Looking for some help!!!

[okeelocal]

Hello. i was hoping to get some info cooking some butts.i recently got voluntered by my boss to cook for a group of people that is doing some volunteir work on saturday. probably about 200 people its going to be pulled pork sandwiches nothing fancy just a scoop of meat on a bun. i was thinking maybe 12 or 13, 8 to 10LB butts. Does this sound right?

also i have to work all day friday so time is important, im to old these days to sit up with cooker all night for 12 to 15 hrs and spend the day at this event the next day. i was thinking if i jacked the heat up to about 325 to 350 they would be done in 7 or 8 hrs. then i could pull the meat of the bone chop it up with a cleaver put it in pans and have it ready. i know its not the proper way but this is no contest and where are just feeding some hungry workers. will this time and temp work? and will 12 or 13 butts be enough. thanks in advance for any info and suggestions.

 

[dirtsailor2003]

I like to use a 1/3# per person when serving with side dishes. Remember that you are going to loose anywhere from 30-40% of your raw weight to your finished product. I always cook my butts the day before or a few days before. That way I'm never rushed. I also feel this gives the flavors a few days to marry. Then just re-heat and serve.

 

[okeelocal]

Thanks I never thought of reheat and serve what would be the best way to reheat on location just a field with no electric, maybe just put the alluminam foil pans in the cooker and bring it up to a good heat?

 

[ats32]

That sounds about right. Give yourself 30 min to 1 hour for the reheat.

 

[s2k9k]

200 people X 1/3lb per person = 66lbs of finished pork. At about 60% yield you will need a little over 100lbs of raw pork to start. It's always best to have some left over than to run out.

I see this is your first post here so when you get a minute would you do us a favor and swing by "Roll Call" and introduce yourself so we can give you a proper SMF Welcome, Thanks!

 

[geerock]

Okee
What other food is going to be there?

 

[okeelocal]

geerock just pp sandwiches chips maybe some sausage drinks and some desserts like i said nothing fancy im having to do all this by myself cook,serve, transport the food to location i wish i had the time to really do it right for these great volunteers but im doing what i can to pull my weight i think im going to go with 15 butts and let-r- rip. thanks for all the help from everyone i found this site just searching around and i think its a great site. ill take some pics of the meat on the cooker and try to figure out how to post them. thanks to all and god-bless!!!

 

[rhinoguy]

I was in a similar situation not to long ago.  The pre-cooked pork tasted the same as the fresh pork.  I would suggest smoking, tearing into chunks, sealing in a zip lock, and freezing the meat a couple of weeks before the party.  A couple of days before the party take the pork out of the freezer and let it thaw in the fridge.  The morning of the party toss the ziplocks into simmering water to reheat.  Once reheated, remove pork from ziplocks and shred in foil pans with lids.  It took the wife and I around 1.5 hrs to reheat our pork, shred it, and pan it with lids. 

Good luck!  Below is a thread I started asking the same questions.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/136712/pulled-pork-for-200

 

[seenred]

Sounds like your all set!  Good luck, okee, and be sure to let us know how it goes.

Red

 

[okeelocal]

O LORD!!! just talked to the boss and he said he cant get the the meat to me until around 2:00 on friday and they want to eat saturday at 12:00 and by the way im a amature when it comes to cooking large amounts at one time. so there will be no cooking and reheating this time. to make this worse this is the first time i will be using this cooker. sure sounds like a mess dont it? but im going to give it my best try. i wish i had a picture of the smoker so i could get some better suggestions from yall.its a big bumper pull grill with a fire box on the side it has 2 big racks that pull out, one on top and one on the bottom. it will easily hold all the meat i need to cook. the boss said it will get as hot as you want it to and he is bringing lots of oak. my question is if i get the meat on by 3:00 and babysit it all night will they be done in time? and with the time i got, what temp should i hold the cooker at. i hate say it but im starting to panic. not so worried anymore about this being the best meal anyone has ever eaten just wont to be there on time with meat that is done!!

  SUGGESTOINS PLEASE!!

 

[dirtsailor2003]

Given your time crunch, run the smoker at 265* if you can. You will probably want to foil wrap them all when you hit 150* to help get them through the stall. It'll be a long night but the reward will be great! If you can get yourself some pulling claws. I know Lowes had them. They'll save you when you go to pull all that meat. 

 

[rhinoguy]

O LORD!!! just talked to the boss and he said he cant get the the meat to me until around 2:00 on friday and they want to eat saturday at 12:00 and by the way im a amature when it comes to cooking large amounts at one time. so there will be no cooking and reheating this time. to make this worse this is the first time i will be using this cooker. sure sounds like a mess dont it? but im going to give it my best try. i wish i had a picture of the smoker so i could get some better suggestions from yall.its a big bumper pull grill with a fire box on the side it has 2 big racks that pull out, one on top and one on the bottom. it will easily hold all the meat i need to cook. the boss said it will get as hot as you want it to and he is bringing lots of oak. my question is if i get the meat on by 3:00 and babysit it all night will they be done in time? and with the time i got, what temp should i hold the cooker at. i hate say it but im starting to panic. not so worried anymore about this being the best meal anyone has ever eaten just wont to be there on time with meat that is done!!

  SUGGESTOINS PLEASE!!

