Our first time cooking for a large group is turning out to be a resounding success! We're cooking the meat for some friends 25th wedding anniversary dinner tonight, the menu called for 12 chickens and 4 large pork loins. A big THANK YOU to everyone who gave tips and advice on the pork and chicken forums earlier this week.
Now to the good stuff. First the Chickens, we had 12 small fryers to tackle and decided to cook them last night and reheat today before serving. We did nine of them beer can style (we were going to brine and spachcock them but when they brought us the chicken they also delivered BCC holders and a case of beer so plans changed). The other three we roasted in the oven. All of them fell right off the bone while carving. We started them at about 5:30 last night and had them all carved up by 10.
Then up this morning at 7 to get the loins on. As they were all 8+ lbs. we cut them in half so they would be a little eaiser to manage. I then smothered them in mustard and applied my favorite rub. We got them onto the smoker about 8:30 or so and just got them all pulled off the smoke and they are wrapped in foil and resting until it's time to eat (we took them off at 3). Being the digilant cooks that we are of course we taste tested and we're confident that everyone will eat well tonight.
For flavor on both the chickens and the loins we chose to use Maple (our current favorite), with the pork Ben added a little Hickory as well.
All in all it wasn't the daunting task that we thought it would be but made for a very enjoyable weekend. This may be a reacuring event if all goes as well as I think it will.
Now to the good stuff. First the Chickens, we had 12 small fryers to tackle and decided to cook them last night and reheat today before serving. We did nine of them beer can style (we were going to brine and spachcock them but when they brought us the chicken they also delivered BCC holders and a case of beer so plans changed). The other three we roasted in the oven. All of them fell right off the bone while carving. We started them at about 5:30 last night and had them all carved up by 10.
Then up this morning at 7 to get the loins on. As they were all 8+ lbs. we cut them in half so they would be a little eaiser to manage. I then smothered them in mustard and applied my favorite rub. We got them onto the smoker about 8:30 or so and just got them all pulled off the smoke and they are wrapped in foil and resting until it's time to eat (we took them off at 3). Being the digilant cooks that we are of course we taste tested and we're confident that everyone will eat well tonight.
For flavor on both the chickens and the loins we chose to use Maple (our current favorite), with the pork Ben added a little Hickory as well.
All in all it wasn't the daunting task that we thought it would be but made for a very enjoyable weekend. This may be a reacuring event if all goes as well as I think it will.
