Smoking pork for a large party

Couple things--having done professional catering (in a past life), unless you are feeding a softball tournament or sports banquet full of "bruisers", your estimates of portion sizes are about twice what they need to be. 4-6 oz meat per person and 2-3 oz side per person is more in line--grandma is only going to take 1 piece of chicken and two tablespoons full of potato salad--you get the idea. Also, not everyone is going to eat a portion of every item--so for a head count of 90-100 ppl, all you need is a max of 50-60 portions of each item. If you do a full 90-100 portions of every item on the menu, you are going to have a truckload of food left over and wasted a lot of money up-front. Depending on the batch size for your BBQ sauce, you may be over-estimating that as well--16-24 oz sauce per 10 lbs of cooked pork is more than adequate--you want the flavor, but you don't want a soupy mess that will mess up peoples clothes--you do not want to be serving sloppy joes--remember, people are going to be walking around with this stuff and socializing, not sitting at a dining room table.

I concur that you will probably need to rotate racks to cook the pork more evenly, but not everything has to be finished at the same time. My experience with graduation parties is that people straggle in and out over the course of hours, not all at once--so you want a fair amount done and out on the tables to start with, but you want your back-ups "staggered" to put out fresh food at intervals over the course of the time-frame you are working with. If it is all done at the beginning of the event, it will be dead by the time the last guest arrives.

As a matter of food safety--hot food needs to stay hot and cold food needs to stay cold, so put out small batches and replenish. For mayo-based and egg-containing foods like potato salads and pasta salads, or cole slaw, you want to "double bowl" them--place a larger bowl or pan underneath the bowl containing the food filled with ice to keep it cold--besides--who likes the taste of those foods at room temp anyways?

Just a few tips from someone who has done this before--hope it helps.

Good Luck!!!

That's some great information. Thanks for sharing!

-Dave
 
I didn't see where you indicated when you were going to start the process. If you were me I'd put them on as early as possible on the 8th. That way you might get to sleep in your bed Saturday night. Some might say you will be serving leftovers but there is no way I'd try to get these done the day of the party. The last 5 butts I've done were about 8lbs. and they all took 15 plus hours and that was using the crutch method.
 
Sounds fun, I love smoking meats in my smoker. I find getting the fire stabilized as the hardest part, but once I have a nice bed of glowing logs with the vents set right its much easier than grilling as you don't have to worry about the flare ups. Not a fan of Carolina BQ as I prefer a dry rub on most all but the pulled pork. For the pulled pork I like to make my own sauce using a mix of sweet, hot, and spice flavors. What I do for large groups is use those foil pans and racks that use sterno fuel. I use one pan with water in it, and then put the pulled pork in another pan and set it inside of the other pan, and they sell foil covers to cover the pans. Once you make your pulled pork just put them in the pans put the covers on, and you can keep it all cool until ready for eating. Then a little while prior to the event pull them out fire up the burners, and let them get warmed up. By using water in the pan below the pan with the pulled pork you won't burn or dry out the pork. You can also use them for the baked beans. No BQ is without baked beans. Cold watermelons in the summer is also always a hit. Very easy to keep, in ice chest cold, and they feed quite a few people for little money. Same with corn on the cob. Good luck with your party.
 
Getting prepped. The smoker is about ready. Picking up the meat tonight (at $1.50/lb), the slaw and potato salads on Saturday, and the buns on Sunday. Going with hot dog buns just to make things a little less sloppy. ;) Got all the necessary bowls, warmers, etc. ready to go.
 
I'm doing cole slaw! I found an "almost Marzetti's" recipe online--I'm going to give it a whirl. Sounds really good! I don't like the HFCS in Marzetti's (nor do I like the price), so this will work out well. I have like five jars of mayo, so I already have everything except celery seed on hand to make it with. Well, other than the cabbage, and I won't have room for that until Saturday night when I put the meat into the smoker and get my fridge back! I debated doing the bags of slaw, but would prefer to chop my own (which only takes a few minutes anyway) so I know it's fresh.

http://www.food.com/recipe/almost-marzettis-slaw-dressing-29842

I now have 56 pounds of pork shoulder packed into the fridge. Barely. :D They were on the small side, but given the $1.50/lb price, I can't complain. Buns are on order at the local market. Got plenty of briquettes and apple wood chunks. And a lighter. I think I'm almost ready!
 
Nothing. Not a single drop. Once the party ends, I'm grabbing my stuff and getting the hell out of Dodge as quickly as I can...and I need to be stone cold sober to drive that fast. :D
Lord bless ya if you can keep that promise.
I don't know if I could with the "family" I've goto_O
 
Pork's on. Bottom rack loaded by 5:30pm, top by 6:00 pm. Took a bit of work to get all eight shoulders in the smoker so they weren't touching, but it's all good, and exposed to the heat and smoke. The whole neighborhood smells like a sweet mix of pork and apple wood. :D In a way it seems like I can't get the smoker fully up to temp, but I have the pit probe clipped to the bottom of the top rack, so it's between all of the meat (which is cooler/higher humidity). Temps at the lid are right around 250, though, where it usually is when I've used a grill surface thermometer and the temp at the top grill was 225-ish. The meat temp, however, has been climbing like it should--I have three meat probes going to monitor progress. I'm in the stall phase right now at ~162 degrees. I am going to see how it works out--I may finish them off in the oven indoors at 225 or 250, foiled, after another hour or three, depending on how the pit temperature and fuel usage goes. By then the bark will have set, and they'll really only need heat to finish off.

