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Cooking for a crowd...couple questions

War_Eagle_2244
War_Eagle_2244 Posts: 122
edited October 2012 in EggHead Forum

I made a post a couple weeks ago about cooking for my nephew’s birthday party next weekend & I have a couple more questions.  I’m planning on about 40 adults…that is on the high end. 

I have a Large & bought the BGE tiered racks this weekend.  I’m planning on doing five butts…maybe six if I can make them fit.  I will be using Wicked Good Weekend Warrior with the DigiQ set to 275.  I usually do overnight cooks & just forget about it.  My question is, will having that much meat on the Egg cause the cook time to be much longer or will it burn up the charcoal faster?  If I fill the Egg to the top of the fire ring with fresh coal, should I make it through the cook without having to reload?

Also, I did a practice run this weekend…pics posted in another thread :-) .   Pre-cook, the butt weighed 7.5 pounds.  I weighed the meat once I pulled it and it only yielded 2 lbs. 13 oz.  That’s about a 63% loss of weight.  It turned out really well but I accidentally let the internal temp get all the way up to 216.  It was very moist but could the higher internal temp cause excess shrinkage?  I plan on pulling the ones for the party at an internal temp of 200.

Thanks in advance for the help.  Always get great advice from this board!!!   

Comments

  • r270ba
    r270ba Posts: 763
    War_Eagle...even though I am a Clemson Tiger I will try and assit :)...

    Take a look at this thread.  I just hosted 36 this weekend and did 25 lbs of boneless shoulder.  4 x 6.5 pounders.  Don't worry about the total amount you are cooking...only the biggest individual butt you are cooking.  How many lbs are you planning to cook?  My cook started at 5:30pm and the butts were at 200 by 3:30 am (woops).  I got up and let them cool, picked them, and had to put them in the fridge and just heat for the party.  This worked out extremely well actually but I guess I would have preferred to pull the butts on an hour or so before the guests arrived.  I did foil my butts and finish them in the oven so I could get a little sleep.  

    So my 6.5 lbs butts x 4 butts took just at 10 hours to finish and they were excellent and moist.  I cooked at a grid temp of around 250-260 because I was a little worried about my time...guess I should not have been.  I am going to try it again and cook around the 225 mark but I still don't think that would have addd a ton of time.  My cook took just over 1.5 hours per pound.  

    I hope the thread helps and good luck with the cook.  Be sure to take some pictures and post when you finish!

    Ron
    Anderson, SC
    XL BGE, Father's Day Gift 2012 (Thanks Fam!!!)
    Webber Kettle and Webber Summit Gasser
    Want List: Thermapen, Small BGE, Wok, Adjustable Rig, Food Saver, More $

  • Thanks r270ba.  I will probably try to get butts that are about 7 lbs or so each.  Obviously want to get them all as close to the same size as possible so they will cook evenly. 
  • Tjcoley
    Tjcoley Posts: 3,551
    Even if they are the same size, they may not all finish at the same time.  Every hunk of meat is different.  Make sure you check temp of each one.  Some may finish an hour or two before others, or they can all finish at the same time.  The beauty of an inexact science of cooking.  Plan to finish a few hours early.  You can wrap in foil, stick in a cooler and use towels to take up any empty space (FTC)  For that many butts packed into a cooler, they will last hours and stay hot.  I've FTC'd butts for 4 hours and a brisket once for 6 hours, and have seen many on here go even longer.  
    __________________________________________
    It's not a science, it's an art. And it's flawed.
    - Camp Hill, PA
  • r270ba
    r270ba Posts: 763
    I 100% agree with TJ...of my 4 butts I had 3 that all cooked about the same and then 1 that was a bit dry and overcooked.  All the same size.  Luckily, blended in with the other 3 butts pulled, you could not tell the difference.

    Good luck and post some pics when you are finished.
    Anderson, SC
    XL BGE, Father's Day Gift 2012 (Thanks Fam!!!)
    Webber Kettle and Webber Summit Gasser
    Want List: Thermapen, Small BGE, Wok, Adjustable Rig, Food Saver, More $

  • r270ba
    r270ba Posts: 763
    @war_eagle_2244 how did the cook go?  Any pics?
    Anderson, SC
    XL BGE, Father's Day Gift 2012 (Thanks Fam!!!)
    Webber Kettle and Webber Summit Gasser
    Want List: Thermapen, Small BGE, Wok, Adjustable Rig, Food Saver, More $