Brisket And Pulled Pork For 700

[CT-Mike]

So I was drafted by one of the Directors at work to cook brisket and pulled pork for the site picnic for an estimated 700 people on Wednesday.

Started out by borrowing another SF trailer to ensure I had enough capacity to cook everything in one batch from Brother @HammerheadSh. Can't thank him enough for his generosity to someone he just met a few weeks ago.

Tomorrow a friend and I are headed to Restaurant Depot to buy 350# of butts and 350# of Angus brisket.

Trimming and prepping the meat tomorrow morning and storing in the walk-in. Meat hits the smoke at midnight Tuesday night for lunch service to start at 1100.

I will post more pics as things progress. Meanwhile here is a shot of 2 Shirley's in the garage out of the rain, and a shot of Hammerheads sitting in the driveway.

[pjtexas1]

30x80 and it's not big enough...that doesn't seem right. Subscribed.

[CT-Mike]

30x80 and it's not big enough...that doesn't seem right. Subscribed.

I actually think it is big enough if I cook in the warmer also, but I want to make sure. All of the protein has to be ready at the same time.

Work is also renting 2 extra large Alto-Shaam ovens for hot holding.

[mchar69]

I think you have way too much meat.
I'd like to be on the receiving end of that!

[jdbh]

i think way to much meat just what mchar69 says

[Notorious Q.U.E.]

Thing of beauty, those dreadnoughts wont disappoint

[CT-Mike]

I think you have way too much meat.
I'd like to be on the receiving end of that!

The leftovers will be eaten by the backshift crews.

[cfrazier77]

Can you really have too much meat, especially when someone else is paying? Way to go and please post some more pics. Hope it all goes well!

[Jason TQ]

Nice!

[kukle]

Nice trailer! Hope all goes well...

[Titch]

That going to be a big cook. have fun and enjoy the compliments

[bstomper]

Wow thats a big cook. I think I'm doing good to cook for a house full of 10 guests.

[PatAttack]

Can't wait to see this meat bonanza!

[dgaddis1]

I'm in the 'that sounds like way too much meat' camp as well! I usually guesstimate 1/2lbs per person and always have leftovers, you've got twice that!

Looking forward to seeing pics!

[jonfromjersey]

when people get GOOD bbq they tend to eat a little more. This weekend we brought brisket/burnt ends to a picnic. There was also burgers, dogs, chicken cutlets, veg burgers.
The host asked me to buy 20 lbs...I bought 40, lost 6 lbs of fat to trimming and there was no more brisket 20 minutes after putting it out. 2/3 of the people never got any. More is always better :-D
Have a great time!

[CT-Mike]

Close to 400# of brisket, and about the same in butts. Unfortunately Restaurant Depot only had boneless butts so they were tied into roasts after rub was applied.

Butts were injected with 50/50 apple juice and ACV and rubbed with DP Dizzy Dust. Briskets were injected with a beef broth/Worcestershire sauce mix, and rubbed with Oakridge Black Ops.

Unfortunately I can't use a camera inside the protected area so pics of the prep will have to wait till I get them from the site photog.

[Steve S]

Wow.

[daninnewjersey]

Nice.....

[THoey1963]

Damn, and I thought my six briskets was a lot of work...

:popcorn:

[Jrogers84]

I cant wait to watch this cook

[Sevengoals]

Fantastic!

[jasonjax]

WAYYYY too much meat. AWESOME!!!!

PLEASE PLEASE post tons of pictures of the process, even though it will be hard with all the work ahead of you.

Can I put one more PLEASE in? :)

I've cooked for 150 before max .... that's some serious cooking!!!!

[Jason TQ]

Holy crap you injected? Injecting big cooks got old fast :-D

[Ayvatr]

This I gotta see! :popcorn:

[CT-Mike]

Holy crap you injected? Injecting big cooks got old fast :-D

The Director in charge of this show drafted 10 people to help with rubs, trimming, prep, etc. All I did was kind of stand back and oversee the operation.

No one had trimmed a brisket before so a couple got a little hacked up - will become burnt ends if necessary.

[CT-Mike]

Lots o' meat.

[CT-Mike]

Cooks breakfast.

[iStrikeBack]

looking good!

[tonyjohnson619]

Looking good

[CT-Mike]

Most of the proteins are done and hanging out in the rented CVAP's.

[DaveAlvarado]

That's an awesome cook.

You have twice as much meat as you need, but it's still an awesome cook.

Also, you're nuts injecting 700+ lbs of meat. :)

[gsmith]

All i can ever find at the RI RD is boneless butts. If I really want bone in I get them from BJ's in Waterford. They give a discount for cases.

Nice looking cook you have going.

[nmeyer414]

DAMN!

now that is a site to see........ 3 shirleys awaiting duty!

[Stlsportster]

DAMN!

now that is a site to see........ 3 shirleys awaiting duty!

I believe that is two Shirleys. Mike's is just big enough to be 2.

[Stlsportster]

And I was really hoping to see a pic of both of them loaded up with all that meat!

