Pulled Pork for a Crowd


 
S

Stan Yolkiewicz

New member
Hi all,

I was looking for suggestions regarding feeding a group of about 70-90. I would like to feed them pulled pork and originally thought that four pork butts would do it. I am having second thoughts and was contemplating revising it to six.

On that note, I have a 18.5 wsm and was also wondering if six pork butts would even fit. The grocery store I go to usually sells me shoulders that are bone-in about 6.5 - 8 pounds. I found one suggestion of putting them on end and skewering them to keep some space for circulation.

Any thoughts or related experience?

Thanks!
 
4 butts for 70-90? be prepared for open revolt by everyone without food. I smoked two 8 lb Boston butts for a party of under 30 and the pans were licked clean.

I'm also calling no way on six butts in the 8 lb range on a 18" WSM. To get three on each rack they'd need to be very small. If you do manage to squeeze that many in there, be prepared for a very long cook time.
 
If there's going to be other meat/food, you could get by with 4oz cooked / 8oz uncooked per person. Else 6oz cooked / 12oz uncooked per person.

At 4oz, for 90, you'll need 7 7lb butts. At 6oz, for 90, you'll need 10 7lb butts.

You could squeeze 6 on an 18.5" by standing them on end.

IMO, cook them in batches. Pull and refrigerate in pans.


Hmmm.... ya know, for that many, you might consider substituting some butts with Pulled Chicken. Like do 6 butts + 1~4 butt-weight in boneless chicken thighs. Grill them and then chop them up julienne style. If you also had an OTS, this would cut overall cook time and offer a variety.
 
I've done 6 - 7 lb butts on an 18.5" WSM, but I like to do no more than 4 at a time on that cooker. I have done 8 on my 22" Cajun Bandit with no problem. I agree that on the 18.5", I would do the butts 4 at a time and one rule of thumb I've seen used is a case (8) of butts for 100 people.

One thing I've done quite often with good results is to serve pulled pork and smoked chicken legs. The legs are inexpensive, easy to cook and easy to eat, and it gives folks a choice of meats to eat.

Pat
 
Thanks for all of the thoughts! I will definately be planning another meat for the event. My only internal debate is whether to try six shoulders in the 18.5 or to smoke off eight in two batches.
 
I've done three on each rack in the 7-8lb range. Last time I cooked for a crowd that big was approx 50. I did 5 butts, and 5 beer can chickens. Pulled it all. Party was on a Sunday. I took Friday off. Did the butts Thursday night and pulled Friday afternoon. While I was pulling those, I put on the chickens and pulled them when done. Then I had Saturday to make sauces, sides, tidy up, etc. Sunday, all I had to do was warm everything up and put it in chafing dishes. I had plenty of leftovers to share with co-workers the following week.
 
So I'm doing Q for 50 at my work. Cooking tonight, lunch tomorrow.

I was thinking Four 8 lb butts and two big *** briskets, on my 22.5. I don't know what briskets will be in stock though, so I'll be guessing a bit at the total weight, maybe 10 lbs each?

That's ~800 oz uncooked. Too much? There will be other sides.
 
Probably too much but freeze in a fooksaver & enjoy later! When someone else is buying the meat always cook too much!
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Thanks for all of the advice here! I ended up cooking off 6 pork butts (46.88 lbs. uncooked and untrimmed) in my 18.5 WSM. It took a while but it all worked out great. I actually had two butts that I didn't even pull. There were about 80 people at the event and I was suprised that I didn't go through more pork.

I did experience one thing that I was curious about. The temperature seemed very difficult to maintain after about 12 hours. I put a couple of rounds of unlit charcoal in the smoker and finally added about 1/2 a chimney of lit towards the end but I wasn't able to pull them temp much above 210. It seemed also that a lot of ash and small coals had dropped to the bottom of the charcoal bowl. I was thinking that this decreased the airflow and prevented the temperature from rising. Any experience or thoughts on this? Also, any suggestions on preventing this as well?

Thanks!
 
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