I've stupidly agreed to feed the neighborhood on the 4th of July. Another neighbor has done it for years and done packaged burger patties and hotdogs from Costco. I thought it would be nice to do a little 'que for these yankees, but I fear I may have bitten off more than I can chew.
I'm hoping those of you with experience can talk me through this. I'm expecting to feed around 200. I know I can't do that much in my Bradley, but I have a large trailer-mounted rig that can hold 2 small hogs. I thought that shoulders or butts would be easiest to cook for that many people. Does anyone have a good raw butt : people fed ratio? I thought I'd keep it simple and also do buns, slaw, and maybe tater-salad, but thought that might be a good potluck item.
Any and ALL suggestions, admonishments and encouragement welcome.
Thanks
RITC
Damn-it-boy! I like your style!
You are going to be the hero of the neighborhood.
The "Hood Smoker" !!!!
I have found I get around 60% raw to cooked on butts. (on the Bradley)
10lb butt makes 6lb of pulled pork.
Of course the kids will want hotdogs and burgers, so it may not be too bad.
If you need help, I'm available. ;D
A lot depends on your serving size, and if you are feeding hearty eaters or the ladies club, kids, etc.
If you are serving on a bun, then 1/4lb per sandwich.
I figure about a 40% to 50% loss from raw to cooked weight.
So you would need about 50lbs of cooked pork, roughly a 90 to 100lbs raw.
Both STC and I have cooked this close to this amount recently, I'll see if I can find the threads.
Timing for that much food can be an issue.
When I did it, I smoked it in advance, pulled, bagged and reheated for serving.
EDIT: corrected some bad math!
Thanks. These are very helpful conversions. I was thinking of brining the shoulders in some coolers and getting a big jug of mustard at Costco, then doing the rub like I usually do if just cooking a butt or 2 and some ribs. Any advice on a "bulk" rub to use? I might go broke if I used Jan's rub recipe for that much meat :o
While I don't have much to offer on the Q side, I would point out that baked beans is not only a traditional complement to BBQ, it's also cheap, and very easy to make in large quantities. Furthermore, baked beans is the kind of dish where if you mention it to the neighborhood ladies, they'll probably all volunteer to make some.
Just a thought.
The Renowned Mr. Brown Barbecued is a good rub, and easy to make, and my favorite on butts. The following recipe will cover 1 - 2 butts, depending on how thick you want to apply it; so you will have to adjust it accordingly.
The Renowned Mr. Brown Barbecued
1/4 cup Black Pepper, fresh cracked
1/4 cup Paprika
1 /4 cup Turbinado Sugar or Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp. Salt, Kosher
2 tsp. Mustard, dry
1 tsp. Cayenne pepper
Cole slaw makes a good side dish for pulled pork, but I would also include either some hot dogs and/or hamburgers for the kids.
Good points on beans - I'll ask the ladies for all of their favorite bbq sides and see what we get. And thanks Habs, for the recipe. That certainly won't break the bank and has all of my favorites.
FL - you mentioned cooking ahead and reheating. Tell me if my notional timing would work - brine Thursday night in coolers remove Friday and apply mustard/rub. Cook Saturday am first thing and go all day, removing from cooker when done or nearly. FTC remainder of the night. Sunday am remove and pull apart/chop to serve. Eat at noon. Will that work.
Plan sounds good. I have FTC'd up to about 7 hours with four butts stuffed into a "five day" cooler.
It might be a long night.
This is my large cook thread:
http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=15901.0
Quote from: FLBentRider on June 11, 2010, 04:20:08 AM
This is my large cook thread:
http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=15901.0
And here is mine:
http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=16057.0
72 pounds pork butt yielded 39.5 pounds pulled pork.
Uhh. If he's gonna feed 200 people pulled pork sammies, he's gonna need more that 50 pounds of raw butt.
40% loss on 50 pounds make 30 pounds cooked pork. At 1/4 pound per sammie that's 120 sammies. At 50% loss even fewer.
