishing liquid like crappy bbq joints do anyway.
 
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I think you have a good plan starting in advance. BTW, I have cooked 4 pork butts, 2 up and 2 down, numerous times on a single WSM without a problem.
 
Dwain Pannell said:
Do they have to be cooked on-the-spot? If not, why not cook a day ahead, pulled them, place the pulled pork in a three of four big alum trays, and keep them refrigerated. The day of, pour some chicken broth over them and place them in the WSM to heat: one on top, one on bottom. As one is pulled to serve, put the bottom one on top and put a cold one on bottom. Repeat until it gone. I think you can get three pulled butts in one pan.
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No, actually I MUST cook ahead of time, I will not have the ability to cook on site, and the location of the event is 60 ,miles away.

Reheating is another issue as well; we can't have sterno or any kind of flame. From past years, Crockpots are allowed though. Maybe have two crockpots: one at low for making sandwiches from, the second on high for heating up the next batch.
 
RyanS_MN said:
This just means that you need a second WSM now ;)
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Enabler!:LOL::D
No flames of any kind? Wow, is there anyone with a gas grill near the venue which could be pressed into service?
Otherwise, keeping them safe (above 140 degrees) is going to be difficult, crock pots will be good but that’s going to need more than 2 for that amount. Good luck, you will get it sorted out.
 
Too bad you aren’t close I’d loan you mine. Good luck that sounds like a lot of responsibility.
 
I cooked a case of butts (8) for my daughters sweet 16 party and did them the day of on my 18''wsm and a borrowed smoker four in each, it was a windy day so that made it a lot harder but it came off without a hitch, I folded them and finished and held them in the oven at the community center, it was stressful but worth it.

We pulled them as needed, if you cook them ahead of time the reheating 60 miles from the event will be the trick, a couple 18 roasters ovens would be nice or like someone else said a grill.

Good luck
 
Steve Cleveland said:
We pulled them as needed, if you cook them ahead of time the reheating 60 miles from the event will be the trick, a couple 18 roasters ovens would be nice or like someone else said a grill.
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That's what we're looking at, a pair of 22 qt Oster roasters. The event is indoors, so no open flames, but electricity is available. Last year her company did gumbo and used the big roasters to reheat it.

Whew... been having some panic moments about this ;).
 
Howard Warren said:
That's what we're looking at, a pair of 22 qt Oster roasters. The event is indoors, so no open flames, but electricity is available. Last year her company did gumbo and used the big roasters to reheat it.

Whew... been having some panic moments about this ;).
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I’m having panic moments I can’t imagine how you feel
 
Any chance you have access to a sous vide machine and a tub/conatiner? You could cook everything, vacuum pack it, and day of through all the packs in the sous vide container to reheat/hold. Bust open a pack as needed to serve.
 
The use of those big “Nesco” roasters are so useful, I have a couple of friends with them. I keep in good standing with them as much as I can! Those would be a HUGE advantage! Take them cold, under ice then fire them up when you get there.
Again, I’m sure you will get it sorted out!
 
For my wedding last year, and also family reunion, briskets were smoked a week ahead of time, frozen, and then thawed and brought back up to temperature the days of the wedding and reunion to be ready at around serving time. They turned out more than fine. I'd imagine pulled pork sandwiches could work out the same. If anything, maybe smoke half the weekend before to limit your load the days of?
 
GilFisher said:
For my wedding last year, and also family reunion, briskets were smoked a week ahead of time, frozen, and then thawed and brought back up to temperature the days of the wedding and reunion to be ready at around serving time. They turned out more than fine. I'd imagine pulled pork sandwiches could work out the same. If anything, maybe smoke half the weekend before to limit your load the days of?
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That's the plan right now. Estimates are for 8 shoulders. I'll do 4 ahead of time, vacuum seal and freeze. I'll do the final four the two days before the event. At the event I'll mix 50-50 unfrozen with frozen, and heat up using a big 22 quart roaster oven.

I'm thinking about making a surprise for my girlfriend's team... smoke a couple of racks of babyback ribs as finger food for the folks working the table.

Ain't middle-age dating great? ;)
 
Recently used roasters to cook several pork shoulders. Worked better than I thought it would. Time is on our side right now. Cook and bag. You will be ready. My only worry is you selling more than 8 butts.
Course if i had an excuse to increase my bbq capacity lookout
 
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