Here we go! First time feeding 50 friday night...

[linescum]

-Vegetarian Tofu Dogs----on a seperate table i hope

 

[triman22000]

What I gave done with the salad is nowadays they have the salad already cut up in air tight packages and I just buy those and cut up anything else I am going to put into it and put that into zip lock bags. When it is time to serve just open the bags put all in a bowl and your done. A lot less work.
I also do not do use multiple dressings just use Italian mix it up and your done with it.
As for the meat one meat at least 1/2 per person more then one 1/4 lb person.
Just chicken 1/2 include ribs 1/2 and 1/4 chicken.

Oh yeah and I always make plenty extra for home lol
Godd luck

 

[white cloud]

The challenge is great, but with your confidence in what you know and have prepared for, the reward of achieving your goals and meeting your expectations the satisfaction will be even greater. Good Luck. I have fed about 75 head twice once for my sister in laws wake and another time for my daughters wedding shower. But I didn't do anything in the smoker. It all worked out. whew!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[mobcounty]

Here is a quick update.
There is a total of 52 pounds of meat in the smoker

I started the smoker at 6:50am it's now 7:12pm. I suspect I will be wrapping up around 2:00am.

The butt's just went into foil, total time sofar is about 11 hours at 165.

The reason it took a while, is that I was sneaking pans of beans in and out. 30 quarts of beans smoked in six pans.

Tri-tip just went in. These will cook pretty fast in comparison. I figure 6 hours to 165, then rest, then slice.

BBq sauce is done, pork wash is done.

Salad is good to go, bought in pre-made packs its sitting in the fridge. We will spruce it up with some veggies tomorrow.

I took a lot of pic's sofar and look forward to posting them as soon as the event is over.

 

[mulepackin]

Are you using chafing dishes? My buddy and I get em at Sams. They are pretty reasonable for the racks, sterno, and pans. They work quite well for keeping things warm at the serving counter or table. Have used both solid pans and foil type pans from there with success.

 

[fatback joe]

Good luck with it. Sounds like all is well so far.

 

[mobcounty]

... all smoked

Now I look forward to reheating and serving this evening. Man, I am dog tired. I started at 7am and the last bit of pork was pulled and put into the fridge at 2:30 am. Whew, I need a nap.

 

[bbq bubba]

What do ya mean "all smoked" ???
Where's the pic's???
Starting to think this is one of those ghost smokes!!

 

[mobcounty]

Haha, all smoked, but I still have to heat and serve in a few hours. If I had time I'd post more, but this will have to suffice for now. Four 15 pounders on two shelves =).

 

[shellbellc]

Well...the final verdict???????????????

 

[vlap]

still recovering?

 

[charles1056]

Looking good Mob. Let us know how every goes.

 

[dbecklund]

I watched some rural Okie folks back in the 70s tear through 200 lbs of butt in a couple of hours for a huge church picnic. They bought boneless butts by the case from a packer, smoked them and then pulled them with a combination of hand sledge hammers, meat cleavers and oversized tenderizing mauls. The texture and cuts were really close to a manual pull. I finally took up the process and can tear through a 100 lb pig or 150 lbs of butt in a couple of hours with just 3 of us. One flattens (sledge), another chops (cleaver) and the 3rd guy mauls (apiked tenderizing maul) and tears it into the holding pans. I'll never go back to a manual pull again.

BTW, I'm not a commercial operation, just a guy who volunteers for neighborhood and church BBQs several times a year to keep the cost down.

 

[mobcounty]

Hi guys!
Sorry for the very very very long delay.. I almost forgot to post final conclusions

Here are Qviews of the final cook.


Backyard kitchen stadium ready to go!! It's low light cus it's early in the morning.


Groceries arrive.



Here is one of the most important tools for the avid smoker.. No not the smoker, the bottle opener

..



Pork butts marinated and ready to go.


The pork goes on first, I planned on smoking the tri-tip and beans in the same smoker while the pork was still going. Timing was tricky, but it is possible.

 

[mobcounty]

Sausage and Bacon on the griddle heading for baked beans.


These baked beans had a lot of meat!! Just how I like it. I basically quadruple every recipie on the web when it comes to meat in baked beans.


Opening cans and getting ready to prep peppers and onions for the baked beans.


I never did put the beans in the large pot. to cook, I just put them there to stir in the ingredients.

 

[mobcounty]

Juggling the beans tri-tip and pork in the smoker proved to be a trick. I think the cook time on the tri-tip was 7 hours, and the cook time on the pork was 17. The rest of the shelves were filled with shifts of beans when possible.

**EDIT**, you will notice in the above picture that I have filled every shelf slot. The two heavy duty shelves were added to help with the load. You must have all the slots filled to do this much meat.



Getting closer..


One of the pans of beans heading to the reefer to cool for the next day's meal.


The tri-tip cooked while the pork was wrapped in foil. Notice, its night already. I believe this was around 9pm..

 

[mobcounty]

A close up of the tri-tip. The meat is just about done.


mmmm


Mmmmmmmmmmm


Letting the meat rest for an hour or so. The whole house smelled like smoke =).


After the rest, the bone pulled right out of the pork.


I actually pulled the pork by using this wooden spoon. A little bit of pressure would seperate the meat very nicely. I also added the finishing sauce at this point.


Frankly, I did not like Santa Maria Tri-Tip as I live just a few miles from SM. Everyone who claims to have good SMTT is basically lying. The meat is always tough and salty, burnt on the ends, and rare in the center. Not that it's not possible, I just have yet to taste it done well... Until now. I basically used the knowledge base here to modify the SMTT for use in a smoker. This TT was the best I have ever had, I call it Atascadero Tri-Tip

..


The meat was packed in tins and put in the fridge.

 

[mobcounty]

DAY 2:


Parking lot kitchen stadium. This is my reheat station. Do your hotel a favor and put the smoker over pavement. It will stain a concrete sidewalk, and they will not be very happy.

Reheating was a trick, I basically put the pans on the griddle and stirred them, the meat went into the smoker and got back up to temp. The whole process took a few hours so leave some time.



Here the table is set with the meat and beans. Do yourself a favor and put towels down under your pans. This will help hold heat, and it will keep your linens from being ruined. Another trick, if you have vegetarian beans, put a few sprigs of greens on the top so people can tell which is which.



Here is my crowd. I think the total was 60+. They loved the food, and there were no complaints. There were some big eaters. Do yourself another favor and feed the hotel staff

. This will get you big karma points for the next time you need to mess up their facility!!

Here we are close to the end. I had waaay too much food. Please refer to my first post in this thread for the amount I started with. I think I ended up with 30% more food than I needed. I suppose this was a great problem to have, as I was able to feed all of my friends the next day ..

All in all it was tough, but an amazing experience. Everyone now calls me the pulled pork guy, and they all want to know where I will cook next.


All the best,
MC

 

[shellbellc]

Looks GREAT!! Points to you for your successful smoke! I agree with you, leftovers are great so you can spread the wealth!

 

[chargrilled]

Excellent post, pics and grub. That is a marathon smoke. I am tired after just smokin one butt!!! Lots of work, I am glad everything worked out. Looked like a bunch of happy customers.