Here's another one, alot of people & alot of food & some Q-view

[mballi3011]

Well I thought I might give this catering a shot so here's the first big try. This lady Anita ate my food at a local hotel and I had the job right off the bat. Now this was for 95 factory workers and some of the office folks. So I started out with some meat about 75 lbs and then some turkey's and chickens and I threw in some ribs. It started out Tuesday morning for a Thursday lunch. Here's the meat ready for prepping. Now it's time to start smoking.

 

Now we move on to the prep and get started smoking. First is the butts (5) so they can be easily re-heated the day of. So I smoked them and pulled and it's into the refrig till lunch time comes.

 

Next I'm going with maybe some yard bird (4) and a turkey (3) get their turn in the smoker. There was more on the smoker but I forgot the camera before I pulled them. Now theses were some monster chicken this is a 6lb bird and a 13lb turkey

 

So now let's move into Wednesday I'm gonna go for the briskets (4) of them too.

 

So now we are on-sight reheating and smoking the Ribs and some more Turkey. I used a friend of mine smoker. He just got it and really doesn't know much about smoking. He jumped on the idea of me using it and tell him how it works. Then I have to go to their house and smoke them a dinner for the uses of their smoker. That's not a bad trade for me cause after all don't we all just look for an excuse to smoke something. So now at the it was a nice smoker and it worked well. Now I think that it could use a few modifications maybe a plate to make it a reverse flow. It has a really hot end but with alittle moving the meat from time to time but it wasn't bad.

 

 

It went well and it was a big learning experience for sure. Heck I thought I could handle it but it was just about some of the hardest work that I have done in a longtime. Now the food was really well received and everyone who came outside told us that they loved it all. I learned alot about how fast 95 people eat their food and I stayed on the knife for hours I thought but it was only an hour. Thankfully the food was really good they all want us back for more lunches and breakfasts too. Now the meat was really good and some of the best that I have had in along time. So thanks for looking and I'm sorry there wasn't more Q-view of the finished food but once things got going there was no stopping for anything.   

 

[smokinstevo27]

Thats a heck of an undertaking Mark, good job buddy!

 

[rp ribking]

Nice job Mark. Yes it is a lot of work, butt when people say how much they like the food then it is all worth it.

 

[richoso1]

Mark, congrats on a great smoke, good to know the folks enjoyed your Q too. That's more of a job than I could handle, but I would have loved to been standing in-line for the Q. Its' all good my friend.

 

[DanMcG]

Wow Mark, talk about taking the giant step into catering. I'm glad to worked out so well for  such a large crowd and wish ya the best in the furture...Now just get a dedicated camera person so we can enjoy it start to finish.

Are you back in Florida?

 

[chefrob]

nice job mark!

 

[scarbelly]

Congrats Mark

I have done this several times and I know how hard it is to pull off. In the past 5 years we have done a wedding or rehersal dinner in our back yard at least once each year. It constantly reminds me why I got out of the catering business LOL

 

[realtorterry]

Hell ofa job Mark.

 

[tbakko]

Good job Mark, isn't it gratifying to see other people really enjoy & appreciate all your hard work

 

[mballi3011]

Well thanks for all the praise and yes it is so so gratifying to hear the people say how much they loved the food to. It makes it all well worth all the work. It really feels good when some of the folks talked about the last luncheon they had and it was a chicken joint that has been in Jacksonville for 75 years and I even used to eat there as a kid. When they all say it blew there stuff away I felt good too. Yes Dan I'm back in Florida and I'll be here awhile I believe but you never know with my wife.

 

[bignick]

Mark,  I admire your confidence going into this...sounds like you pulled it off.  I just want a plate of that!

 

[tom37]

Great Job!!!  I know what ya mean when you say, its amazing how fast they go thru the food.

My wedding present for a friend was to cook and prepare the trays for the feed after the wedding.

Yikes!!!!

When I got there I was the only one to set up all the tables and serving area, ladies brought salads and such, but that was a drop and dash kinda thing.

Called another friend and he came and helped.

Long story short, these people cleaned out one large pan of brisket and one of pork, along with 10 lbs of corn and 10 of beans in the first 2 minutes after the line started.

It was a little overwhelming but we made it thru.

I bought 70 lbs each of the beef and pork along with 20 lbs corn and 20 lbs of  beans. I was simply amazed.

Glad to hear it all turned out Great for ya.

 

[miamirick]

looks like some good food there mark,  wheres the beans and tatoes and japs and pig peckers?

hope you made some money!

 

[meateater]

Mark, that's a big smoke job ya got going. The birds look great and I bet nothing was left over. Watch out for squirrells begging for bones.

 

[stonebriar]

Great job!

 

[thebarbequeen]

WHAT A GREAT JOB YOU DID!!!!   Congrats!  The meat all looks perfectly bee-yoo-tee-full and I'm sure the folks were all blown away by the quality of your real food!   cooked with care, and fresh - a lot of people really haven't had the chance to know how good food and good cookin' can be!  and some guy bought a smoker like that and "doesn't know much about smoking"??  That could be the start of a beautiful friendship, to paraphrase Casablanca. Cheers!   

 

[bmudd14474]

Thats awesome Mark. Congrats

 

[jirodriguez]

Old Mac Donald had a farm.... till Mark smoked it for lunch! E-i-e-i-o!

WOW! Great job, I have helped a friend of mine cater and can tell you that is no easy task to pull off. Congradulations and glad to hear it all come off without a hitch.

 

[tjohnson]

What a "Monster Smoke"!

Great Job!

Todd

 

[mballi3011]

Oh believe me there were some hitches but overall it turned out really good. It diffinatly taught me a quite a few things about catering. Like have more help then you think that you need I could have used another knife going in the beginning. the new smoker is what I think put me behind it took me an hour and a half to get the smoker going good. Oh yes I guess I should have made a test run with it too. I had a really hard time finding wood thou I called mike (Jax Gator) and he told me of a place to get some. But yes it was the food that will have me smoking them some more lunches and breakfasts in the future.