How many will it feed?

terryrichards · December 09, 2006, 06:26:15 AM

How many people will 24 lb of pulled pork feed? Asuming an average person with several side to choose from. I know there will be a few gluttons that will eat more than their fair share. I am having an open house and expecting 50-75 people. Will 24 lb be enough or should I make more?

Thanks,

TR

aha638 · December 09, 2006, 08:07:03 AM

Is the 24 lbs of smoked pork or 12 lbs after smoking? I plan 4 to 5 oz per sandwich.

Al

terryrichards · December 09, 2006, 08:41:47 AM

it is 26 lb before smoking. and I have 4 lb vaccum sealed to ad to it. Am I assuming to many lbs after smoking?

TR

Habanero Smoker · December 09, 2006, 10:37:43 AM

It's best to have too much than not enough. Since you have a vacuum sealer, you can always package the extra away for another time. For me pulled pork tastes better the day (or more) after it's been pulled and the flavors allowed to blend longer.

terryrichards · December 09, 2006, 11:03:50 AM

I went to sam's and bought 2 more butts 39 lbs total before smoke. I am getting them ready now for a smoke tommorrow. My open house is not until the 16th so I am going to vaccum seal all of this until sat morning and put it all in a big roaster. I had to do it this weekend or I would be doing nothing but cooking Friday and sat morning. That would not have been a big deal but my son's b-day is friday so that rules out most everything friday. I probably should have planned my open house date a little bit better than throwing a dart at a calender.

TR

owrstrich · December 09, 2006, 01:24:07 PM

i have had my bs completely full of butts... 2 5lbers per shelf... all 4 shelves... 40lbs total... it took about 22 hours if i remember correctly... that was at 200 deg box low and slow to 190 internal... kicked to 210 box about 170 internal... the plateau with a full bs is killer... wait... its worth it...

i would go 5 hours of smoke with a full load... change water at 5hrs then a 10hrs... those butts give off a lot of goo at 160 to 180 internal... when changing water i would rotate top to bottom 1 up front to back... that would be 2 door openings for the whole smoke... the bottom shef will be done a couple hours before the top shelf...

the plateau will be killer... wait... its worth it...

i used the chez bubba mobile mess hall approach by stiring in balsamic viniger that was spiked with crused red pepper... some call it a variation of vaulted viniger... do a search for the proper vaulted recipie... try it... you cant screw it up...

anyway... i shreaded the butt and stired in one cup per butt when hot right out of smoker... then bagged them... no ftc... they needed nothing on the warm up... no sauce or nothing... i was told it helped finishing off the goo... it worked... and has multiple times...

nothing goes better with bs butt than homemade cole slaw... somebody has a recipie here somewhere...

i dig the pig... i gotta eat... you dig the pig... you gotta eat...

owrstrich

West Coast Kansan · December 09, 2006, 01:46:55 PM

Well TR you have it covered now...even if I was invited ;). The rotation Owrstrich described is important in a long smoke with multi butts, the bottom and back of the smoker will be hotter than the rest. No problem doing these in advance. I did several (as you are about to do) for a wedding recently and I think they were better than those done since.

terryrichards · December 09, 2006, 02:54:22 PM

I could only get in 4 butts at once 2 per rack one rack on the 2nd and the other on the top. I could not get the last rack in because the butts rubbed the rack above it. Thinking now (hind sight is always 20/20) I should have cut some 1" tubing to space up the 2nd rack and I could have got all 3 in there. They have only been in for 45 min right now so I think I'll go to the garage and conjure something up.

I'll report back

TR

terryrichards · December 09, 2006, 03:13:20 PM

OK hind sight saved my for once. I had some 1.5 tall .5 wide aluminum. I cut them the same length as the rack and spaced the 2nd rack up and now I can get the bottom rack in. I could not space up the top rack it would hit the top of the smoker. so now 6 butts with an average weight of 6.5lb per butt.

Thanks for the reply owrstrich if you hadn't said anything I would have been smoking again tommorrow.

Now just wait and see.

TR

owrstrich · December 10, 2006, 02:17:32 AM

dont let the butts touch the sides of the box... if so... the goo will slide down the walls and cause all kinds of dangers and problems...

its kinda funny at times... when i buy meat i take my tape measure to make sure what i get does not exceed the wall to wall ceiling to floor space of the racks... im always measuring up the beast...

low and slow...

owrstrich

terryrichards · December 10, 2006, 06:10:30 AM

They are not touching the sides, spacing that rack up sure seemed to be the ticket. we are at the 17 hr mark right now and I just refilled the water for the 2nd time and re-sprayed w/apple juice. Internal right now is 127 I swapped front to back and top to bottom at the 5hr mark.

icerat4 · December 10, 2006, 08:16:30 AM

just let them go no more moving around.190-195 temps out they come.enjoy.

owrstrich · December 10, 2006, 10:53:59 AM

some folks may disagree with this but i set the beast out for several hours before loading... the amount of time to smoke 50deg beast compared to 40deg beast may be 2 or 3 hours with a full load... its less with smaller loads...

im not concerned with bugs at 50deg beast right into smoker when taking it to 190deg...

anyway... it looks like you have a 30 hour smoke on your hands... dont open the door... be patient... its worth it...

you gotta eat...

owrstrich

ceeuawlsune · December 10, 2006, 06:55:41 PM

In response to your question, I did a 9.5# butt last week (pre-cooked weight), and served exactly 9 sandwiches. So I guesstimate that if you have 40# pre-cooked, you should end up with enough for about 40 sandwiches.

I have a question - can you describe what you did to "space" your rack up? In terms that somebody who doesn't know what you're referring to when you say you "had some 1.5 tall by .5 wide aluminum?" I don't know what that is, and if I did, I wouldn't know what you did with it. I understand what you're doing and why, but neither how you're doing it nor what materials you're doing it with. I'll even show you pictures of mine if you tell me about yours...

terryrichards · December 10, 2006, 07:36:05 PM

Ok first I was a machinist for to many years. 1/2" wide x 1 1/2" tall aluminum. The 4 places to set the racks in the BS are 1/2" wide. So I cut 2 pcs of aluminum. that was 1/2" wide 1 1/2" tall and the depth of the rack. I was only able to get 2 racks in the BS because the butts were to tall. I had one on the top rack and the 2nd from the bottom. So I took out the second from the bottom and added the spacers onto the "ledges" inside the BS and set the rack on top of the spacers, gaining 1 1/2" in height giving me enough room to ad another rack of butts. 6 butts total averaging 6.5lb ea. Start to finish 31 hrs. I smoked for 6hrs with a mix of Hickory and Mesquite. I used Icerat's recipe w/the mustard and the rub. I used Owrstrich's idea about the Vaulted Vinegar. I pulled 2 butts in a large tub and let the wife and kids eat supper from that. Then I made the Vaulted Vinegar for the next 2 butts. I let my wife try it and she said it was 100% better tasting. (Thanks Owrstrich) She said the first was great but the second was awesome.

ceeuawlsune, if you are still wondering about my spacing thing please reply and I'll explain further.

Thanks for everyones help.

TR