Serving fresh vs. reheated

[fatty]

I've been fortunate enough to do a few catering events through my church, and I've found I really enjoy it. They've ranged from 125 to 325 people. I've learned a bunch each time, as should be the case when starting out I guess. Fortunately none of the lessons have come as the result of a major failure. I've smoked tri tip for every event I've done (sometimes with other meats, sometimes just tri tip), and I've had great results reheating everything.

I smoke them to medium rare, rest, and refrigerate. The next day, I'll slice them while cold, and return them to the refrigerator. At the event, I'll reheat the slices on the grill in their chafing dish till safe temp, then send them out to the buffet line or keep them hot in the smoker. So far, everyone has been thrilled with the results.

But...they haven't tried it when it comes fresh out of the smoker. Oh baby.

Which leads me to my question: what is the most practical way to serve a couple hundred people right out of the smoker? Is it a matter of having several people slicing quickly to keep the buffet line moving? Is it best to have things done several hours early and cooler it all? I'd appreciate your help in making the BBQ I serve better. Those eating it will thank you! :)

 

[sprky]

I would think having a bunch done early and keeping up by slicing as you go would be the easiest. I have never done a large group like that so I'm kinda guessing. What i did for the shop dinner at Christmas was have it all sliced and kept it warm in coolers and oven. 

 

[supercenterchef]

though heretical, I think BBQ is like chili...always better the second day...

 

[fatty]

I don't think it's heretical. I think the issue I'm running into is that tri-tip is a lot different when it comes to BBQ than something like brisket. If I smoke it to anying beyond medium, it's too tough because of how lean the cut it's. In most cases, I'd agree that reheated BBQ is amazing. With tri-tip, at least in my results, fresh out of the smoker can't be matched by reheating.

From what I'm gathering, it comes down to either having a huge amount of cooking space, a huge amount of insulated storage space after the cook, or a combination of the two. I'll try smoking some to done, then slicing it and storing it in a cooler to see how long the heat will hold as well as storing it before slicing. It may just be an issue of having some extra help slicing live in order to keep up.

So would the consensus be that most large catered events are reheats?

 

[chef jimmyj]

Typically when Carving to the plate an assembly line is most efficient...Meat is cooked and held at temp then carved at the head of the line and procedes to Veg, Starch, Gravy/Sauce or Garnish and Clean Up/Cover and tray-up...1Carver per 100 is not uncommon, 1 Veg/Starch, 1 Sauce/Garnish and 1 Clean/Cover and Expedite...You can get away with 3 member team per 100 if they are experienced...JJ

 

[scarbelly]

 Jimmy is right about having dedicated slicers for each veg and meat. My suggestion is to do the tritips in the morning - wrap them in towels and into a cooler then slice starting about 30 minutes before serving. That should give you enough of a head start to get you thru the event 

 

[solaryellow]

Typically when Carving to the plate an assembly line is most efficient...Meat is cooked and held at temp then carved at the head of the line and procedes to Veg, Starch, Gravy/Sauce or Garnish and Clean Up/Cover and tray-up...1Carver per 100 is not uncommon, 1 Veg/Starch, 1 Sauce/Garnish and 1 Clean/Cover and Expedite...You can get away with 3 member team per 100 if they are experienced...JJ

This is what we do for brisket and it works well. Slicing on demand does slow the line down though. Still trying to solve that.

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[hooligan8403]

I used to do catering when I still owned my restaraunt. Never did smoked meat but did do turkey breasts and roasts. I had two carvers per hundred and then a person at each spot. At 3 hundred people I built a second line. I did a hot dog hamburger event for a technical college once and cooked everything but the chili and beans on site. It was for roughly 500+ people. Two lines got everyone food in roughly 30 to 45 minutes. Wasnt a bad time to serve that many people with some people coming back for seconds on what was left but otherwise When getting that many people I always went with two lines. Honestly if I had been carving a roast for a crowd that size Id go with two carvers a line. If your running a business I know that can add up on costs if you dont have the staff right then otherwise if your mainly doing this for a church Id just ask for volunteers.