If you have a lot of guys and growing boys in the mix, there are going to be seconds wanted. I tend to go high with the seconds ratio and figure 50% seconds. Some people won't want the bun, and a single serving is a little bigger say - 1/3#. So that is also another reason for the 50% seconds ratio. You might have leftovers - ok take it home or let others take it home or sell it to defray expenses.
So with a 50% seconds ratio you will be planning for 300 sammies - 200 x 1.5 = 300
300 sammies x 1/4# cooked pork per sammy = 75 pounds of cooked pork
75 pounds of cooked pork with a 40% loss (depends on bone in or bone out) 75 / 0.6 = 125 pounds of raw butt.
With your big rig, this should not be a problem, if you can maintain 225 deg. If you can maintain the 225, then your butts should be done in about 1 1/2 hours per pound. Say you have a 8# butt then that butt should take 12 hours. Is your rig an off-set? I suspect, if it is a pig cooker more often than not it is a direct heat rig. That can be trickier in that there will probably be more hot spots and harder to keep 225. Remember, it is 225 deg at the meat. Suggest fire on one end and the butts on the other end. Even with that set up, I would suggest rotating the butts around - the one closest to the fire will of course be cooking in hotter temps. If the feed is at noon, then I'd plan on finishing in the relatively early morning and throwing all the butts, as they get done, (I check each one with an instant read thermometer) into a cooler until ready to pull and serve. You'll need to anticipate some tougher butts that will take longer - that's the main reason of planning an early finish.
Unless you are really sold on the brining, I wouldn't go to the trouble. Not necessary and to me it changes the texture and takes time and space. As far as rub. Doing butt, especially that much, I'd probably only go with salt and pepper and maybe some cayenne. IMO, with the bark to meat ratio of a butt, rubs are not a big part of the taste. Sauce will give you more of a flavor impact. But if you want to do rub anyways - check you local Sam's - they generally nave the Emerils Essence. Use that as a base for your rub - just add things you like such as sugar, garlic, onion powder, etc..... Restaurant Supply stores will also carry bulk containers of spices. Did some ribs Memorial Day and used the Bulk McCormicks BBQ Spice and the MrsDash Salt Free seasoning both sprinkled on. Turned out pretty good - and not all that costly.
Beans are good for sammy feeds. Usually start with baked beans as base, add either leftover chopped bbq or precooked crumbled bacon found in bags at Sams (or both like last night). Then add a can or two of "no bean" chili and a can or two of chopped green chilies. I'll also add some mustard (CYM or spicy brown) to give it that taste of yum - now what is that taste in the background. If I have time to cook the beans for a while, I'll also add some dehydrated diced onions. That might thicken them up as the onions hydrate - if that happens - add some beer.
I knew there was something wrong with my math. I did it before coffee. ::)
I'm with caney on the brining issue. I wouldn't bother to do that. I've smoked my fair share of butts and have never thought it necessary to brine beforehand. You could might be able to get by with 100 pounds of raw weight. That's a lot of pork to pull by hand. You should invest in the Ro-Man Pork Puller. This thing is for real! One of the best accessories I have purchased. www.porkpuller.com He's a nice guy too. Went the extra mile to get mine to me by the weekend I was smoking 60 pounds of butts. A real time and burnt finger saver.
We would LOVE to see some pictures of this feast!
I have brined butts, and I think they are a little moister, but I wouldn't for this size cook.
Thanks, all - and esp. appreciate the double-check on the math. It was pre-coffee for me, too!
I concur with skipping the brine for that much butt. My brother in law has been experimenting with a brined butt on a big green egg and swears by it, but this adventure is going to have enough experiments for one cooking, that's for sure!
My big rig is a direct heat - I had hoped to add a side box to it, but like so many other things, just haven't gotten around to it. Honestly, I haven't cooked on it much, so any advice on cooking on it will be welcome. I let a buddy borrow for a Boy Scout camping trip. He dumped 30# of charcoal in it and pegged the thermometers at 700! Thing must've been glowing. I'll post a pic from when I bought it, in case it helps with advice.
