Cooking about 100 racks for a rib sale in Wynne, AR on Nov 7. Holding tips welcome

[lquessenberry]

Hey y'all, Lee (lquessenberry) checking back in. It's been a minute since my last post.
Michael and I are doing a rib sale in Wynne, Arkansas on Saturday, Nov 7. It starts at 10 AM and runs until we sell out, in the Hays parking lot. We'll have free tastes of our Sauce Beautiful Original too. Full disclosure, that's our family's sauce, so take that part with a grain of salt. We'll be out there shaking hands and telling some stories about our dad, Jim.
What I'd like from you folks: we're cooking about 100 racks, which is a lot bigger than a backyard weekend. How would you hold 100 racks of ribs so they're still tender and not dried out when people line up at 10 AM? Cooler, warmer, or oven? How far ahead do you pull them, and how do you stage them? Any tips on pit capacity, rotation, and sauce timing at that volume?
Ribs have been in our family a long time, and we're doing this the way Dad would have: good barbecue, good people, and plenty of fellowship. Thanks for any advice, and if you're anywhere near east Arkansas that Saturday, come say hi.
Lee

 

[Quiganomics]

There's quite a few ways, but the most cost effective is to use some well insulated coolers. The way we do it for our church is use Yeti or similar coolers, add in a gallon or so of boiling water, then a wire rack positioned about an inch above the water to pile the ribs on. The water helps maintain the warmer temp. With 100 racks, you can probably do it in 10 or less coolers, so ask around if folks have ones to use. We do about 40 racks for our church events and use 4 coolers with a little room to spare.

For your other questions, I would need some info on your setup and equipment. We start pulling them off about 2 hours prior, re-wrap in foil, and hold.

 

[InstinCure]

Heavy duty saran wrap instead of foil or paper to finish, don't unwrap just straight into a warmer. You can use Sternos/canned heat/chafing fuel and disposable pans to keep warm or reheat. Setting them up like a double boiler or steam table can keep temps consistent.

How many can you cook at a time? In any event, having some kind of grill to char each one before they hit the plates might be something to keep in mind

 

[jcam222]

I'd personally use Cambros for something that big. Ribs in foil pans covered and out into Cambros while hot. That will keep them hot for likely 6 hours or so

 

[radioguy]

I use a large cooler. pour some boiling water into it, let it set to warm up. Foil wrap yor ribs, squirt some sauce on both sides. Empty the water and place ribs inside. Layer with old towels. This will hold them for 5-6 hours.
Slice right before serving.

RG

 

[forktender]

Do you have a party supply rental store near you?
They should have rolling hot holding cabinets that would work great.

 

[lquessenberry]

Hey y'all, checking back in on the Wynne rib sale from Saturday. It was a success. We sold all 100 racks, and I think we changed a lot of hearts and minds from chili over to ribs. Those large coolers came in clutch, so thank you @Quiganomics, @InstinCure, @jcam222, @radioguy, and @forktender for talking me through how to hold that many racks. We also scored a rick of seasoned hardwood while we were out there, so we've got a few more cooks ahead of us. Appreciate y'all looking out.

Lee