Cooking for 50+. HELP !

bbullett

I am hosting a college graduation party for my sister-in-law next weekend. She is inviting 100, and hoping for 50-70 to show up. In my infinite wisdom, shortly after getting the egg I gave away my other grills so I may be a little challenged with a group this size. My thoughts are to put on 3 pork butts for 10-12 hrs, with a backup of burgers and dogs. I remember seeing pix of someone's setup for the load of butts, but would like to see that again. [p]I appreciate all the help you folks pass along. I read this forum religiously everyday, and marvel at how often someone asks just the question I was thinking so I rarely post. I look forward to hearing from you.

Wise One

bbullett, for 100 (I know she thinks 50-70 will show but you need to plan for 100) you will need at least 40 LBs of Butt. You can probably get close to 50 pounds on with a grill extender (second grill). Try to get 10 pound butts and put three on the bottom and two on the top (hope you have a large). You will have a hard time closing it so watch out for your dome theromometer. If you impale the meat with it you'll get some strange readings. They should take somewhere in the 16-20 hour range to cook. Give your self plenty of time. If they're ready early you can always leave them wrapped in foil for a couple of hours. If they're not ready in time, you might have an angry mob of 50-70 folks. Once you pull the butts (preferably early enough in the day to give you time to pull it) you can clean out the dead lump and refill for your burgers and dogs. However, if you have pulled pork I'm not sure how many burgers and dogs will be eaten.

BlueSmoke

bbullett,
My ruleof thumb is that you'll loose roughly half the weight between cooking and trimming. Further, you'll want to serve 1/4 to 1/3 of a pound of meat per person.[p]Working backward, you'll serve 13 to 17 pounds of meat, which means 25 to 35 pounds uncooked.[p]When I've done this, I've put the butts in "any old which way" I could fit them in. After 2 hours there was enough shrinkage to allow them to be rearranged fat-side up.[p]I recommend doing the butts the day before so you can pull the pork and put it in pans to reheat the day of the festivities. And you'll have freed up the Egg for those burgers and franks. (Or a full load of wings!)[p]HTH,
Ken

BBQfan1

bbullett,
My suggestion, if you have the time, would be to do the meat ahead of time. I've done 2 18-lb whole shoulders at the same time with nothing but a single V-rack positioned over some firebricks; nothing elaborate at all (but it was a verrrry tight fit!). You'd be looking to cook maybe 38-40 lbs raw weight to get what you require. Even if you had 60-70 people, 22-24 lbs of finished meat would cover it, so maybe 5 X 8lb butt roasts, which you could probably do in a large (you do have a large, I hope!).
You'd need to do maybe two over a drip pan on the main grill and then an extended grill above with the other 3 clustered above the ones below. Photos of similar setups are out there and I imagine someone with photo capabilites will offer them....
My main suggestion here is to say: do this in advance, if possible. If it is a 'festive' atmosphere and you are also going to take part, try to do the meat up in advance if at all possible.. That's a big burden to try and do that much cooking and also have fun and be a 'host', fetching drinks, getting ice etc... If you do cook in advance, try putting a little seasoning in with the pulled meat, lightly sauce if desired, then refrigerate meat in convenient aluminum trays, being careful not to overload fridge/trays so that meat can get to safe temp in sufficient timeframe. Reheat in the oven with some apple juice or canned/boxed broth added to help 'steam' the meat back to serving temp. At serve time, set out the trays with some tongs for dishing it up and some additional sauce on the side in squirt bottles for those who wish more.... If you've done the meat in advance, you can even pinch a lb or two of the pork to make some smokey homemade baked beans as well..
This also leaves the Egg free to do up some appetizers that are quicker and less stressful to prepare, such as sausages, which you can cut into chunks and serve hors d'oeuvre style with toothpicks, wings, stuffed mushrooms etc etc....
Make it an occasion that allows you to show off your bbq prowess AND have a good time as well....
Qfan

BBQBluesStringer

Wise One,[p]These are COLLEGE kids... aka BOTTOMLESS PITS!!![p]BBS

bbullett

Wise One,
This plan sounds good. I'd like to cook ahead, but I can't get off work on Friday so it will probably be up EARLY on Saturday to get rolling. I've never cooked ahead (to any large quantity) so I'm not too familiar with it. If I did go that route, would I pull the meat ahead also ? Or wait until I was ready to serve to pull the meat ?

Zip

BlueSmoke,[p]
I agree or at least start the cook far enough ahead so you could pull the butts off and wrap a couple hours before you need to serve. They can be stored in a preheated cooler for a couple hours safely. They you can have the grill for other goodies.[p]Goodl Luck!
AShley

Wise One

bbullett, if the party is Saturday evening, youneed to get that meat on Friday night. Put in PLENTY of lump (within an inch or so of the grill is ok - only to the top o fthe firering will not cut it) and once you got the temperature stable in the 240-260 range for a couple of hours, you can go to bed. (Of course you will wake up early cause you're nervous.) Figure two hours per pound and even if it finishes real early (like 6AM when I was shooting for 11AM) you can wrap it in foil and put it in a cooler (actually it's a warmer now) wrapped in towels. It will stay hot for at least three to four hours. I have found it takes at least 15 minutes per butt to pull it right so don't try to cut it too close. You can always reheat the meat or keep it heated in a 200 degree. Then you need some time to set back up to cook those burgers and dogs. Good luck, let us know how it turns out.

Mike in MN

bbullett,
You can cook it a couple days ahead of time..."Leftovers" (all 40 pounds worth) will be good for days. I'd pull it as soon as it cools enough to work with. It's easier that way. Cool and refrigerate. [p]When I reheat mine, I use either some broth or apple juice and water in the bottom of a pan to reheat.[p]I've taken the leftovers from pulling....bones, fat, bark and trimmings and added water/apple juice/a little vinegar to a pan and cooked this down with seasonings to make a nice pork (au)juice. Save this and add back to the pan when you reheat at party time. More work, but the results will make you smile. [p]The bottom of the pan makes a nice "sop sammich." take that bun and wipe the bottom of the pan clean, pile on the meat.....My mouth is watering.[p]Mike in MN