BBQ for 40...

Lucky Duck · September 2006

I'd be grateful for a little help... OK a lot of help! Our Bonsai Club does an annual BBQ.. Last year was Chicken, dogs and turkey sausage. I raised my hand and mentioned that we could do BBQ... The board was just tickled as they remember some of the half raw chicken from last year, though nothing was said. I've never done a big group.[p]Now... Here is where you all come in.[p]Brisket and pulled pork... Both. How much do I buy? I thought about a half pound per person because there are quite a few older folk attending. More? Would I only do flats of brisket? Boston butt vs. the whole shoulder? Cost is not an issue. Easy is!
Timing... I keep reading that every piece of meat is different and so too the amt. of time. What do I do to be super safe? Dinner must be ready on time... Remember I said there will be older folk and they go to bed early.[p]Anything I missed? Oh, I have an XL, large and a small. [p]Phil, D' I will be most grateful, Duck

AZRP · September 2006

Lucky Duck,
I would keep it simple and just get two cryovacs of butt at sams club. The four butts will fit in the large and it is a simple cook. -RP

Lucky Duck · September 2006

AZRP,
Fortunately, or unfortunately, they want both brisket and Pulled pork/ Boston butt? How much per person? Would you do a 60/40 something or other?[p]Phil, D'Duck

BillT · September 2006

Lucky Duck,[p]I have done hundreds of pounds of pulled pork, but never done a brisket. I will only pretend to know about pork.[p]I figure a 50% yield from boneless butt, a 45% yield from bone-in butt, and a 35% yield from bone-in picnic. These are a little conservative, but are always met. You can increase 5% and probably not be too far off. I figure that an average hamburger bun will hold about 4 ounces of pulled pork. Some will put on more and some less! I figure that an average person will eat about 1.5 sandwiches. Actually this seems a little more than is actually consumed but leaves room for leftovers and those that want to eat a little extra. You can do the math to figure out how much is necessary.[p]I have the same eggs you do, although I have never done pulled pork on the small. On the XL you can fit six 10 pound picnics or eight 7.5 pound butts at most. I can send pictures of both setups, but am not smart enough to post! I have done four 10 pound picnics or six 7.5 pound butts on the large. I find that my XL holds the low temps better and has no trouble with 24 hours of lump. If I were in your boots I would use the XL.[p]I find that pulling large quantities of pork is tiresome on my hands and so one time in a fit of laziness I used my KitchenAid mixer with dough hook and have never hand pulled pork again! Use low setting.[p]I have done a couple parties with 40+ this summer and found that doing the pork ahead of time and reheating the day of the party removed any anxieties. I reheated in the microwave and then put in crock pot or slow roaster. I have added a little apple cider to help maintain moisture; although the smart folks on the forum use Coke. [p]Kurt Oehlschlaeger cooked a brisket at the Eggs by the Bay in June that was out of this world (eggcellent). His recipe is on the eggsbythebay.com site and I would highly recommend his preparations. I wish I was more helpful with the beef. I probably would do the beef ahead of time and reheat as well. I also am getting very fond of my XL for longer cooks and so would probably do pork one day and beef the next. As I reread this response I see that I have exceeded my experience and am now speculating more than should be done. [p]I hope that some of my words help. [p]BillT

Lucky Duck · September 2006

BillT,
I was at the EGTB too, probably met you. I was the handsome one![p]Thank you for the info... There is a lot of Ducks to put in a row and you hit a spot or two that nobody else did. [p]And thanks to the rest of you eggers too![p]Phil, D' very grateful Duck

Why1504 · September 2006

Lucky Duck,[p]I would do 4 8 lb. bone in Boston Butts on the large or XL, and 2 small Briskets on the other(on seperate racks). Start the butts at 6 in the evening the day before and the briskets at about 5 in the morning before the cook. On the Large egg you will want to rotate the butts every 6 hours or so to bark up the outsides all over. As the meat gets done (they won't all be done at the same time so check temps in each piece of meat) take a cooler you preheat with hot water, line the cooler with towels out of the dryer, wrap the butts in foil and newspaper and store in cooler. Be sure to not leave any air space in the cooler. The butts and briskets will be done around noon on the day of the cook. Get help to slice the briskets and pull the pork (I will be trying the mixer idea to pull the pork the next time I cook butts). Pull and slice prior to serving, keeping the meats hot in the process. Wear gloves. You will have meat left over.[p]I have cooked, pulled, vacumn sealed, and frozen large quantites of meat before. I then took my turkey fryer and a pot and to the site reheated the meat in boiling water and served. The only difference was the bark was not as crunchy. If you do this put some coke/ apple juice / water in the bags the meat will maintain the moisture content. While boiling don't let the bags get next to the bottom or the bag will melt and water will enter the bag and dilute the flavor.

BBQ for 40...

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