4th of July cookout and final sanity check

[Sigurd]

I've done four successful cooks on my UDS (two batches of fatties, picnic shoulder, butt), and decided to go all out for the 4th. I have potentially 32 people stopping by throughout the day and have never done anything of this size or magnitude, although I have already test-cooked all my dishes in the last week (tasty, and no hangups in the recipes).

Menu:
(3) 6.5lb butts
potato salad, triple or quad batch
32 ears of corn, boiled (4gal stockpot and propane turkey fryer setup)
Keri's beans, probably triple batch
Bubba's sweet buttermilk cornbread, probably triple
that grilled rosemary lemonade recipe that's been floating around, with half as much rosemary
eat mid-late afternoon

Does this look like not enough or overkill in any way? I'm really only concerned about the meat. At 250-275F, how long should that take? I'd rather start the fire at 6am and be done too early than too late. Am I looking at a 10-hour cook? The potato salad and lemonade would be made the night before.

 

[New Pal Frank]

If all are hearty eaters it will be fine. I would rather have leftovers than have some one show up to eat and have nothing for them.

 

[Arlin_MacRae]

Hmm. I've not cooked for that many people, but I'm not sure you're going to get enough out of three butts to feed 32 peeps. You've got a lot of side stuff but if it's good pork you'll want to have at least one sammich per person, IMO - assuming you're serving sammiches, of course. I'd figure 16 - 20 pounds of cooked pork to feed that many, unless a lot of kids will be there.
As far as cooking them goes, I'd cook some the night before and the rest the morning of. Hitting the dreaded plateau could really wrench up your timing...

 

[smokinrack]

3 6.5 lb butts is 19.5 lbs uncooked. By the time it cooks, the fat renders, you pull the bone out and all the other stuff your gonna lose dang near half that weight leaving you with about 10-12 lbs of pork.If they are big eaters you may not have enough pork.

 

[Sigurd]

Yes, it will be sammiches. There will be no children, and some won't be eating. It looks like you get a 50-60% yield out of a butt then, correct? TWO more butts? I'm running out of room!

I'd like to cook all on the same day. What if I start the fire at 5am?

 

[Ron_L]

Most guys figure 50% yield on butts, so 19.5 lbs raw wil be 9.75 lbs cooked. Call it 10 lbs. At 1/3 lb per serving that's 30 servings. I'd add a butt.

At 275 figure 75 minutes per pound for the butts, so about 9 hours. Add in 3 hours for a buffer and two hours rest and you need to start the cook 11 hours before serving.

 

[Sigurd]

What's the rest period for?

 

[smokinrack]

What's the rest period for?

Lets the juices settle back into the meat.Also lets it cool a bit so you dont burn the fark outta your hands pulling it:wink:

 

[Grizzly6]

What's the rest period for?

Your going to be tired after all this work... :-o

j/k-ing of course... you need to let the butts sit for a little bit wrapped in some foil so they can prepare themselves for the show later that night. Without this rest period your butts could end up being not as awesome as they would have been with a rest.

Also, what kind of Mayo are you using for the Potato Salad... Sam and Ella has an excellent recipe involving sitting in the back window of a Ford escort for a couple of hours prior to serving... :decision:

 

[Fat Cap]

I would definatly add another butt. Leftovers are great, running out of food sucks!

 

[jmellor]

Where's the coleslaw? Good luck with the cook. As all above said, you may have enough but not much if any left over. So if you can throw an extra one on it can't hurt. If your guests aren't used to eating pulled pork would suggest you serve it on the buns vs letting them do it. Then you can manage how much goes on each so everyone gets some. Timing your cook will depend on when people expect to eat. Nothing wrong with doing them overnight and avoids the alternative.

 

[Sigurd]

Thanks, folks. I'm using Miracle Whip. Can I say that around here? I'm just following the recipes and haven't tried tweaking anything yet.

Guest list is now 34, so it looks like one more butt and 4x every recipe for sure.

 

[Sigurd]

Where's the coleslaw? Good luck with the cook. As all above said, you may have enough but not much if any left over. So if you can throw an extra one on it can't hurt. If your guests aren't used to eating pulled pork would suggest you serve it on the buns vs letting them do it. Then you can manage how much goes on each so everyone gets some. Timing your cook will depend on when people expect to eat. Nothing wrong with doing them overnight and avoids the alternative.

Coleslaw is right where it belongs -- not being made. Sorry, I don't like it much. Looks like I'll be up around 4am to start things.

 

[Pyle's BBQ]

To make it easie, cook your corn in a cooler. Basicly shuck your corn, put it in a cooler and add boiling water. Close lid for about 45 minutes. Ready to serve. There is a thread somewhere in Q-talk. I will see if I can find it when I get home.

 

[Ron_L]

To make it easie, cook your corn in a cooler. Basicly shuck your corn, put it in a cooler and add boiling water. Close lid for about 45 minutes. Ready to serve. There is a thread somewhere in Q-talk. I will see if I can find it when I get home.

Here it is...

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=117304

It works great!

 

[ironmanerik]

when I think there might not be enough, I get 2 or 3 packs of hot dogs and a few packs of kielbasa

 

[J-Rod]

NO COLESLAW WITH PULLED PORK?!?! BAN HIM!!!

Can't stress the rest period enough, don't rush it or your park will be dry!

 

[Sigurd]

Oh THAT's why it's dry? I'd been having problems with that...

 

[Texas Turtle]

Thanks, folks. I'm using Miracle Whip. Can I say that around here? I'm just following the recipes and haven't tried tweaking anything yet.

Guest list is now 34, so it looks like one more butt and 4x every recipe for sure.

I make my potato salad with Miracle Whip, diced pimientos and sweet pickles. Grew up on my mom's version which was sweet so it's what I am accustomed to. For a crowd that big I'd definitely kick it up to 4 butts.

 

[NC-Q]

I agree on doing at least 4 butts, but like ironmanerik said, hot dogs are pretty much the cheapest insurance you can take out against running out of food.

Regarding the Miracle Whip... it's a persona non grata in my house, I am a Duke's guy all the way. There is no other mayo (unless it's homemade...) in my book :clap2: