Easiest Way To Feed 30ish LBGE

oldgeezeystax

Having a party with 30ish people in two weeks, call it 20 men & 10 women (poor ratio I know but I'm married so what do I care...). I want to cook for everyone with the egg and I'm looking for the easiest option. I have a platesetter, a woo, and I'm looking to make a diy grid extender with as hardware or fire bricks. 

I was thinking (3) 7 to 8# pork butts and maybe wings while the butts rest?

Thanks in advance for any input! This is a grate (see what I did there?) forum!

Wolfpack

I would throw on some ABT s while the wings are cooking- take about the same amount of time and they are always a hit. 

grege345

No need for sausage then...

grege345

Pull one for sandwiches. Pull one for pork sofrito burritos ( super ez). It's like you said you'll have lots of time to do other things while the pork is FTC. Just don't go overboard on the pork if your going to cook a ton of stuff while its resting. Abt's are great. Bacon prepped tots. Cauliflower tots. Maybe some shrimp kabobs. You could do a few flat breads for apps. Lots of options. Gonna be fun

theyolksonyou

grege345 said:

No need for sausage then...

Dammit, I'm 3 hours late!

oldgeezeystax

Ok so it's looking more like 40 people now  .

I'm thinking 3 butts, 4 spatchcocked chickens (separated into halves) while the pork rests, coleslaw and potato salad.  Guests are bringing other sides.  

From the website, it looks like my local HD has the SS hardware needed to make a second tier grid so I'll work on that this weekend.

Does this seem manageable?  Do I need more food for 40ish?

Eggcelsior

That sounds good but you may want more appetizers. Pig shots would be a huge hit and are easy to do, just time consuming.

Are guests bringing apps?

oldgeezeystax

I haven't instructed guests what to bring quite yet but I"m sure they would bring apps if requested.  

SmokeyPitt

I think you will have more than enough food.  Assuming 40% loss while cooking, and 1/3 lb serving size, you only need about 22 lbs raw weight.  3 butts around 8 lbs each and you should be good to go.  

Personally I would stick with something like wings for an app instead of spatch simply because they are ready to serve when you take them off and you don't have to worry about carving.

oldgeezeystax

Thanks.  I guess I was thinking about the chicken being supplementary food for folks that didn't want pork.  I haven't done wings on the egg yet, so this may be a great reason to break the seal (and I love wings).

I'm considering ABTs or Pig Shots as suggested but I've already got a lot of prep work and this will be my largest cook to date.

pgprescott

oldgeezeystax said:

Thanks.  I guess I was thinking about the chicken being supplementary food for folks that didn't want pork.  I haven't done wings on the egg yet, so this may be a great reason to break the seal (and I love wings).

I'm considering ABTs or Pig Shots as suggested but I've already got a lot of prep work and this will be my largest cook to date.

It all sounds like a good time. Keep it simple so you can enjoy your guests. I would not do too many heavy appetizers. I would go with a cheese tray and some veggies myself. Problem with the wings an ABTS is they are so good they will eat too many and fill up. If they wont eat the pork, I would un-friend them. JK

robnybbq

When we had a party a few years back we cooked 4 x 8 lb boneless pork butts overnight,  then when guests arrived we did - green lightning shrimp, pig shots, abt's  plus wife made a bunch of dips.

We are planning on a few parties this year and one next month but I will use the egg overnight anymore so I dont know how we are going to accomplish feeding 40+ people.  Looks like possibly hiring a catering company.

oldgeezeystax

I hear ya on the overnight, I'm going to try turbo to avoid that.  

Assuming 8# butts, if I cook indirect at 300, I should be safe to start maybe 9.5 hours before eating time, factoring in an hour the meat to rest?

pgprescott

robnybbq said:

When we had a party a few years back we cooked 4 x 8 lb boneless pork butts overnight,  then when guests arrived we did - green lightning shrimp, pig shots, abt's  plus wife made a bunch of dips.

We are planning on a few parties this year and one next month but I will use the egg overnight anymore so I dont know how we are going to accomplish feeding 40+ people.  Looks like possibly hiring a catering company.

Cook the pork ahead. It heats up real nice. just get a few crock pots or a big electric roaster. Add some chicken or veggie stock to counter the moisture loss during the reheat. Easy-peasy.

oldgeezeystax

And what to do for the one vegetarian?  I'm thinking a personal pan pizza... 

johnkitchens

oldgeezeystax said:

Ok so it's looking more like 40 people now  .

I hope is 10 additional women coming and not 10 more men. 

oldgeezeystax said:

And what to do for the one vegetarian?  I'm thinking a personal pan pizza... 

