Bachelor party smoke help

[Shotgun smokers]

I'm heading over to the Oregon coast next Thursday for a few nights with some of my buddies for my bachelor party. They all want me to smoke some food for them... So I put my foot in my mouth lol and said I would love to but I have never cooked for 15-20 people and don't want to mess it up.. They all said they would pay for the meat if I would pick it up so I need your guys help telling me how many butts/briskets/spare ribs.. Plus I wouldn't mind any suggestion on some ideas on how to cook the ribs.. Thanks Brothers!

 

[redbandit98]

First off congrats on the upcoming marriage. Second..its your party and YOURE having to cook? come on man!! hahah I will tell you what I would do. I would go pick up the cryo 2 pack of butts at Sams. You may not have a sams but Im sure Costco etc does it the same way. Usually they come two to a pack, about 14-19 pounds total weight. I would then pick up two of the cryo packs of loin back ribs. There are three racks per pack so you would have about 18 pounds of pulled pork and 6 racks of ribs. I would quarter the ribs up so you could eat a sandwich and have a small portion of ribs to go with it. Just feeding ribs to 20 people will get expensive. Here is how I always cook my ribs. I take the membrane off the back and rub them with my choice of rub. Then I smoke them for 2 hours at about 250 degrees. I spritz them with apple juice about every 20 minutes or so. I dont know how much this helps but I do it. After two hours I wrap them up in foil and cook for another hour and a half. I always spray them real good before I wrap them and if needed throw a tad bit more rub on them. After an hour they are either super close to being done or are done. Either way I take them out of the foil and put them back on to let the bark set up a bit. Then I watch as the vultures come in hover around wating on me to move out of the way so they can eat. Good luck!!!

 

[Ron_L]

I think redbandit nailed it. You can normally get 4 portions out of a rack of ribs (assuming other meats), so two of the three packs is plenty. For butts, figure a 50% yield, so an 8 lb raw butt will giv eyou about 4 lbs of cooked meat. then figure 1/4 lb servings, so an 8 lb butt would give you 16 servings. A two pack gives you plenty in case folks want a couple of sandwiches. If you want to add brisket, use the same calculation and you'll be safe. Yield on a brisket is normally higher than 50%, but that gives you a margin for error. So, assuming 20 servings at 1/4 lb, you need 5 lbs of cooked brisket, or 10 lbs raw. I'd cook two briskets (two packers, then you can have slices and brunt ends if you want) and have leftovers.

What do you have to cook on when you are there?

 

[landarc]

I think Ron's question is a big part of it. Pork butts go a long ways on a small cookers. Ribs require more room for the same number of people. Other than that, I think you have the feedback you need from Ronelle and Redbandit.

 

[greatdaneheaven]

Cash n carry is a good place to go in Portland

 

[Shotgun smokers]

First off congrats on the upcoming marriage. Second..its your party and YOURE having to cook? come on man!! hahah I will tell you what I would do. I would go pick up the cryo 2 pack of butts at Sams. You may not have a sams but Im sure Costco etc does it the same way. Usually they come two to a pack, about 14-19 pounds total weight. I would then pick up two of the cryo packs of loin back ribs. There are three racks per pack so you would have about 18 pounds of pulled pork and 6 racks of ribs. I would quarter the ribs up so you could eat a sandwich and have a small portion of ribs to go with it. Just feeding ribs to 20 people will get expensive. Here is how I always cook my ribs. I take the membrane off the back and rub them with my choice of rub. Then I smoke them for 2 hours at about 250 degrees. I spritz them with apple juice about every 20 minutes or so. I dont know how much this helps but I do it. After two hours I wrap them up in foil and cook for another hour and a half. I always spray them real good before I wrap them and if needed throw a tad bit more rub on them. After an hour they are either super close to being done or are done. Either way I take them out of the foil and put them back on to let the bark set up a bit. Then I watch as the vultures come in hover around wating on me to move out of the way so they can eat. Good luck!!!

Thanks!! I wasn't sure what I should do when it came to ribs I plan on just doing what you told me! Thanks!! What would be a good rub for ribs? I've only done ribs one time and I made my own rub and It was way to salty! Thanks again!

 

[Shotgun smokers]

What do you have to cook on when you are there?[/QUOTE]

I'm using a traeger lil Tex.. I know I can fit at least a brisket, pork butt, and a big Slab of ribs. Thanks for all the advice!!

 

[Shotgun smokers]

I also just got the ok from the wife-to-be, to go ahead and buy a webber 22.5" smokey mountain so I'll be buying that tomorrow as well as breaking it in..I've never used one before so any advice on that, I would be very thankful for!

 

[Dr_KY]

Jumping in at the deep end.

I wouldn't do a first cook for people on a WSM without a trial run or two.

 

[Ron_L]

I also just got the ok from the wife-to-be, to go ahead and buy a webber 22.5" smokey mountain so I'll be buying that tomorrow as well as breaking it in..I've never used one before so any advice on that, I would be very thankful for!

Congrats on the WSM! At the bottom of the page is a Google Custom Search box that just searches this site. Search for 22.5" WSM and you'll find a bunch of tips.

Here is the basic startup and temp management stuff that I typed up a while ago...

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showpost.php?p=948954&postcount=10

 

[BBQ Bandit]

You got the right answers on the meats and portions.

One small detail... rather than trying to initiate a breaking-in a brand new WSM smoker... I'm sure there's a Brother around who could aid and assist with his smoker... reducing the learning curve and enjoying more of your upcoming nuptials.

 

[Shotgun smokers]

You got the right answers on the meats and portions.

One small detail... rather than trying to initiate a breaking-in a brand new WSM smoker... I'm sure there's a Brother around who could aid and assist with his smoker... reducing the learning curve and enjoying more of your upcoming nuptials.

I would do that but then I wouldn't have a reason to buy one lol. I had to justify buying one lol. But I did buy one today!!! I picked up a 22.5" and I did that on my lunch break and I can't wait to get off of work to set that puppy up!!