I lit the smoker yesterday for a test run with some ribs using Soo's Donut, and despite it running for six hours, it used less than half the fuel I loaded into the ring. (I did not quite fill the ring up.) I also noticed that the coals had less of the acrid smell as they were lighting off, as opposed to the Minion Method. It could be due to all of the lit fuel being in one place, vs. having it scattered all across the tops of the unlit coals.

My briquette piling this evening was a work of art. :D It doesn't look like it here, but the coals are piled a bit higher than the ring. More apple chunks are buried out of sight. (The small pieces are stragglers that were left in the bag.)

IMG_20170708_172431-01.jpeg
 
We'll be tuning in for more results.

Good luck with that stall!

I'm assuming no water in the pan?
 
No, I use sand in the dish, to act as a heat sink. Used to do water but like my results better this way, and it's less to fuss with. I just foil over the dish each time.

I double foiled, and finished the shoulders in the oven at 250°. All of them were done by 10:30am. Kept them in the oven at 175 until I left.

We have a lot left over of course. Out of 90, only about 50 have showed so far, and the kids had the chicken tenders. I need another party to finish this food of. :D. But to be honest, I've smelled smoked pork since 6pm last night and I'm kind of sick of it.

I left a mess at home...
 
No, I use sand in the dish, to act as a heat sink. Used to do water but like my results better this way, and it's less to fuss with. I just foil over the dish each time.

I double foiled, and finished the shoulders in the oven at 250°. All of them were done by 10:30am. Kept them in the oven at 175 until I left.

We have a lot left over of course. Out of 90, only about 50 have showed so far, and the kids had the chicken tenders. I need another party to finish this food of. :D. But to be honest, I've smelled smoked pork since 6pm last night and I'm kind of sick of it.

I left a mess at home...
Sounds like the effort paid off.

Congrats! I bet that was a lot of work.

I've taken left over pulled pork to work and to neighbors and friends - I mean, c'mon...who is going to turn down good bbq, right? :rockon:

Pound down some cold ones and put the dogs up for some rest!
 
Hey
Cool, glad it worked out ok. It's always better to have too much food than not enough.
Yeah, it's not hard to get rid of bbq.lol!
I just bought a package of pork steaks. I'm thinking grilled /brushed with bbq sauce. Good for lunch at work this week. Bachelor life aint it great! Eric
 
No, I use sand in the dish, to act as a heat sink. Used to do water but like my results better this way, and it's less to fuss with. I just foil over the dish each time.

I double foiled, and finished the shoulders in the oven at 250°. All of them were done by 10:30am. Kept them in the oven at 175 until I left.

We have a lot left over of course. Out of 90, only about 50 have showed so far, and the kids had the chicken tenders. I need another party to finish this food of. :D. But to be honest, I've smelled smoked pork since 6pm last night and I'm kind of sick of it.

I left a mess at home...

Sounds like things went well--glad that I could help! Now, go home and relax!
 
9:50pm...I finally sat down. I had to come home and clean up all the dirty utensils, bowls, pots, etc., pull two remaining shouders of pork, and put all the leftovers away. No way I was going to leave the mess--I knew I'd fade off if I sat down for even a moment. Going to grab a cold Diet Pepsi and shut down for the night.

I have to say that the slaw dressing recipe is really good. It's like a slightly sweeter variation on Marzetti's, and simple to make from (mostly) ingredients any kitchen should have. 2 cups mayo, 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, 2 tablespoons yellow mustard (or Dijon), up to 1/2 cup powdered sugar (so it is creamy smooth, and it could be kicked back to 1/3 cup if it is preferred less sweet), and up to 1 teaspoon of celery seed. I used the power hand mixer and whipped it together quickly.

As for the pork and the smoker...next time I only will do four shoulders maximum. The heat struggled to get up to 225. By 1:00am, it was finally there, understandable due to all of the humidity in the smoker. But since the fan on the controller was running nearly constantly, it burned through the coals a lot faster, and by 3:30am they were pretty well spent. By 4:30am, I had the shoulders off the smoker, double-foiled (with probes in two of them), and in the oven to finish off. I used 250° since the meat was in the stall, but by 8:30am they were leaving the stall and starting to climb again.

It was fall-apart tender. :) And while the bark wasn't quite as hard as it would be if not foiled, it was still plenty good. Many raves about it. :)

I set aside some pulled pork without sauce--it is great for classic Cuban sandwiches. Ham, smoked pork, Swiss cheese, dill pickle chips and yellow mustard, in a Hoagie-type bun heated in a sandwich press.

Sounds like things went well--glad that I could help! Now, go home and relax!
Thanks indeed! Even so, we still ended up with too many leftovers, and I did try to stick serving portions you'd mentioned above (went over only by a little). But I think part of it was that the kids preferred the chicken tenders to the pork, and not as many guests arrived as we'd planned on. No matter--got some great sides for the week and plenty of pork!

I've taken left over pulled pork to work and to neighbors and friends - I mean, c'mon...who is going to turn down good bbq, right? :rockon:
My ex is taking one of the trays of pulled pork to work with her on Tuesday, and some of the slaw. It'll go fast. :D I often work from home, so there are only two of us here to eat it during the week.

Yeah, it's not hard to get rid of bbq.lol!
I thought of driving up and down the street, selling a plate of pulled pork and sides for $10. Proceeds could have been part of my daughter's grad gift. ;)
 
Thanks indeed! Even so, we still ended up with too many leftovers, and I did try to stick serving portions you'd mentioned above (went over only by a little). But I think part of it was that the kids preferred the chicken tenders to the pork, and not as many guests arrived as we'd planned on. No matter--got some great sides for the week and plenty of pork!

I thought of driving up and down the street, selling a plate of pulled pork and sides for $10. Proceeds could have been part of my daughter's grad gift. ;)

Glad everything worked out well--like I said--been there, done this. I had a funeral wake for 86 ppl that ended up being 4 ppl to take the food home because the family getting into a fist-fight at graveside before the body was even cold---having to call the cops to a wedding reception because your daughter is a whore and your son is a worthless a**hole--and then you give them an open bar for 4 hours--all it takes is one word, and game on.

Glad my recommendations helped--and I hope I saved you a $100 or so. Relax and enjoy the night.

Back in the day, we used to give away excess banquet food to churches or the shelters--then the lawyers got involved--I give you the food, and then you store it improperly and someone gets sick, and my ass is looking like Chi-Chi's--out of business, so we had to quit that--just throw it away--it was paid for anyways--sad in my eyes.
 
Glad my recommendations helped--and I hope I saved you a $100 or so. Relax and enjoy the night.
All that pork I bought only cost $84, the potato salads were $1.49/lb. (and quite good from the local market), and the cabbage and carrots were also inexpensive. I had to use a jar and a half of mayo, bought a big 113oz. Heinz ketchup (for $4.50-ish?) to make the BBQ sauce, buns, plus a few miscellaneous things (apple cider vinegar, yellow mustard, brown sugar, powdered sugar, etc., some of it already on hand)...I would say I pulled it off spectacular on a budget. Granted it wiped me out but hey, I wasn't able to do much in years past, so it felt good, and my daughter kept urging all of her friends to have the pulled pork since I made it. :D I could have done without all the buns--many just piled the pork on the plates. But now I can make a bunch of croutons, so it's all good! Thanks again!

Glad I took today off--I mostly slept for about 11 hours!

I had a funeral wake for 86 ppl that ended up being 4 ppl to take the food home because the family getting into a fist-fight at graveside before the body was even cold---having to call the cops to a wedding reception because your daughter is a whore and your son is a worthless a**hole--and then you give them an open bar for 4 hours--all it takes is one word, and game on.
That almost sounds like my other half's ex-husband's side of the family, all of 'em hillbillies--always something small to trigger them off. At least they're too cheap to cater. :D But yeah, I could see something like that happening easily enough.

Back in the day, we used to give away excess banquet food to churches or the shelters--then the lawyers got involved--I give you the food, and then you store it improperly and someone gets sick, and my ass is looking like Chi-Chi's--out of business, so we had to quit that--just throw it away--it was paid for anyways--sad in my eyes.
I know, it's such a waste. I mentioned that in another thread. I know a couple of chefs locally who work at the banquet halls and they have said the same thing--so much wasted food, and it all has to be discarded thanks to local laws.

I will have some pulled pork for lunch but I can guarantee today that I'll be going out for dinner...or getting a pizza. :D
 
I will have some pulled pork for lunch but I can guarantee today that I'll be going out for dinner...or getting a pizza. :D

I don't know how many of my threads you have seen over the years, but I am a bit of an anomaly--PhD with 12 years in the chemical/pharmaceutical industry, then on to chef and now own my own construction company. I still go back and work holidays and large events for a local restaurant/banquet facility--I still love to cook, but there is no real money in the industry, unless you own the place--I burned out in corporate hell in the chemical/pharmaceutical industry--loved the science, but chased the money which landed me in board rooms full of lawyers and government regulators--the "no fun zone".

I always work Thanksgiving for the restaurant--and we feed 2000-2200 ppl in the course of 8 hours, but the prep takes 2-3 days, so my "traditional" Thanksgiving dinner is a frozen pizza in the oven--by the end of the day, the last thing I want to see is ham, turkey, stuffing or mashed potatoes and gravy--so a bottle of bourbon and DiGiorno is Thanksgiving dinner.

Glad everything went well for you and your daughter!!!
 
That is one thing that chefs I know have mentioned--"dinner" is a sack of White Castle burgers, Taco Bell, or a $5 Little Caesar's pizza picked up on the way home. And holidays...forget being at home. :D
 
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