How many briskets/

[jbollier]

My neighbor called me last night and it seems she is planning a party for her club (HOGs or Harley Owners Group) and they decided to have brisket catered to the pool party but she put the nix on that and mouthed off that her neighbor (me) smoked the best brisket in the world and volunteered me to smoke brisket for 50 people. How many briskets will it take and will my 4 rack hold that much and are there any tricks to smoking that much at once. Any advice will be appreciated or any volunteers  in this area to help smoke. I instructed her to buy the briskets 30 days before needed and I will wet age them in my fridg.Oh yeah, it is in the Duncanville,TX area.

[Oldman]

If you only have one smoker you are SOL if you want to smoke and serve the same day. Unless you are only going to give the folks a taste.

16-18 pounds  of Deckel will take up to 22 -24 hours to smoke. (I never do the flat.)

If your only option is to smoke with one Bradley unit then many days earlier start your smokin'; crovac the meat in boilable bags and boil them as you need more food on the day of servering.

Sorry but the Bradley has it limits and your problem exceeds those limits for one unit.
Olds

[jbollier]

I will not be smoking and serving on the same day, smoked brisket is something that can't be rushed. The vacuum seal bags are a good idea. The question still remains, how many briskets? I will start about a week before needed and after aging about 30 days.

[Ka Honu]

There are a couple of formulas for servings per pound that I'm sure someone will post for you.  Big question in whether there will be other meats or is it a "brisket-only" affair.  If the latter, the conventional wisdom is something like 1/3 pound finished product per serving although with the group you describe I'd err on the upside and plan on 1/2 pound (bikers like their BBQ).  That means about 25 pounds of cooked brisket.  Not sure exactly what the waste and shrinkage is but I'm guessing you'll need to start with about 35 pounds raw. That translates to 5 flats (7-8 pounds each - what I usually find around here).

This is just a ballpark figure to work with until the pros show up with more accurate techniques.

[Habanero Smoker]

Here is a link to a Texan who smokes multiple briskets. He uses the 6 rack, but you can modify his instructions for your 4 rack.

Brisket Pachanga

Here is a link to a spreadsheet to help you calculate the portions, and how much raw meat you need to start with.

Eazy-Pleazy BBQ Calculator

If you are using IE, it may not let you download the spreadsheet unless you change your security settings. If you have Firefox, that will be much easier.

[westexasmoker]

Always overshoot what you think as far as portion goes, seems like no matter how much you cook it'll get eaten...well at least around this house! I say 5-6 10 lb.er's ought to get ya there, and I've done 4 (40 lbs) in my OBS with out a problem.  I would suggest you move them to your house oven after the smoke to finish cooking, and keep in mind with that much meat in your smoker temp recovery will take forever!  Good luck, can't wait to hear (and hopefully see some pics) of your outcome!

C

[beefmann]

i would start with 30 to 45 lbs of raw brisket and do a slow cook from there at a box temp of 225, prepare like you normally would, and plan for 24 to 30 hour cook in the bradley while every few hours do a rotation of racks. I have done 42 lbs of tri tip for a company picnic two years ago and had no problems  it was just a long cook at 34 hours

Beef