[punchy]

its gotta be lunch time..hows it going?

[gsmith]

I'm sure he is in the thick of it right about now. Even with 10 helpers that is a lot of pork to pull and brisket to slice.
I can't wait to hear how everything turned out.

[ronbrad62]

That is extremely impressive. I agree that this is a lot of meat for the head count, but 1) the boss is footing the bill, and 2) I'm sure it will be so good folks will go back for seconds. I would much rather have too much in this situation than not enough. Good on ya!

[DaveAlvarado]

What's funny is that after all of our "way too much meat" comments, I bet he ends up with like a ziplock of leftovers when all is said and done.

[K-Barbecue]

That's one hell of a cook. Can't wait to hear how it went and how much is or isn't left over. Good job !!

[Cat797]

Holy Fark! :jaw::jaw::jaw:

Nice work!.....I personally like the boneless butts. I have found that the ones I buy at Costco yield around 65% or so, and they seem to not have a lot of the grissly bits you find in the standard butt.
:thumb:

Ed

[SmokinBuddha]

Wow! I hope you got a lot of people helping you.

[Dweverett]

All i can ever find at the RI RD is boneless butts. If I really want bone in I get them from BJ's in Waterford. They give a discount for cases.

Nice looking cook you have going.

It's been a while since I was there but I think the Hartford RD had bone in butts. Might not be worth the drive -- but, when cooking 400 lbs, I might evaluate things differently

Awesome cook!

[pitbossJB]

Wow! That's the way to use a Shirley for sure. I can't wait to see how this works out.

[mchar69]

What's funny is that after all of our "way too much meat" comments, I bet he ends up with like a ziplock of leftovers when all is said and done.
Yeah, not a gallon but a quart. This HAD to be epic!!

[CT-Mike]

So I just got home after starting the fires at midnight. Both Shirleys ran at an average of 300 F. I really expected to chew through the the wood with the amount of meat to bring up to temp, but I only used 3/4 of the wood basket on each cooker. A real testament to how efficient these things are, and I feel the insulated fireboxes played a huge part in that.

Unfortunately I didn't get any pics of the loaded cookers because we were too busy. I was able to fit 18 briskets and 20 butts in the main chamber, and 4 briskets and 8 butts in the warmer oh my monster. The remaining 6 briskets and 12 butts went in the 24x50 Brethren HammerheadSh graciously loaned me. The warmer in the smaller cooker was used to cook those baby backs for our snack.

Overall based on the feedback, we killed it. Raving, positive reviews from all. The two smallest briskets were a little over, as they tended to crumble when slicing. We ended up just chopping those and no one really knew the difference.

One huge learning point for me: portion control. The cafeteria folks made the sides and were assisting, I stupidly assumed that they would be serving as well. I did not talk to them about that, and as a result it was self-serve and we ran short of brisket. I feel bad about it and apologized to the Site VP and the Director that was organizing the event. They laughed it off and said they were ordering BBQ from a local brick and mortar joint for the backshift.

All in all it was a great success. I will post more photos when I get them from the site photographer.

[LloydQ]

Holy cow, I would not have slept for a month worrying about that cook. To say I am impressed is the understatement of the year! I can't imagine the epic nap I would need after that!

[KevinJ]

Well done and it's good to see you are putting that big rig to the test. :clap:

[CT-Mike]

Well done and it's good to see you are putting that big rig to the test. :clap:

Thanks. At least now I know my Pit will hold about 550# of protein.

[Smoke on Badger Mountain]

Simply awesome!

[IamMadMan]

Awesome cook Mike...

[Ayvatr]

Way to go Mike! The brisket must have been off the chain...

[Bigbears BBQ]

Way to knock it out the park cant way to see the pics

[CT-Mike]

It's been a while since I was there but I think the Hartford RD had bone in butts. Might not be worth the drive -- but, when cooking 400 lbs, I might evaluate things differently

Awesome cook!

I bought all of this at RD in Hartford. Usually they have bone in butts, just happened to be out the day we went.

[Cook]

You were on the clock...right? LoL

[CT-Mike]

You were on the clock...right? LoL

It was a scheduled work day so yes I was on the clock.

[Jrogers84]

Awesome man thanks for the ride :)

[qnbiker]

I know what it's like to cook for 50; can't even imagine cooking for 700. You're a better man than me.

[Sevengoals]

Far out!
Super work.
Well done!

[DownHomeQue]

Awesome work!

[Tango Joe]

Most amazing - Bravo on a super cook!

[CT-Mike]

Finally got some photos from the site photographer, posted in no particular order.

[CT-Mike]

Next batch:

[nmeyer414]

:clap:

[ColdFusion71]

Man that was awesome.

[THoey1963]

Great job Mike!

[bbqwizard]

Awesome stuff!

[LloydQ]

You da man!

[qnbiker]

:hail:

[Notorious Q.U.E.]

Now that epitomizes Goin' Deep!!

[Kikaida]

Killer job!:clap2: