Help with pulled pig party

deserttoad · Jun 10, 2010

Greetings all.

I have dialup at the moment, so I didn't do well searching the forums. Just a couple of quick questions.

I'm having about 30 adults plus kids this weekend for a reunion. I want to serve pulled pork sandwiches. I prefer the picnic, so I was going to pick up a couple. How much would be a good amout?

And number 2, Plan on serving around 1 or 2 in the afternoon saturday. Was thinking of throwing it in my wsm friday around noon, figuring 18 hours, then pulling, adding sauce, and putting it an electric oven to serve. Sound good?

thanks!

mballi3011 · Jun 10, 2010

First off you have 30 grown ups and kids too so maybe 40 big people. I would say 1/4 to a 1/3 of a pound per. I would do maybe 2-3 shoulders you will have plenty for all the folks coming to your gathering. As far as starting about noon the day before you can and then try to keep it hot without drying out is the big thing to me. I would start them about midnight and let them go till there done and with cooloer time and alittle extra time for saucing and setting up. You shuld be just fine and ready to go. Qview is a good thing too.

pineywoods · Jun 10, 2010

Personally I have never used a picnic cut for pulled pork so I don't know what they yield in raw vs cooked weight. Hopefully somebody that uses that cut will chime in

states4 · Jun 10, 2010

I would buy 5 or 6 just because it is great to have left overs. Your freeze what you dont eat. With the pig my hubby smoked there were about 40 people and that ate it all.

sqwib · Jun 10, 2010

Deserttoad said:
Greetings all.

I have dialup at the moment, so I didn't do well searching the forums. Just a couple of quick questions.

I'm having about 30 adults plus kids this weekend for a reunion. I want to serve pulled pork sandwiches. I prefer the picnic, so I was going to pick up a couple. How much would be a good amout?

And number 2, Plan on serving around 1 or 2 in the afternoon saturday. Was thinking of throwing it in my wsm friday around noon, figuring 18 hours, then pulling, adding sauce, and putting it an electric oven to serve. Sound good?

thanks!

What I would do is since there is a time that needs to be met is purchase a few picnics and butts, boneless (this will save in the cooking time).

Choose a few that are smaller, these will cook quicker, check temps frequently, you can pull the smaller ones sooner as they may reach 200-205 degrees quicker than the larger cuts.

Try to have these pulled and in a heated serving dish prior to your guests arriving.

deserttoad · Jun 10, 2010

So you people smoke whole shoulders or just butts? Maybe I'm getting what I've done in the smoker confused with what I cook in a dutch oven. The last one I did was 12 hours in the smoker then finished in the oven for another 4, was bone in. It was done in the morning, pulled, then reheated without a problem.

I shall buy whatever I can find at the store and post it here. Maybe ya'll can help me guess on a time for it. I like to keep the WSM around 135, just an easy temp to maintain. If I buy a few bonless butts and picnics, what would a guess on time be then?

Thanks for all the tips!

ralphbrown05 · Jun 10, 2010

idk man i smoked 23 pounds last month for a friends grad party...and there was like 40 ppl at the party and there was probly about 5 sandwiches worth left in the pan...have others bring side items....OOOOOOO dutches baked beans in the crock pot for 8 hours...well ill keep it family safe on here...

deserttoad · Jun 11, 2010

Dutch's bean kick butt! I love them!!!

I found four butts average about 6.5 pounds. Gonna shoot for a grill temp of 135ish, figure about 12 hours. So maybe throw them on around 10 tomorrow night, foil and towel in a cooler for an hour or two. Then pull and sauce. Throw on a homemade bun with homemade slaw and homemade sauce. Mmmmmm!!!!

Sounds too simple, what am I missing?

ralphbrown05 · Jun 11, 2010

grill temp of 135?.....i hope you mean 235?

walle · Jun 11, 2010

ralphbrown05 said:
grill temp of 135?.....i hope you mean 235?

Toad - I agree with Ralph - if you go 225 - 250, your 10 to 12 hour range will be fine. In the past, I've had good luck with smoking them for about 7 hours, then panning and foiling them for the rest of the smoke. This will retain the juice which can be kept and added back to the pulled pork when re-heating so that it won't dry out.

I don't sauce mine - I let folks add what they want to their sammie.

On the portion size.... when it's family and you're not controlling the serving, they tend to get their heads in the trough.. that and the fact that it will be so damn good, they'll come back for a second one! So... it's hard to tell how much you need, but the four butts will be a plenty.

Because of the length of the smoke for a shoulder (butt), I tend to do more then freeze for later.

sounds like a great party! keep us all updated.

hdsmoke · Jun 11, 2010

Yeah, as rough estimates...i start at figuring 1/2lb serving per person, and 1.5 hours a pound cook time.

eman · Jun 11, 2010

I wouldn't feel safe in feeding my smokes to others or myself if it was smoked at 135 degrees.

I smoked 2 along w/ a bunch of other stuff last weekend . ran the smoker up to 260 before loading the meat. after it recovered temps i smoked at 210 - 220. 6 hrs ribs were done and 12 hrs butts and brisket was ready for the ice chest.

allways smoke more than you think you will need . the leftovers are better after freezing anyway.

states4 · Jun 11, 2010

Left over pulled pork taste soooo good.

deserttoad · Jun 11, 2010

Uh, yeah. 235. opps. hee hee

I've done pulled pork three times, and each time it has been amazing. But I've never had a time schedule before. If it is foiled, toweled, and put in an ice chest it will stay for a couple hours before I pull it right?

And I like the idea of sauce on the side for a big party. Gonna make that this morning, mix up the slaw this evening, have the smoker ready to light. Pull the pig around 190-200 internal?

Feeling good gang!

squirrel · Jun 11, 2010

Good luck! I can't wait to hear how this turned out! Post Q-view please!

lucky13 · Jun 11, 2010

Since we are on the subject of pulled pork... kind of new to the game, have done some loins etc. for just me and my family. New Baby's Baptism on Sunday. Was planning on smoking a bone-in butt, 9.5lbs. for the extended family (15 or so), have it done by tomorrow night, pull it, put in roaster in fridge overnight and plug it in Sunday morning. Momma needs help getting stuff ready before church Sunday morning so didn't figure she would want me out tending to the meat. Any opinions on my thought process? will it dry out too much if I try to do it this way???

scarbelly · Jun 11, 2010

If there is any chance you can put it into sealable plastic bags (even 2 if they are ziplock vs actual sealing ones) then reheat it in hot - NOT BOILING water you will not recook the meat and will not dry it out - I am reheating 22# of it at a park tomorrow with a single burner stove and a large 40Qt pan of water. When I sealed them I added some apple juice with some Cptn Morgan and some of the rub so they will retain moisture for sure. The other advantage is if something goes longer than expected they keep well in the hot water while waiting for serving time

deserttoad · Jun 14, 2010

Here is the update:

Meat on at 9:30pm, smoker temp 230-235 the entire cooking time.

At 2:30am, internal temp was 148, rotated meat, added charcoal, added wood, filled the water pan.

At 8:00am, internal temp was 165, double wrapped in foil, put in the oven at 225.

At 10:00am, internal temp was 183.

At 11:00am, interntal temp was 200. Removed from oven and rested in an electric oven that wasn't plugged in.

Pulled at 2:30, was still steaming hot. Bone fell right out, meat was super tender and moist. Finished with a vinegar sauce and slaw. Best pulled pork ever!

In the heat of battle, these are the only pics I got.....

sqwib · Jun 16, 2010

Wow nice Bark

Help with pulled pig party

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