Fire dept BBQ / Portioning for 100

[triplezip]

Hey Breth,

Cooking for 100 people at a local fire dept BBQ this weekend (members and families including kids, not 100% sure of ratio, but 100 is the total headcount they've estimated). It will be an open self-serve buffet for 2 hours, then watermelon for dessert. I've been able to cobble together some references on portioning from other posts, but wanted to run this by our more seasoned catering vets for confirmation.

Based on their selections, here's what I'm thinking portion-wise:

Pulled pork: 3 full trays (six 4" deep half trays)
Chopped brisket: ~33 lbs cooked
BBQ chicken: 150 pc (legs / thighs)
Pit beans: 2 full trays (four 4" deep half trays)
Cole slaw: 3 full trays (six 4" deep half trays)
Hamburgers: 80 quarter-pound burgers (RD, frozen) + buns
Hot dogs: 90 + buns
Additional 120 hamburger buns for pulled pork and chopped beef sammies
Watermelon: Five 10lb seedless watermelons, sliced

Sound sufficient?

Also a question re-therming: The plan is to cook and pull / chop the pork and beef in advance, chill and then re-therm on site in the Backwoods (I'll be there ~3 hours before serving time). Any suggestions on re-therm time and smoker temp?

Thanks in advance y'all. If I get this one right, it should be annual business for us.

 

[Pyle's BBQ]

Just the brisket will make 100 5oz sandwiches. You may want to cut back on the meat. Back off the burgers, dogs, and chicken to about 30 of each. Can't say anything about the pork unless you weigh it. Also the pans mean nothing unless you know the volume or weight of you sides.

 

[triplezip]

Thanks, Bryan. To clarify the cooked weights:

30 lbs pulled pork
33 lbs chopped brisket
150 pc chicken (legs / thighs)
80 1/4-lb burgers
90 dogs

I agree it's a lot, but want to err on the side of caution. Just trying to figure out how much to safely scale back. The burgers and dogs will presumably mostly be consumed by the kids, but gauging how far to scale back the smoked meats is the tricky bit, especially not knowing what's going to go the quickest.

 

[kurtsara]

Doesn't anyone smoke and serve hot fresh food anymore?

 

[malu011]

I like your numbers, remember you will be feeding grown men, if you get the jumbo legs,thighs cut some of the thighs in half, women and children will eat smaller pieces, it's better to have more than to be short,

 

[malu011]

Also check out a website webstarant, they have insulated bags that will keep your food hot fo about 3 hrs after cooking, sometimes its the only way to get it there safely and easy, good luck, if you don't mind how much did you charge, that always seems to be my biggest issue

 

[landarc]

Overall, I think you are long on quantities, but, that is fine.

Except for hot dogs. In my experience, you need a hot dog for each person.

 

[landarc]

I reheat in foil covered pans with a little liquid added, at 350°F, it takes between 45 minutes to an hour from the fridge.

 

[Bbq Bubba]

Your gonna have a TON of leftovers.

Why not just go with the bbq and sides?

 

[Weberlamp]

I am assuming 30lbs cooked pork...that is 120 1/4lb pulled pork sandwiches along with
120 1/4lb brisket servings,
that is enough meat right there, beans are right on the money, might be a little heavy on cole slaw.

I would choose pork or brisket, keep the hot dogs for the kids, cut back on the chicken and burgers, you are going to have a pile of leftovers....not always a bad thing but might be excessive.

Lastly I would love to see what you are cooking all this on, must be huge

 

[early mornin' smokin']

@kurtsara, people with real restaurants do. I don't mind this section of the forum, but I see a lot of fly by night, fly under the radar type of posts....

 

[bizznessman]

@kurtsara, people with real restaurants do. I don't mind this section of the forum, but I see a lot of fly by night, fly under the radar type of posts....

And we always try to point out to "those types" the extreme level of financial risk they are taking with their personal assets. :thumb:

Whether they heed our warnings.......who knows. :becky: