Big cook for Saturday - when to cook what?

[TallTrees]

This Saturday around 4pm, I'm having about 65 people over. I'm planning on smoking a full packer brisket, a full pork shoulder/Boston Butt, 8 racks of spareribs, a turkey breasts, 2 whole chicken, some chicken wings/drumettes, 3 - 3 foot ropes of various kinds of links, a plank or two of Salmon, a few hotdogs for the kids, and some tofu (a couple friends don't eat meat). A few folks are bringing vegetables to put on the grill as well. My wife thinks this is too much food, but I'd rather folks have too much than not enough to eat.

I have a large BGE, a PBC and a Yoder Durango with which to cook all of this. My dilemma is what to cook, when and where. Ideally, I'd like to do it all on the Yoder. I'm thinking that maybe I'll do the brisket and the pork butt on the Yoder on Friday, and everything else on the Yoder on Saturday.

Or I could do it all on Saturday, but I'd have to use other devices - hang the ribs in the PBC, and squeeze everything else into the Yoder.

How would you go about cooking everything so that it was ready for 4pm Saturday? Do some of it Friday, and the rest Saturday?

[Spinaker]

You've got it right. I just did a 40 person shindig for the Ryder Cup last weekend. I cooked shoulders, ribs, pork belly and chicken.

I cooked the Shoulders on Friday as well. Take them off, wrap them and let them rest just like you normally would. After the rest is complete, get them in the freezer to get that temp down as fast as possible. Then you can just put them in the fridge until Saturday. I reheated mine at 350 F for about 3 hours. This was enough time to get every part of the shoulders over 165 F.

Then on Saturday, I did the ribs. I let them go in the KBQ. Then after the ribs were done, I let them rest in my warming drawer while I did the chicken as well.

My advice is to get the big meats out of the way first. They hold and reheat waaaaaaaay better than either chicken or ribs. In my opinion, you want the chicken and ribs to be as fresh from the smoker as possible. I also think this is the safest way to go.

I would cook the Salmon on the Yoder with the ribs, throw it on towards the end of the cook. It won't take that long. On the BGE cook the dogs, Tofu, and veggies. And then I would rip the PBC for the chicken. TallTrees

[edible hen]

Spinaker, TallTrees, and EdF I run between 350-375 in the main chamber when I do chicken.

[TallTrees]

To EdF 's point, how much smoke does anything get when cooked at 350-375 degrees? It seems like it would cook pretty fast, and not have much smoke flavor. edible hen, how long are you cooking your items for at those temps?

[edible hen]

TallTrees, it's more of cooking to internal temperature than time. I've done whole chickens that take anywhere from 1-2 hours. And it has a smoke flavor.

[Jerod Broussard]

I'm flying out of Atlanta on Friday. Where do I divert my flight?

[HawkerXP]

TSA may want to talk to you about that comment.

[TallTrees]

Come on to the San Francisco Bay Area @Jerod, and enjoy some smoked meats!

[MBMorgan]

Lately, I've been vacuum sealing cooked & sauced ribs (half racks or smaller) for reheating later using my sous vide hot tub. Set it at 165 degrees and let'em soak for a couple of hours before serving. There's no worry about drying out or over-cooking. If you don't have a SV setup, you can accomplish the same thing in a big pot of barely simmering water on the stove.

[EdF]

Haven't tried it yet with ribs (no so many leftover), but have with pulled pork, and it comes out great. So if there are enough ribs leftover, I will definitely try this.

[DeusDingo]

i would be terrified and also incredibly excited to do something like that. the best of luck to you

[Spinaker]

Its not that big of a deal. I used to be the same way. But once you do one or two, the pre cook jitters are all but gone. Your more concerned with what to cook where and when.

[TallTrees]

I've done a few of these massive cooks for my friends in the past, but always on my BGE. Now I have the luxury of the PBC and the Yoder, so it "should" be a lot easier.

[CandySueQ]

Do put foil or something under that salmon! You don't want to fish-ify your smoker. Good tips above. Just be organized, do as much as you can ahead and you'll be fine.

[TallTrees]

CandySueQ - I have some frog mats that I'll cook the salmon & tofu on.

[TallTrees]

My big cook this past weekend turned out quite well, although I did struggle with getting everything ready for the same time. I put an 11 lbs turkey breast in the PBC along with 2 racks of spareribs, and 6 racks of spareribs on the Durango, along with 2 whole chicken. The ribs on the Yoder & the PBC finished about the same time, but the Yoder ribs were WAY better! So much juicer ... there was no comparison! Wow. The turkey took it's sweet time, so I moved it to the Yoder at 155 degrees to bring it up to 165, but forgot about for a while and rescued it at 174 degrees. It was a bit drier than I wanted it to be, but man was it good! I cooked the brisket & pork shoulder half-way the day before, wrapped them, and dumped them in ice overnight, warmed them in the oven to about 195, and then put them on the Yoder to get the crust/bark that I wanted. The flat of the brisket was drier than I expected, but the point was amazing! The crowd love it all! I also made a bunch of chicken wings on the BGE, that were awesome. Overall a good time, with great food. Learned a few lessons.

[RonB]

Congrats on a successful cook.

[TallTrees]

And I have a ton of leftovers! Been eating high on the hog ever since.