Really appreciate all the advice. Please keep it coming. Seems like I've gotten myself into a fine one here. I think I've got a bad case of battleship mouth....rowboat a$$.
You do have 3 weekends before the 4th weekend.
You could do 4 butts every weekend (your Bradley will hold that).
Smoke them in the Bradley for 4 to 5 hrs and put them in the oven till done.
Pull them and freeze them till the 4th. Or leave them whole and freeze them
and after re-warm in oven, pull them.
You can DO IT!
Can you regulate the temp on the big rig? you are going to need 225-250F for 14 to 24 hours.
I'm not sure you have the oven space to use the "Bradley to oven" method.
That would be as follows:
Put four butts in the Bradley for four hours of smoke. (you might have to get creative with meat origami)
When the smoke is done, transfer the butts to the oven. Cook @250F until an IT of 195-200F
Put four more butts in the smoker for four hours of smoke. Continue to cook in the Bradley to an IT of 195-200F
I realize this gets four butts done a few hours before the 2nd batch - maybe - but that way you can get smoke on butts twice the capacity of the Bradley.
If you had access to a friends oven, you could do three rounds.
Quote from: classicrockgriller on June 11, 2010, 03:05:25 PM
You do have 3 weekends before the 4th weekend.
You could do 4 butts every weekend (your Bradley will hold that).
Smoke them in the Bradley for 4 to 5 hrs and put them in the oven till done.
Pull them and freeze them till the 4th. Or leave them whole and freeze them
and after re-warm in oven, pull them.
I have done the frozen - thaw - pull and the pull - freeze methods.
I MUCH prefer the pulling before freezing method. Much easier to just defrost and re-heat.
Pic would be helpful
I generally use lump charcoal (its usually oak and I like it much better than briquettes - but if that is all you can get - no prob.) with sticks (log splits - I buy mine at Academy Sports or a firewood guy, but other places have them) of flavoring wood (probably hickory). The combo, for me is easier to control than just hickory splits - it doesn't seem to burn as fast. The wood should be seasoned and not green.
Lots of ways of doing this, and everybody has their own way which might be much better, but this is one way. I think I'd definitely give the temp thing a whirl before the big day. I'd likely try two big chimneys of lump for the test - might not take that much, but the first 1/2 hour to hour is to heat up the rig anyways. Start one chimney, and when it's going good, dump another chinmey on top. If big enough, fire in one end, the meat will be on the other (no meat for the test is necessary). You'll want the meat at the end where your exhaust chimney is. OR if the cooking grate is a pretty good distance from the fire, you might be able to spread the coals out and maintain 225 at the cooking grate. Probably have some hot spots, you'll have to watch out for. Monitor the temp. on the meat side. You might buy 2 or more cheap oven rack thermometers to place around your grill to see the different temp zones. Once the temp stabilizes - quits rising, you can adjust the amount of coals less or more or open or close the vent. Start with vent half open. Add a split or two of hickory to the coals - then see what happens. I like to put them 1/2 off the edge of the coals, so it just doesn't burst into flame and get burned up quickly. As they get used up, I replace them with new. And then since you have the rig going your direction put on some racks of ribs for supper!
Ideally, you would have another small fire box of coals going and add coals as needed to the smoker. Easier to keep tighter control of the heat and you tend to get the more ideal smoke - thin blue smoke. If you just add new charcoal to the top of the pile already there, it will smolder and spit for a while, combust, and make "dirty" (billowy white smoke) smoke before it turns into a coal. It can be a harsh smoke, but with butts I don't always mind the strong smoke since there is such a small ratio of bark to meat.
Don't freak if you can't hold 225, its good if you can average 225 without going too high or too low - say 30 degrees plus or minus. Too long too low and you extend your cook time. Too long too high, you might cook too fast and not get the magic of low-n-slow.