I dont have any suggestions for temp, but I would make sure you have the smoker going early so its ready for the meat.  Also, you may want to request butts that are 8lbs range.  Some of the larger ones take forever to get done. 

 

[jirodriguez]

Yeah.... run the smoker in the 250-265 range, and use 8-10 lb. butts. You are going to probably want to start with a total of between 90 & 100 lbs. of raw meat to get the finished weight in the mid to uper 60 lb. range. (.33 X 200 = 66 lbs of finished product needed). You are probably looking at a 10-12 hr. cook time, and you want an hour of rest time so plan for 13 hrs - that means you need to have the meat going onto the smoker around 9:00 PM the night before. Have enough dry coolers on hand that if the meat finishes up early you can hold it in the coolers and keep it hot for several hours.

A word of advice on portion controll. If you can buy the Costco potato dinner rolls (in the bread section), they are not pre-split, but they are a great size for keeping the serving portions from getting away from you. Large enough that you get a good sandwich, but not so big that you can pile oversized potions on and then run out of meat before everybody gets a chance to eat. If you cant get those then buy the smallest hamburger buns you can get - think McD's cheesburger size buns.

 

[geerock]

Okee
With all the other stuff you're cooking you better put on a couple pots of coffee! And I have to ask..... what do you have for a smoker to do all this food? AND you have to work all day Friday? Damn! In my opinion you have to leave yourself plenty of time and 9 at nite is too late.

 

[okeelocal]

Geerock I'm definetly gonna have some coffee on and its going to be a long nite and a even longer day the cooker is a big homemade thing on a trailer its definatly big enough to get the job done I'll post some pics when they drop it off Friday and post through the early part of the night as my journey begins I'm going to try and get started as early as possible I should tell the boss to cook this hiself for throwing this in my lap on such short notice but with this economy probably not such a good idea. Jl and ds2003 thanks for the advice that's what I'm going to follow sorry about all the run on sentences and lack of punctuation my computer is down and I'm chicken pecking on a little tablet. Keep the advice coming and thanks again to you all

 

[pineywoods]

What part of Fl are you in? I'd run the smoker at about 250 and foil each butt when it gets to 160-165 internal and take them to 205 internal before resting them in a warm dry cooler for at least an hour.

 

[geerock]

Geerock I'm definetly gonna have some coffee on and its going to be a long nite and a even longer day the cooker is a big homemade thing on a trailer its definatly big enough to get the job done I'll post some pics when they drop it off Friday and post through the early part of the night as my journey begins I'm going to try and get started as early as possible I should tell the boss to cook this hiself for throwing this in my lap on such short notice but with this economy probably not such a good idea. Jl and ds2003 thanks for the advice that's what I'm going to follow sorry about all the run on sentences and lack of punctuation my computer is down and I'm chicken pecking on a little tablet. Keep the advice coming and thanks again to you all

You mean to say your boss has enlisted you to cook for 200 people..... is supplying you with the food less than 24 hours before he expects everyone to eat....is having you work the full day before the event....AND you are doing all this on a smoker you're not familiar with???
You might want to supplement that coffee with a jug of moonshine, buddy!

 

[JckDanls 07]

I certainly would ask him if you are going to be on the payroll all night.. LOL might wanna take a no-doz or 2 as well with that coffee... have you cooked with a stick burner before ? As Pineywoods asked.. where in FL. are ya ? maybe somebody can stop by and give ya a hand for a little bit... Do you have a get set of probe thermometer's (ex. Maverick ET 732) ? If you get the meat at 2 you should be able to get em all prepped and on the smoker by 5...

My boss wanted me to cook for everybody and I had a weeks notice... I told him it wasn't enough time to get all my ducks in a row...

MORE POWER TO YA MY SMOKING BROTHER

 

[smokinhusker]

Your boss is nuts!!! There's no way that I can see you getting the butts at 2, then prep and on the smoker by 3...ain't going to happen unless you have a whole lot of people helping you prep them. Unless you are on the payroll for the night, his happy butt would be there helping you! IMHO

 

[chef jimmyj]

Keep it Simple! Salt, Pepper, Onion and Garlic Powder for a Rub, skip the Sugar since you may need to go Hot to finish. Mix equal parts Apple juice and Apple Cider Vinegar with the SPOG to taste for a Finishing Sauce to moisten and extend the Pork, 1 Gallon total should easily do 60lbs PP. And cheapo store bought BBQ Sauce, 1oz per person + 10%. I would get 1 1/2 Rolls per person as some of the Boys will want two Sandwiches of Pork. If you are offering Sausages as well, you can go 1 Roll Per for each the PP and Sausage. I would suggest Brats or Kielbasa for the Sausage. They can be Grilled or Hot Smoked and held Hot or Re-heated in Beer or Beef Broth and Onions. Figure 2 Good Paper Plates or 4 Cheapo per and 2 Forks/Spoons and Cups per Person. Plenty of Napkins too. Water with 1Tbs Bleach per Gallon Water and Paper Towels will work for Cleaning/Sanitizing your Hands and Work Surfaces... Pay Extra attention to Sanitation and keep Hot food Hot (150*F) and Cold food Cold (<40*F), on Ice in Coolers until last minute. 200 People taking the next couple days off with Food Poisoning will cost you your Job! The Crew got you covered on the Cook times...JJ