Will this dog hunt?

butwhymalemodels · January 2012

I'm thinking of throwing a party for my wife. 50-60 people. Following recipes from the book, I'm tight on timing if (and that is a big if) I can fit all the meat on my large BGE. Want to have it all done by 6.30 PM. I've only used it three times so far, with one meat on at a time...

Pork Butt & Pork Picnic (7 to 10 hours) I figure start with these. Can let them sit in a cooler for up to 5 hours once done, right?

6 racks St. Louis spares - begin at 2.30 (4 hours)

2 turkey breasts - begin 3.30 (3 hours)

4 loaf pan chickens - begin 4.30 (2 hours - oven cook...gasp)

4 lamb shanks - begin 5.15 (1.25 hours)

Basically...the ribs, turkey and lamb needs to cook on the grill all at the same time. Doable? What setup?

Village Idiot · January 2012

I smell a disaster. Really.

I learned a long time ago to always cook a new recipe for just me and my wife before trying it out on guests. And you are planning on trying 5 new recipes out on 50-60 people?

There will be following posts giving you advice, and it will probably be good advice. But, if it were me, I'd have it catered.

IrishDevl · January 2012

OK, I would assume much longer for the butts (as you said you can always put them in a cooler - double wrapped heavy aluminum foil and towel for 4-5 hours). Also, not sure how long for St Louie spares but at 250 I would bet you would need 6 hours or so. I wouls assume with a 350 oven the chicks would work, not sure of othrs.

GreenhawK · January 2012

I wouldn't count on the ribs getting done in 4 or 5 hours. Mine take 6 or 7 usually.

IrishDevl · January 2012

Just read Village idiots post, and he is a genius - I agree probably a disaster in the making. But, because all eggers think they are superman (myself included), here is my way, start the pork butts between midnight and three am the night before - 250 degrees; add spare ribs at around noon that day 250 degrees; you can start the turkey at 2 o'clock or so and then put the lamb on (maybe 3 or so???). Not sure you can fit this all, but could be fun trying. And have the pizza delivery mans phone number handy :-))

troutgeek · January 2012

Wow! An XL would be nice... How big is the pork butt, and how are you arranging the ribs/turkey/lamb? Lamb is the strongest of the flavors, so I would think you'd want them on the bottom, then share the bottom and a second tier for the ribs. Turkey on the top. 3 hours for turkey breasts may be a bit much.

I would get the pork butt finished the day before. Pull it, and store it. Get the ribs done on the day -- they're going to take 6 hours. As soon as they come off, bump up the heat to 350. Get the turkey started. After an hour, put the lamb on the bottom rack, and move the turkey up a level. Cook for another hour (to temp) -- 135 for the lamb, 160 for the turkey.

Pork stores and reheats easily. Get it done and out of the way.

gerhardk · January 2012

I agree with the Village Idiot, be careful that you don't take on more than you can handle. Ribs and shoulder should work but then I would do burgers and some meat stuffed in casing along with the appropriate buns. I imagine that when you have 50+ guests you are not going to have a sit down dinner and that the eating will take place over a period of time so that should help. Depending on the composition of the crowd one thing that always amazes me is that burgers often have more fans than many fancy recipes with more expensive ingredients. Lasagna is always a good back up dish when you have a crowd as it is easy to hold at serving temp.

Gerhard

Mickey · January 2012

What Village Idiot said.

AD18 · January 2012

Way bigger project than I would tackle. I'd certainly have more than one cooker fired up and a couple of assistants to help keeping things under control. Trying to cook that many items, for that many people, with a specific end time would scare me off. For what you are trying to do party wise I'd look at cooking larger amounts of fewer items, with a flexable end time. Say pulled pork and ribs. That way you can enjoy the party and the cook at the same time.

JTugwell · January 2012

LOL, that's ambitious.......very ambitious. Good excuse for another egg though. That's the line I would use anyway. You would really need another cooker.

smokesniffer · January 2012

You are a brave man. I am new, so no disrespect intended at all, but why not do one type of meat, pork butt or burgers, something that is not going to take more time than you may think, if there is a blip on the radar.

You don't need the pressure of trying to perform for that amount of guests. You may not get the response you are looking for.

In the end it is your call, and I wish you well, what ever you decide.

Cooking on the egg is a blast.

smokesniffer · January 2012

Hey what did you end up doing? Let us know?

stevesails · January 2012

I would cook a bunch of pulled pork a week in advance. and brisket, put a bunch of wings on that are finishing up as people arrive, and maybe some moink balls right after that. then put on as many beer can chickens you can fit at 375 so they are done in about and hour,

serve it all then. also, Hire some teenagers to help you heat up food, serve, set up and keep the mess managed. .

Hillbilly-Hightech · January 2012

Yes, I think we're ALL curious as to how this turned out...

For the record, when I'm cooking for a large group, I just get several uncooked pizzas & do them one right after the other - it's quick, easy, cheap, and folks LOVE the wood-fired taste it gives to the pizzas.

Another thing I've done is spatchcocked chickens, as well as burgers.

All 3 of those foods are VERY dependable as far as being done on time goes (pizzas take about 15 minutes, chickens about an hour, and burgers about 4 minutes / side).

The other foods like ribs, butts, etc have more fluctuation as to when they are "done" so I'd steer away from foods like that if you're under a time constraint.

Just my $0.02,

HTH,
Rob

Hi54putty · January 2012

Sounds like a pizza (delivery) party.