I am thinking more along the lines of "don't come", but that is just me. 

SmokeyPitt

johnkitchens said:

oldgeezeystax said:

Ok so it's looking more like 40 people now  .

I hope is 10 additional women coming and not 10 more men. 

oldgeezeystax said:

And what to do for the one vegetarian?  I'm thinking a personal pan pizza... 

I am thinking more along the lines of "don't come", but that is just me. 

Cole slaw and potato salad...I'm counting 2 vegetables

johnkitchens

oldgeezeystax said:

And what to do for the one vegetarian?  I'm thinking a personal pan pizza... 

This might work for them, 

Legume

why no more overnights with the egg?

other than pulled pork, best way I've found to feed a crowd is with an abundance of assorted sausages - provide a bunch of rolls, chili, other things that they can incorporate with the sausage.  you can cook batches quickly when you need to, you can keep them warm in a crock pot or warmer (or in a pan on a gasser) and you can have pork and cow for the smart people, chicken and even veg for the rest of them.  I did see a fish sausage once, just seemed really weird to me though.

oldgeezeystax

@johnkitchens - the ratio may be improving slightly but it probably won't even out, blame my female fearing friends.  I'm married so I can care less about the ratio but I do feel bad for the fellas sometimes...

johnkitchens

"female fearing friends". That is funny! Is the party this weekend? 

oldgeezeystax

Next weekend good sir.  I will tally the final counts this weekend and do my shopping.  I also need to carve out some time to build my DIY grid extender.

johnkitchens

It sounds like it is going to be a good time. Is it an occasion like a birthday party or do you just like to have a lot of people over? 

oldgeezeystax

Pretty much everyone I know was born in March (wife, her mom, my mom, her sister, 3 of my close friends (turning 30), probably some others...) so this year we purposed a joint party.  We are planning for family to come early / leave early and for friends to come late / stay late / crash.  The friends are a hard partying bunch, the family - not so much, this could go horribly wrong but I figure what the hell?

Frankly I think it's selfish that all of those people mentioned above observe their birthday's in March knowing how it jams everyone up 

johnkitchens

We also have a lot of family birthday's in March. I think this is the perfect excuse for you to buy another Egg. I added my second large because of hosting family gatherings. I needed more cooking space. 

Post pics of your cook. We would love to see it. 

robnybbq

Legume said:

why no more overnights with the egg?

other than pulled pork, best way I've found to feed a crowd is with an abundance of assorted sausages - provide a bunch of rolls, chili, other things that they can incorporate with the sausage.  you can cook batches quickly when you need to, you can keep them warm in a crock pot or warmer (or in a pan on a gasser) and you can have pork and cow for the smart people, chicken and even veg for the rest of them.  I did see a fish sausage once, just seemed really weird to me though.

After seeing all the fires with BBQ's in general on wooden decks no more unattended cooks.   Even a turbo for 6+ hours scares me now.  

nolaegghead

My friend in Kansas City lost his house.  Wife used a hair dryer, turned it off.  While off, but still plugged in, it caught fire shortly after they left the house. 

johnkitchens

nolaegghead said:

My friend in Kansas City lost his house.  Wife used a hair dryer, turned it off.  While off, but still plugged in, it caught fire shortly after they left the house. 

About 9 out of 10 times as we are pulling out the driveway my wife will second guess herself concerning if everything in her bathroom was unplugged. Every time she will go back and check. I don't complain about it either. 

texaswig

Abt's or pig shots for 40 sounds like too much work for me. I would cook up few different kinds of sausage and cut them up in small pieces. Or maybe make a hot smokey cheese dip. 

MediumRarely

Recipe for a great dinner party - preparation.  Get all serious cooking done the day(s) before.  Brisket & Butt finishing up NLT the morning of the event.  Marinade and prep all app's the day before (abt's, wings, etc.) then cook just before/as the crowd arrives.  Dips two days before, etc.  Try to do desserts that get better with age or are simple (ice cream, crumbles, fruits w/honey). 

Work hard before - then relax and enjoy the festivities.

robnybbq

Questions on pre-cooking the food before a party.

If I were to turbo cook some pork butts the day before a party  how would you handle the cook?  Pull them when done or will they pull when cold and in the fridge overnight?  Will reheating with stock really make them taste like they came off the smoker?

Same for brisket (except for pulling)?

How do you reheat chicken so its ready to go for a large party?

And cooking allot of sausage or burgers the day off the party?  How do you deal with cooking on a LBGE only?  Won't there be allot of flare ups form the grease dripping on the fire making the food taste bad?

I like the idea of precooking so I can enjoy the party when guests arrive instead of slaving over the cooking and not talking to the guests.