Big cooks aren't all that much harder than cooking two butts. You do much the same thing - just in a bigger way. Might have to move the meat around the grill more for more even cooking. Now, when you start doing cooks with a variety of types of meats, then it gets fun!
Make note of your fuel consumption during the test run and try to judge how much charcoal and wood you will need.
Alas, I don't have picture posting privileges yet!
Try this link to get your pictures going.
http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showpost.php?p=768&postcount=11
Permission granted. ;D
Thanks - though the quality is so-so.
http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz146/redneckinthecity/IMG00013.jpg (http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz146/redneckinthecity/IMG00013.jpg)
One more -
http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz146/redneckinthecity/IMG00013.jpg (http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz146/redneckinthecity/IMG00013.jpg)
That is NICE!
Quote from: Redneckinthecity on June 11, 2010, 05:00:17 PM
Thanks - though the quality is so-so.
http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz146/redneckinthecity/IMG00013.jpg (http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz146/redneckinthecity/IMG00013.jpg)
Use the IMG tags:
(http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz146/redneckinthecity/IMG00013.jpg)
Thanks. I bought it at a dinner-auction for the National Wild Turkey Federation.
Geez! What is that thing??
That rig looks like it will do the 1/4 mile in under 5 seconds. Whoot....nice looking smoker
Looks like a good pig cooker!
I think Caneyscud pretty much covered the important stuff. I'll just add my $0.02 worth ...
First, your main enemy or barrier will be the work and stress load. Try to keep it simple and the closer you get to the magic time the less you want to have to do. I would have as much cooked well ahead of time - like the day before - as possible. The good news is that pork butts and pulled pork not only keep amazingly well but most feel they improve with a day or more of rest and then rewarmed. So, if it were me I would have the butts all done 24-48 hours before. Whether you pull then or later is a matter of preference, but think again of timing, work and stress load. Keep it simple and easy.
Along those lines, unless you feel very comfortable regulating the temp on that big rig and cooking butts for the long haul, I would pass using it as a cooker for this big gig. Trying to manage a new cooker while pulling the food together will just add to your stress and introduces a potential for error that would hard to recover from. Instead think about doing as CRG suggested - use your Bradley and kitchen oven, freeze 'em and then have 'em ready for service on the day. Or, if you really want to use and try that new cooker, then do it, but start a week or two or more before so that you still have time for a Plan B.
A great way to rewarm the pork is to put it in large disposable aluminum roasting pans, add a splash of liquid (canned chicken broth, apple juice, reserved pan drippings, whatever you like), cover tightly with aluminum foil sealing the edges, then place in a low oven (225 °F) for a 2-3 hours to get temp up to ~150F. This last rewarming would be a great time to use that cooker. You'll have plenty of time to fire and play with it to get a good low and stable temp to use it as a warming oven and show it off. You can bet that the crowd will be thinking that's where you cooked all that pork.
Finally, on sides, again keep it simple. That's where the rest of the neighborhood comes in - pot luck, or you decide types and ask. Add desserts to that too.
However you do it, be comfortable and relaxed through the process so you enjoy it too. And do takes pics - lots of pics - and show us how it went!
If you use the big cooker my advice is to have a well seasoned bed of coals. Burn the firebox for a good 4 hours before throwing any food on and you'll be able to more easily control the temps.
For pulling the pork, I don't think you can beat a set of "Bear Claws". http://www.barbecue-store.com/Bear-Paws_p_63.html
They're great for pulling the meat as well as handling the HOT meat when removing from the grill. Put one in each hand and think like a bear! ;D
Here's a thread on another board:
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6871
I would go with what some of the others have said. Cook them all ahead of time, pull and add your sauce to all but 1. Don't freeze, just put in the fridge in gallon ziplocks, they'll keep for several days just fine. You could even ice in a cooler, just keep the water drained cause ziplocks DO LEAK! When you're ready to serve, put them on your new cooker and heat them up. Keep the heat low, 200* is plent. Remember you're not cooking, just heating to eating temp. Put the meat with some sauce in those big alum disposable pans and cover for foil. You can pull the foil back occassionally to stir and make sure it's not drying out. Be very careful not to dry it out or let it burn....remember, think LOW heat. Save the last butt for pulling with your Bear Claws in front of the crowd, add your sauce just like the others you did and you'll be the hero to all those Yankees! ;D
Don't forget to have fun.....and post some pics!
Yard and Pool has the Bear Claws for $7.99 http://www.yardandpool.com/Bear-Paws-Meat-Handlers-p/bpp-bearpaws.htm instead of the $11.86 that The Barbeque Store is selling them for.
Looks like I am little late to the party. Seems that the boys have got ya covered. Here's my 2 cents. Start them early, freeze and re-heat. No one will know when you cooked them and they will all love the pork. Then have the women in your life take care of the sides and you'll have a stress free smoke and a great 4th! Good luck to ya!!!! Cant wait to see pics!
There's a lot of good advice here for many of us think about. And keeping the stress level down the day of the cook is important (BLSH) to remember. Good Luck!
Quote from: Caneyscud on June 11, 2010, 06:19:28 AM
Uhh. If he's gonna feed 200 people pulled pork sammies, he's gonna need more that 50 pounds of raw butt.
40% loss on 50 pounds make 30 pounds cooked pork. At 1/4 pound per sammie that's 120 sammies. At 50% loss even fewer.
If you have a lot of guys and growing boys in the mix, there are going to be seconds wanted. I tend to go high with the seconds ratio and figure 50% seconds. Some people won't want the bun, and a single serving is a little bigger say - 1/3#. So that is also another reason for the 50% seconds ratio. You might have leftovers - ok take it home or let others take it home or sell it to defray expenses.
So with a 50% seconds ratio you will be planning for 300 sammies - 200 x 1.5 = 300
300 sammies x 1/4# cooked pork per sammy = 75 pounds of cooked pork
75 pounds of cooked pork with a 40% loss (depends on bone in or bone out) 75 / 0.6 = 125 pounds of raw butt.
With your big rig, this should not be a problem, if you can maintain 225 deg. If you can maintain the 225, then your butts should be done in about 1 1/2 hours per pound. Say you have a 8# butt then that butt should take 12 hours. Is your rig an off-set? I suspect, if it is a pig cooker more often than not it is a direct heat rig. That can be trickier in that there will probably be more hot spots and harder to keep 225. Remember, it is 225 deg at the meat. Suggest fire on one end and the butts on the other end. Even with that set up, I would suggest rotating the butts around - the one closest to the fire will of course be cooking in hotter temps. If the feed is at noon, then I'd plan on finishing in the relatively early morning and throwing all the butts, as they get done, (I check each one with an instant read thermometer) into a cooler until ready to pull and serve. You'll need to anticipate some tougher butts that will take longer - that's the main reason of planning an early finish.
Unless you are really sold on the brining, I wouldn't go to the trouble. Not necessary and to me it changes the texture and takes time and space. As far as rub. Doing butt, especially that much, I'd probably only go with salt and pepper and maybe some cayenne. IMO, with the bark to meat ratio of a butt, rubs are not a big part of the taste. Sauce will give you more of a flavor impact. But if you want to do rub anyways - check you local Sam's - they generally nave the Emerils Essence. Use that as a base for your rub - just add things you like such as sugar, garlic, onion powder, etc..... Restaurant Supply stores will also carry bulk containers of spices. Did some ribs Memorial Day and used the Bulk McCormicks BBQ Spice and the MrsDash Salt Free seasoning both sprinkled on. Turned out pretty good - and not all that costly.
Beans are good for sammy feeds. Usually start with baked beans as base, add either leftover chopped bbq or precooked crumbled bacon found in bags at Sams (or both like last night). Then add a can or two of "no bean" chili and a can or two of chopped green chilies. I'll also add some mustard (CYM or spicy brown) to give it that taste of yum - now what is that taste in the background. If I have time to cook the beans for a while, I'll also add some dehydrated diced onions. That might thicken them up as the onions hydrate - if that happens - add some beer.
I'm getting ready for the big cooking next weekend. I've decided to go with cooking on the big rig Fri/Sat. As much as I agreed that several cookings on my BDS would be safest, I just didn't have the time to tend to it during the week while I work.
I was re-reading all of the helpful advice today and wanted to say thanks and ask about Caneyscud's advice above - he said 1.5 hours/pound of meat (so a 8# butt cooks 12 hours). At 125# of meat, can I just figure the average weight of each butt and calculate the 1.5 hours on that weight? Does anyone have a good cooking calculation when cooking larger amounts of meat - is it as simple as adding a few minutes so that it's 1.75 hours/pound?
Thanks again, everyone.
RITC
Sorry about not seeing this earlier, but I've been moving my daughter to her first house.
In reality, we should be talking time per inch thickness of meat, but so be it. Time per pound is close enough. On a big rig, you don't usually have to account for any additional time for a big load unless you put them in icy cold. I usually find out what my largest piece of meat is, calculate the cook for that piece. Then add 2 or 3 hours for FTC (I just throw them into a cooler I have dedicated to the task) to be safe.
If my biggest butt is say 8 pounds. I'd plan on a smoke of about 13 to 15 hours. 8 * 1.5 hours per pound = 12 hours and then add 1 to 3 hours to make 14 to 15. The 1 to 3 hours is safety if they actually take 2 hour per lb, which is rare in a big rig. If they start finishing early, just chuck them into the cooler, they'll stay warm for several hours. You could add 4 to 5 hours if you feel you need that much safety. That 1 to 3 hours also allows me to pull, slice and get everything else on the table. When cooking several pieces of meat, I periodically take the temp of each piece - especially near the end - and take out each piece as it gets done. The timing doesn't include getting the rig up to temp. I usually plan on preheating an hour or two on my rigs - some rigs take longer to stabilize.
Often if your cooking temp is 20 degrees off for long periods of time or the entire time, then the you add 10 minutes per pound for higher, or subtract 10 mins per pound if lower for each 20 minute. Each time you open the lid is also more time, but not as bad with a big rig as say a Bradley. I usually don't open it up until several hours into the smoke - to check temps and to mop.
If you use rub - go liberal with the application. You are seasoning pretty good sized chunks of meat.
Very important is that this is based on 225 deg cooking temp at the meat level. If you go much below that for an extended period time - like if you fall asleep between 1:00 and 4:00 am (of course, I've never done that - now ducking the lightning) - the time will extend. If I do an overnight - with the rigs I have left, I'll usuallly set my alarm for every hour on the hour. Fall asleep then wake up each hour to tend fire, mop, take temps, etc......then set alarm again for one hour and fall asleep again. Once you get used to it, it is surprising how much sleep you can get. But you have to remember to set the alarm for every hour. and have a loud alarm.
Let me emphasize again the cooking temp is at the meat level and does include the radiant heat from the fire - if not an indirect smoker.
Thanks -- exactly the detail that I need! I'll post pictures along the way.
Good smoking and enjoy the experience !
Got started last night with mustard/dry rub on 16 butts.
(http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz146/redneckinthecity/IMG_1058.jpg)
I'm giving the big rig a dry run this afternoon with my new maverick to see how the temp varies.
(http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz146/redneckinthecity/IMG_1059.jpg)
I'll get started around 7 am tomorrow morning and hope to have butts on by 9.
Not sure if any of you pro's are online today, but if so, 2 questions:
1. Should I mop these butts? If so, with what?
2. So far I'm averaging about 250 - but emphasize averaging - range has been 200 to 275. Ended up covering most of the cooking surface, which made putting butts on one end and fire on the other not feasible. So, I put coals on the far edge and plan to rotate butts on the outside in and vice-versa. How often should I rotate, understanding that having the doors open isn't desirable?
Thanks everyone!
