Pulled Pork for 80

Unknown · August 2006

I am cooking pork shoulder for about 80 people in a few weeks. Is there any way to make this the weekend before and then reheat so I don't have to hastle with it the day of the party? Anyone have any success at this?

AZRP · August 2006

Bivers,
I vaccuum seal it right after pulling and freeze it. When ready to use I put the sealed bags in a pot of boiling water until reheated. It doesn't seem to loose any moisture or flavor this way. For 80 people though it would take a lot of bags. -RP

egginator · August 2006

Bivers,[p]You could do it on two eggs, 4 butts each egg. --Sounds like a good excuse to me to buy a second.[p]Ed

Why1504 · August 2006

AZRP,[p]I have done this. One word of advice, keep the bags small. It will reheat faster and there is less likelyhood of a bag becoming punctured or the plastic melting on the bottom of the hot water pan.

AZRP · August 2006

Why1504,
When I open the bag after boiling, I'm always amazed at the smokey aroma. Its more noticeable because you haven't been breathing smoke all day cooking it. -RP

JimboBQ · August 2006

<p />Bivers,
I've cooked 6 butts in the past two days. They are now vacuum packed and weigh a total of 22 pounds. I have 4 butts cooking now and 6 more in the fridge. I'm cooking for a fund raiser at our middle school. The kids are selling tickets for BBQ plates and in one day sold over 50 tickets.I know I'll cook at least 2 more butts tomorrow night,,,,just to be sure I have enough. I'm afraid those kids will sell 120 or more tickets and I want to be ready. I always vacuum pack with my FoodSaver. I shoot for 4 pound packages.I just drop them into boiling water and heat 'em up. What does not get eaten at the school Friday night will freeze nicely.[p]Good luck with your cook![p]Jimbo

Meinbmw · August 2006

JimboBQ,[p]How can we help with donations to the cause? Seems to me your efforts should be rewarded from this great group of forum participants.[p]$20.00 here for the taking - please tell me who and where to send it to. [p]OK ... this is a challenge for all you forum folks to match my pledge ... any takers?[p]Congrats and kudos on your participation in such a great event!![p]Curt Hills
Rochester Mn.

Why1504 · August 2006

AZRP,[p]It comes out of that bag like it just came off the egg. I also will toss a bit of kicked up water/apple juice.

BillT · August 2006

Bivers,[p]I would recommend that you cook the meat the weekend before and reheat it! I have done a couple 60# cooks in the last month and then reheated the meat for partys. I find that the KitchenAid mixer with the dough hook will pull meat much easier than by hand and while I am removing bone, remaining fat, and any less than perfect meat from a picnic or butt my wife takes the one I just finished and puts it in the mixer on the lowest speed. We package about 5 pounds of meat in a gallon ziplock bag if we are storing for a short period as foodsaver bags are more expensive. [p]If the party is Saturday, I would take the meat out of the freezer on Thursday after work and put it in a cooler with the top removed until I go to bed Thursday night. When I get home Friday I remove the lid again and about bedtime put the lid back on. If the meat is still fairly frozen I take the lid off Saturday morning or close lid if thawing is proceeding as desired. For each 5 pound bag I dump it into a large microwave bowl and heat on half strength for about 10 minutes and then higher for anoher 5 to get it up to about eating temp. I then put the meat in a roasting pan or large crockpot. If the meat has dried any I use apple juice (the smart folks use Coke!) rembering that a little goes a long ways and it is easier to add more than to get a straw![p]I find that bone-in butts yield about 45% meat and that picnics yield about 35%. My experience is that 4 ounces of meat makes a good sandwich for typical eaters and that the average adult will eat about 1.5 sandwiches. This means that 30# of picnic will yield about 10# of meat or about 40 sandwiches that feed 25 people. You can do the math to figure out what you need.[p]Let me know if you have other questions.[p]BillT

JimboBQ · August 2006

meinbmw,
Thanks for the generous offer, but let's see what the kids can do. We live on the outskirts of our school district and the majority of the kids in our middle school come from low income families. Over 75% of the students are on the assisted lunch program. They are planning an ambitious trip to NY in the spring to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, for the Art Visions Class. My daughter happens to be in that class. The principal of the school and I have a rivalry going on that dates back to when I first got an egg. He thinks his BBQ is great. He cooks on a home made offset smoker and can load up 10 to 12 butts at a time. I can only get 4 butts on my large at one time. You know,,,,the classic rivalry between those big honkin' smokers and egg cookers. Each time we cook, we have to share and now we have drawn the teachers into our little rivalry. All of the teachers there give my BBQ a big thumbs up! Chuck dreams of the day he can produce pulled pork the way we can on our eggs! Dream on, Chucky!!![p]Jimbo

Pulled Pork for 80

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