Cooking Pork Shoulder for 150-200 people on Large BGE

mtnbikeninja · July 2012

Anyone out there ever cooked shoulder for this many people on their lrg bge? If so, how many shoulders, how many total pounds, and what was your strategy. I have been asked to cook for a reunion and I may have got myself in trouble.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Elde · July 2012

You have got yourself in trouble... even at a (minimal and ungenerous) allowance of 1/4lb (uncooked) per person, you're looking at 40 lbs of meat.

ncbbq · July 2012

Good luck with that. Maybe if you get a multi-level setup and do several butts or something. I will say I have cooked butts a couple of weeks in advance of feeding guests pulled it, sauced it and froze it. When the event comes around I heat it up in a crock pot and it is nearly as good as the day it came off the egg. But that would be a lot of freezer space and crock pots. I think there are some people on here with catering backgrounds that may be able to help you out with some better ideas.

If you pull this off, you definitely need to take some pictures and post an update for us.

Little Steven · July 2012

You have got yourself in trouble... even at a (minimal and ungenerous) allowance of 1/4lb (uncooked) per person, you're looking at 40 lbs of meat.

40 lbs of cooked meat, approx 70 lbs raw.

MrCookingNurse · July 2012

When is this going down?? Your gonna be doing some butts!!! That manny ppl is a catering service. Do you do events on the regular??

bigphil · July 2012

i've seen them standing up on end a large there pics here somewhere when they did it

The Cen-Tex Smoker · July 2012

I've done it for 75 off my large for my kids theatre production and I've done several catering jobs this size when I had my restaurant. . If you do not have an adjustable rig or some other multi grid setup, you are going to do this in 2-3 cooks. I did 3 butts and sides for 75 people and had plenty of leftovers, believe it or not. you will need to assume .25-.33lb per person assuming you have sides. Another way to keep consumption reasonable is to provide buns. People will pile it high on a plate and throw some out if they don't finish but buns are self-limiting with how much you can put on them. You are going to need 8 butts to be safe. You can do 4 at a time on a single grid large, but 3 is more reasonable. You need more space or 2 days to prep. As far as serving goes, that's a snap. Get some chafing dishes (either buy them at warehouse stores or restaurant supply) or you can rent them at any party/wedding rental shop. These will keep the pig moist and warm for hours and people can self serve out of them. You'll need 3 of them (4 to be safe and keep the lines moving). If you have warm sides, get more and use them for the sides as well

This can be done but it's a big nut.

BYS1981 · July 2012

Time to buy an XL lol

The Cen-Tex Smoker · July 2012

Time to buy an XL lol

or 2!

Elde · July 2012

You have got yourself in trouble... even at a (minimal and ungenerous) allowance of 1/4lb (uncooked) per person, you're looking at 40 lbs of meat.
40 lbs of cooked meat, approx 70 lbs raw.

Bah, you're right of course - shouldn't do math on half a cup of coffee.

troutgeek · July 2012

Time to buy a Food Saver. You can do this. I did 4 butts the end of May, for about 100 people. This was a graduation party, and people were rotating from party to party, so I don't really know how many actually ate, BUT... You're going to need some Nesco's or something to hold your food. Smoke up a few butts before hand -- you're looking at 8 to 10 8ish lb butts here -- the point is, you can easily vacuum seal these for later use, and boil them in bag the day of your party. Especially butts. If you smoke these during the prior week, you don't even need to freeze them. Just plop in the water and boil each bag for about 20 - 30 minutes. Get a big enough pot to boil about 4 bags or so at a time.

I'll let each butt rest a bit (they probably will not all finish at the same time), pull, and bag one butt in two bags.

for the vacuum seal process, I fill my sink with an ice slurry. As soon as the bag is sealed, I put the bag in the slurry to get the meat as cool as possible, as fast as possible. No need to get 150 - 200 guests sick, and that much hot meat in the fridge at once is not good for the fridge...

Duganboy · July 2012

As usual Cen Tex is right on the money. I did 6 butts for a family reunion. Two nights before I did three and the night before I did three.

Not saying this is "The" way to do it but it worked for me. The 3 butts that I did the first night, I put in the fridge without pulling. The day we were going to eat, I put the first 3 butts in a 250 degree oven for about an hour (I left them set out for about an hour before the oven). After pulling the butts I just took off the BGE, I pulled the butts from the oven.

You couldn't tell the batches apart.

troutgeek · July 2012

LOL -- I completely missed Cen Tex's reply -- read past it with my iPhone. What he said, but get a Food Saver...

nolaegghead · July 2012

Here's another option - Throw 3 or 4 on the egg, smoke for 3 hours, then move them to the oven and put 3 or 4 more on the egg. You can slow the butts in the oven (and/or speed up the cook on the butts on the egg by adjusting temp, foiling, etc) so they're all done at once. Even if there's a few hours difference, I've practically burnt my hand pulling a butt that's been resting for 4 hours in a foil/towel/cooler cocoon.

You pick up most of your smoke early on, so they'll all probably taste the same.

mtnbikeninja · July 2012

Thanks so much for the help guys. I may cook a total of 6 butts, 3 at a time and use the oven for load balancing. Good advice on the buns. Making sandwiches would spread out the pulled pork into smaller portions. They're planning to have all kinds of sides as well so I would think 6 butts around 8lbs each would work.

joe@bge · July 2012

Time to buy a Food Saver. You can do this. I did 4 butts the end of May, for about 100 people. This was a graduation party, and people were rotating from party to party, so I don't really know how many actually ate, BUT... You're going to need some Nesco's or something to hold your food. Smoke up a few butts before hand -- you're looking at 8 to 10 8ish lb butts here -- the point is, you can easily vacuum seal these for later use, and boil them in bag the day of your party. Especially butts. If you smoke these during the prior week, you don't even need to freeze them. Just plop in the water and boil each bag for about 20 - 30 minutes. Get a big enough pot to boil about 4 bags or so at a time.

I'll let each butt rest a bit (they probably will not all finish at the same time), pull, and bag one butt in two bags.

for the vacuum seal process, I fill my sink with an ice slurry. As soon as the bag is sealed, I put the bag in the slurry to get the meat as cool as possible, as fast as possible. No need to get 150 - 200 guests sick, and that much hot meat in the fridge at once is not good for the fridge...

Sounds like a good plan...If you have time - look into a multi-level setup for your large. Ceramic Grill Store or Ceramic Grill Works both offer multi-level offerings that would come in handy for this size cook.

Cooking Pork Shoulder for 150-200 people on Large BGE

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