Quote from: Redneckinthecity on July 03, 2010, 07:49:14 AM
Not sure if any of you pro's are online today, but if so, 2 questions:
1. Should I mop these butts? If so, with what?
2. So far I'm averaging about 250 - but emphasize averaging - range has been 200 to 275. Ended up covering most of the cooking surface, which made putting butts on one end and fire on the other not feasible. So, I put coals on the far edge and plan to rotate butts on the outside in and vice-versa. How often should I rotate, understanding that having the doors open isn't desirable?
Thanks everyone!
I don't mop butts. some do. I think most don't.
A 250F average is good. In the Bradley I rotate every four hours. I guess it would depend on how great the temp differential is to me. The greater, the often I'd rotate. I'd hazard a guess that if it's less than 20-25 degrees, I'd stick with four hours.
So far....so good 6.5 hours in. 2 internal temps at 151 and 139. Just put some new coals in and rig temp spiked a bit to 275.
(http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz146/redneckinthecity/IMG_1065.jpg)
Quote from: Redneckinthecity on July 03, 2010, 12:29:09 PM
So far....so good 6.5 hours in. 2 internal temps at 151 and 139. Just put some new coals in and rig temp spiked a bit to 275.
(http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz146/redneckinthecity/IMG_1065.jpg)
Man that looks bitchen
Thanks to everyone for all the advice. It couldn't have turned out better. I didn't get as many pics of the finished product, but here's one before it got the Roman Pork Puller treatment (which saved me tons of time pulling 16 butts) and after.
The only complaint that I had was from the kids who were looking for hotdogs. It took all I had to not squirt them in the face with bbq sauce....
(http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz146/redneckinthecity/IMG_1071.jpg)
(http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz146/redneckinthecity/IMG_1074.jpg)
Nice going. My hat is off to you sir. What an undertaking. Way to pull it off.
Congrats Redneckinthecity! That is one good looking "pot of goodness"!!
Job well done!! Hope everybody enjoyed it, I would have. The butts looked like da bomb! I'd take a pound of that on a bun.
250 is a fine cooking temp. Butts are so full of fat and collagen, they are pretty forgiving. Mopping - I probably would have, but I don't always do it on butts as I do on brisket and ribs.
Even though you had to do direct heat, the fire was far enough away from the meat that you could do that. I really like cooking on those type smokers. The one in my sig. is a direct heat also. Used to be my favorite cooker for when I have lots of different things to do. You can always find hotter places to put things that need hotter, and cooler places for things that need cooler temps.
BTW, that is one sharp looking rig. Love the side "tables"!
Were you done by midnight?
Oh, and you have permission to squirt the whiners!
That would have been fun just to be there and watch.
Very nice!
Thanks, Caneyscud. The first ones came off around midnight, the last one at 2 am (dang old stubborn hog). I rotated them every 3 hours, but I ran out for a few hours around 5 pm and everything cooled off more than I expected, so I probably added an hour or 2 to my time because of that. My wife was giving me a hard time about posting so much on here, but I told her there was too much riding on the event (not to mention first time cooking on this rig and never cooking that much before) and I needed lots of expert advice. I've fried catfish for that many, but it's more mechanical than trying to time bbq.
The tables really work well - when towing or not in use, they swing around and sit next to the fire box. It also has 2 propane burners that fit in a rack that hook up to a propane tank mounted on the front.
All of this food was for our neighborhood swimming pool. We also had a moon bounce and cotton candy for the kids.
(http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz146/redneckinthecity/IMG_1079.jpg)
Congratulations!!!! It looks like you pulled it off! No Pun intended... Don't worry about posting too much on the site, she'll learn to deal with it. Most of ours have. ;D ;D ;D
Quote from: SnellySmokesEm on July 06, 2010, 11:02:04 AM
Congratulations!!!! It looks like you pulled it off! No Pun intended... Don't worry about posting too much on the site, she'll learn to deal with it. Most of ours have. ;D ;D ;D
Or we do if from the office - so SHE doesn't know!
Looks like a fun time for everyone!