Help on a big pork butt cook

[fracmeister]

Feeding a bunch of kids for a Church activity -- naturally I am in charge of the food for 225 people. We are doing Dutch oven stuff but on one meal I am responsible for the pulled pork sandwiches (they suggested brisket but we do have a budget). Fortunately, Kroger had a deal at $0.97/lb! I bought 97 pounds --12 butts ranging from 6.5 to 11.4 lbs (yes, I know but most are about 8 lbs and at that price I bought all they had at 3 stores.). I have homes for 10 on smokers and trying to decide between using one or more of my Oklahoma Joe UDS or the Weber kettle. Frankly I always have been using the pellet pooper for these as it delivers flawless results.

Will be an overnight cook.

I have about a 90 minute drive to feed at 11:30 and plan (a) faux cambro the works and (b) to drag my kitchen Aid and a big honking backup battery to shred on site.

Suggestions on Weber vs OJB? Advice on those? general advice on larger quantities (A big cook for me is normally a brisket and 6 racks of ribs and a bunch of sasuages with loads of sides...)

[efincoop]

I'm guessing you can get more meat on the OBJ than on the Weber, so that would be my suggestion. Most UDS cookers are fairly set & forget once you get the meat on and they settle in.

[Joey877]

Every time I have done a cook on this scale I have done it ahead of time. Pulled pork is very forgiving, so I would recommend smoking them ahead of time, even if in batches, and pulling them ahead of time as well. You can then load the pulled pork into dutch ovens or slow cookers with a stick of butter in each to get them back to serving temp.

[Richard Chrz]

The few times I have done bigger cooks like that, I do the same, a few days before, just because, it is more peace of mind,

[Oak Smoke]

This is probably blasphemy but why not do a couple in the oven. If you wrap the ones on the smokers at 180 IT you’ll have some nice flavorful juices to mix in as you mix the smoked and oven cooked ones together. No one will complain I’m sure.

[Donw]

+1

[efincoop]

Or, perhaps a slight variation.... Start them on the smoker and pull them after they get a few hours of smoke, then wrap and finish in the oven.

[LA Pork Butt]

If you cook with a raised grate expect longer cook times. It will be like cooking a Butt that is twice as thick. I once did 40# with a raised grate on my large BGE and the normal 12-14 hour cook took 22 hours.

[tbob4]

This point is spot on. It has been my experience as well in my cabinet which is intended to hold as much as he is cooking.

[jfmorris]

Having done similar sized cooks, just be ready to pull butts off and put them into cambro as they get done on the different cookers. As far as the Weber kettle versus the OJ - assuming we are talking the Bronco here, I think your capacity on either will be 2 butts. The kettle will certainly be easier to refuel. As long as the butts are not touching in my experience, cook times may be a little longer for a cooker full of meat, but within an hour of your normal times.

I've always tended to pull/shred the pork in advance and pack into disposable foil pans (the half sheet pan size), and then keep those warm for serving.

Having bought a lot of the sale butts from Kroger, unfortunately, I've had more than my share of fat and gristle - stuff that did not render - and I am unsure of how well a Kitchenaide will do at shredding those, unless that is something you've done before. Folk are really NOT gonna want a big hunk of gristle/fat in their sandwiches after all. I'm used to pulling by hand, chopping if need be, and tossing out the inedible stuff. Another reason I do it in advance.

Also note that backup batteries like a UPS are not intended for inductive loads like a motor, and may not do well at running the Kitchenaide stand mixer. The typical office UPS cannot run a laser printer for the same reason. I would test that out before I relied on it as a solution. A generator would be better if you have one available. Or a high wattage inverter running off your vehicle.

[fracmeister]

OK, so far I have learned two things. I probably need to go with the generator route if I want to run the kitchen aid and failing that have some strong people pulling -- I will also bring a large cutting board and do some chopping and be looking for the gristly bits. I will be having people with gloves assembling sandwiches --- grab a handful or use tongs? handfuls are faster. I have cotton liners if it is too hot. Also -- be done earlier rather than later.

i will have VERY limited reheating options so I am planning on finishing the cooks up by like 6 am. I will be on site by 10 and set up, probably pull 4-5 before they start coming in.

any other ideas, please shoot them out

[jfmorris]

You should be good. A bunch of foil wrapped butts in towels in a cambro/cooler will still be steaming hot at lunch even if you put them in the cooler at 6am. Just be prepared for all the juice in the foil. I open it over the foil pan I pull the pork into. One butt fills one half size foil pan, and I go through those things in BBQ season. Cheap at Sam's though.

[jfmorris]

Back when I expected to feed 200 folks BBQ for my youngest daughter's canceled wedding, I was going to use it as an excuse to get a Camp Chef Smokevault 24, as it will hold full steam table trays, and I was going to use it to hold things on site, and potentially to smoke stuff as well.

[efincoop]

I have a small propane fueled PitBoss-2 for the same reason. I picked it up used for $80. Holds 140-150 pretty well. If you know anyone with a similar vertical smoker, that would work.

[fracmeister]

Thanks for all the help. I will post some pics. Basically, I found as we moved along (cooking on ALL THREE smokers (why didn't i buy a karebecue yet?) That the OJB gave by far the best looking bark, a very deep mahogany but not black. The yoder delivered on accurate temps and space. so I moved them around all night and by 4 am, 4 were at temp and I finished the other 9 in the oven at 235F and all at temp by 7 am. So I loaded all and by 10:30 AM they were mainly in the 150-160 range but I put some coals under 3 dutch ovens and found I could get them piping hot pretty quick. By 11:30 we were serving and 224 kids had as much as they wanted and I had 2 smaller buts still wrapped (which found homes right away). I was planning on a pic with all the bones (to follow) but someone came along and gave bones to some dogs in the area. Didn't ask, just took the bones. I guess they meant well. We bought all the food for 3 days, organized all the delivery, training and etc. It takes a lot of food to feed that many people.

[tbob4]

Great job!!

[fracmeister]

Once again. thanks for the help

[Draznnl]

Congrats on what sounds like a very successful event.

[ILMsmoke]

I realize this is over, but I vacuum seal and freeze a lot of bbq and save for later dates. The fat content is so high I can tell very little difference in my reheated butts vs ones that were cooked that day. I'd cook a week ahead of time if I didn't have the capacity to do it well in one run.

[fracmeister]

Pics. not all the bones. Took it before we finished and after someone gave to the dogs. 97 lbs of butts is heavy.