Ironhead404 · January 2012

Hay Sounds Good And I Do Large Cooks With My Eggs And A few Things Pass My Mind. 1. Are The Butt And Pinic One Unit Or Half 2. You Will Need A 8-9 Hour Window To Make Sure After You Pull The Butt And Ribs The Chicken Turkey And Lamb Can All Get Done One Hour Before Service...Dont Worry About The Butt And Ribs In Foil They Will Keep Until Service In A Cooler Wraped In Foil With A Towel..

Start Butt 12:00Am

Start Ribs 5:00Am

Pull Butt & Ribs 10:30 Wrap Cooler

Reset Lump To Full

Start Turkey 11:00am

Pull Trukey About 170* Wrap 2:00pm Cooler

Start Loaf Chicken's 2:00pm

Pull Chicken's 4:00pm 170* Wrap Cooler

Start Shanks 4:00pm

Pull Shanks 5:30pm Wrap Cooler

Start Shower For Cook 5:35pm

Pull Cook 5:45pm

Sart Cook With Beer At 6:00pm

Chill Untill 6:30 Everthing Is Cooked And Hot, Slice To Order Cooler To Plate!

7:45 U Da Man ! And They All love You That 1 Hour Window Will Save You!!!

Dude You Can Nail This Just Get The Butt And Pinic Done....

butwhymalemodels · January 2012

Thanks, all. I haven't done it yet. Still in the planning stages. I think I'll just make sure the pork is done early and ready to rock. Guests can start eating whenever they want, and if they still want food when the other stuff is ready, they can eat it as it finishes cooking.

Ironhead - I like your confidence. That was the vote I needed. Food will really stay hot that long?

Hi54putty · January 2012

Good luck with the cook. I hope you will give a full report on your success.

butwhymalemodels · February 2012

My BBQ bible says brisket at 225 (8 to 10 hours) and pork shoulder at 250 (7 to 10 hours). If I cook two of each at the same time at 250, will the brisket cook much faster than the estimated time?

Also, the book calls for full brisket. All we have here is the flats. That probably cuts down time, too, eh?

I've cut back on the types of food for the big dance...2 shoulders, 2 briskets, 4 or 6 ribs and 4 turkey breasts. Simpler.

butwhymalemodels · February 2012

PS - the one shoulder I cooked (7.5lbs) was pulled off the grill after 12.5 hours since people were hungry. I did commit the ultimate BBQ sin, though...let the fire go out.

chill243 · February 2012

I know I'm going to get clobbered here, but I have an excellent recipe for pork butts in the oven that cooks all day ( the sauce is a must). I have cooked it for 40+ people and everyone raved about it. Then you could put all your energy into the other recipes and have no worries.

Ingredients:

Servings:

8 8

8-10

Servings Size

Update

Units: US | Metric

1 whole pork butt

Pork rub

¼ cup black pepper
¼ cup paprika
¼ cup turbinado
sugar
2 tablespoons salt
2 teaspoons
dry mustard
1 teaspoon
cayenne

Molasses Barbecue Sauce

3 cups
chicken stock
1 cup dry white wine
¼ cup apple cider
vinegar
¼ cup molasses
¼ cup chopped plum
tomato
3 tablespoons shallots , minced
2 tablespoons pitted dates , minced
1 tablespoon garlic , minced

Directions

For rub: mix all ingredients in a bowl.
For sauce: Combine in nonreactive saucepan, bring to boil and
simmer until it reduces to 1 1/2 cups.
For pork: Rub pork with rub.
Place in Plastic bag and refrigerate overnight.
Take out pork and re-rub.
Let sit at room temperature for 2 hours.
Roast on rack uncovered in oven at 250-275 degrees until falling
apart tender.
It will take 7-8 hours, the internal temperature of the pork when
done should be between 195 and 200 degrees.
Pull pork into pieces, toss with
sauce.

Please don't throw me out of the eggers (I'm only sayin, it's a thought) and trust me, this is as good as anything the egg could do w/o the worry.

IrishDevl · February 2012

What's an oven?

chill243 · February 2012

lol

stevesails · February 2012

just curious, does anyone know what ti would cost to run an oven at 275 for 10 hours?

Flamethrower · February 2012

The thing with an oven is it cycles through the temps,on,off,on,off.It costs more on the start up cycle.for me its $10.00 for along time.

R2Egg2Q · February 2012

I hate to say it but I'd seriously consider a new "BBQ Bible". The cook times you stated for brisket and shoulder seem pretty low to me particularly a full packer brisket in 8-10 hours cooking at 225??

Yes cooking just a flat will shorten your cook time.

Are you measuring temps at your cooking grate or relying just on your Egg dome temp?

paulheels · February 2012

A brisket will break your heart if you think you can just throw that on there and cook it the same amount of time each cook. I have had some get done an hr a lb, and then some less and some waaaaaaay more. I havent been cooking them as long as shoulders, but just long enough to know I have to stay crazy like a cat in the dark.

Paul

butwhymalemodels · February 2012

In response to two above - dome temp. Everything dome temp.

New question - rather than dropping 300 on accessories that may or may not help me accomplish this cook on time, I have the opportunity to buy a medium egg for $400. Will it cook two 7-8 pound shoulders side by side?

Doc_Eggerton · February 2012

Sounds like an outstanding reason to go buy an Extra Large.

butwhymalemodels · February 2012

Aye but the Large/Medium combo has just about as much cooking area as an XL, and give me the flixibility to cook at two different temps.

Doc_Eggerton · February 2012

Actually I was thinking of the Large / Extra Large combo. And you are correct about being able to cook at two temps. I do it almost every night; veggies on the XL and meat on the L.

Will this dog hunt?

Comments

Ingredients:

Servings Size

Pork rub

Molasses Barbecue Sauce

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