Advice Required on catering gig

Congrats on nailing the gig!
This is what disturbs me :

(This whole process will take no more than 1hr)

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So moving the Lang, re-firing the thing, bringing the butts up past the stall to 195-205 will only take an hour? Not a chance.
I'd cook 'em full through, let 'em rest for 20 minutes, wrap, towel, cooler, transport, fire up (for show only) and then finish.
I'd consider cubing one or two at 160, and making Pork Burnt Ends.

Is cooking offsite and selling to the public legal in your locale?

It is not in mine unless its in a certified kitchen

Generally, since you are not going to be cooking on-site, and that does not appear to be a premium to what you are doing, my advice would be to remove as many variables as possible from the equation. If you want to be able to break down whole butts as a part of the show, that is going to make it a little longer process on the day of the vend.

Incidentally, I assume this is a vend and not a catering gig. If it was me, I would precook, crash cool the butts and store them cold overnight. My preference for these types of things is to break the butts into 4 to 5 pieces per butt, place into heat resistant bags and chill in ice bath to cool as quickly as possible. Then bring to event in ice chests. Fire the cooker and reheat the pork in covered aluminum pans, adding a little moisture to aid in reheating.

Whole butts can be done in a similar manner, crash cool the butt by placing it whole, into a plastic turkey roasting bag, seal and immerse in an ice bath. Once below 45°F, then wrap in foil, and keep cold. Once on site, the butts are fully cooked, all you need to do it vent the foil, add some moisture and heat them up to serving temperature. This can be done at 350°F and would take a short time.

You could stage your reheats, so that you only heat 3 at a time, keeping one ready all the time.

JG89 said:

Thanks for your reply. Sorry man it's been a long day I meant the process as in moving her and getting her fired up back to temp taking an hour...not the whole process including cooking. My mistake sorry

Cook through, rest, wrap, towel, cooler, transport, fire up and finish. That sounds good man, could you elaborate the process for me if you have the time? Would be appreciated.

Regarding legal aspects we are certified by our local authorities to cook off site so that's not the issue, its the method I need advice on. Have you got any suggestions?

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sure I have a suggestion.

Follow Landarc's advice. Thats what I did for a similar cook I did for a fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity. He advised me privately and it worked out great

I have done a few events close to home. As a nonprofit, we are exempt from the 'cook-on-site' regs. I will cook until done, and then pull all the ash and smoldering wood from the firebox (cooker temps still 175+) with a shovel and dump into water to extinguish. I throw wet rags into the firebox to dampen any remaining ash. I close all vents and then drive to the site. The butts don't slide around since they've cooked on the rack. Essentially, the butts are cooling on the rack as I drive, and are cool enough to pull once I get there (again, this is close and temps are still at safe handling). We pull when we get to the site, add a little apple juice, cover with foil and put back on the smoker. Re-light the fire, and bring back to 150 (usually higher, because I'm cooking boneless chicken thighs, mac & cheese, or something). I have a Lang 84", and it'll hold heat for a while without any fire in the box.