Neighbor's Church Food Drive Cook - Briskets and Butts - Questions on Timing

[peeps]

On Sunday, Earl and I are cooking up 2 briskets (15-17# each), 3 butts (10-11# each), and 5-10#(is this enough?) of sausage for my neighbor's church's food drive to serve the participants in the food drive. He is expecting 50-60 adults or so (~75 counting kids) for a 5:30-6p serving time at a location within a 5 minute drive of my house.

I have never cooked this much before and want to get a good idea on timing.

Here is my plan. Please tell me what flaws you see...

• Apply rubs the night before
• Wake at 4am to have pit ready and meat on by 5am.
• Run H&F around 300-325°F
• Foil each cut at about 160-170ish°F or at desired color, whichever comes first
• Remove each when probe tender (aiming for 3-4pm)
• Add sausage to pit while large cuts are resting (is this enough time for the uncooked sausage?)
• Rest on counter for 15-20 min before wrapping in foil and towels and placing in cooler
• Remove sausage once to temp and wrap in foil, add to meat cooler
• Load up cooler and head to park around 5pm
• Shred and slice just before the 5:30pm serving time, only unwrapping and slicing/shredding each large cut as needed.

There will be numerous sides provided by others.

I know the total meat seems to be overkill for the numbers but I didn't want to run out of beef or pork and make people choose just 1 meat or limit folks to tiny portions of each.

 

[Firefighter]

It sound like a pretty solid plan to me! Good luck Sir!

 

[Pyle's BBQ]

I figure about 42 6oz servings of brisket, 40 6oz servings of pork and 30 4oz servings of sausage. Being in TX will people be more likely to go for beef than pork? If there are going to be sides you should be fine. Just put the meat at the end of the serving line so their plate is full of side and they less room for meat. Once everyone has gone through they can come up for seconds if they want more.

 

[peeps]

I figure about 42 6oz servings of brisket, 40 6oz servings of pork and 30 4oz servings of sausage. Being in TX will people be more likely to go for beef than pork? If there are going to be sides you should be fine. Just put the meat at the end of the serving line so their plate is full of side and they less room for meat. Once everyone has gone through they can come up for seconds if they want more.

Yeah, I figured I am about double on the total meat required and not knowing what people might choose, I figured it would be safer just to double up.

Worst case, we let people take doggie bags home. Figured that is better than running out of one or the other.

Am I allowing enough cook/rest time for the quantities?

 

[sliding_billy]

I think the amount of meat is fine. I do think you are cutting it real close on the time though. That is a lot of meat to be trying to maintain those temps for that amount of time, and even then a stubborn stall could wreak havoc on your plan. Those are some big girls (the briskets) you have. I would give at least an hour per pound of brisket (so 17 hours and start at around 11:00PM) and hold the meat if needed.

 

[peeps]

Chris, even when considering wrapping?

I was hoping H&F + foil would keep me from an overnight cook...

 

[sliding_billy]

IMO, yes. You are already pushing the temps, so it isn't like you can bump them up to get done quicker if you are running behind. I know the idea of an overnight cook sucks, but you've got a few things going on... The weather Sunday is going to be terrible, and holding temps even without that much meat might be a problem. Loaded like that, it will be worse. If you are running early, you can always either not wrap or bring your temps down or hold longer. Those are all better alternatives than not being ready for the event.

P.S. Overnight cooks is why God made coffee (and the next night's sleep).

 

[peeps]

Man, I hear ya...

Tasha's dad was already planning on coming over Sunday morning to help out, so he could tend to things while I got a nap in.

 

[sliding_billy]

Call me if you need someone to shoot the chit with. I'll be up around 2AM Sunday morning probably.

 

[peeps]

Maybe I'll finally finish book 5 of GoT. :wink:

Anything else in the plan sound like it needs adjustment?

Will the sausage hold temp well if wrapped in foil/towel/cooler?

 

[sliding_billy]

I don't like to hold sausage, but you don't have much choice unless you cook or finish it onsite. You are putting it on at the end, and that is all you can do. Maybe wrap it in foil (when holding) and then wrap that in with a larger piece of meat to keep it warmer.

 

[peeps]

Yeah. the pavillion where it is being hosted won't allow a cooker, so since I am doing it it at home, I figured that was the best I could do.

What say the rest of you farkers?

Chris got me all straightened out? Any other flaws in the plan assuming I take Chris' advise on the overnight cook starting at 11pm or so?

 

[CharredApron]

Hey man, for my Bon Voyage Bash/Party I had to ship my smoker before the event. I took my time prior to it and cooked all my meats and froze them right off the smoker. Everything tasted great. I pulled the pork and ziplocked it with no sauce and made giant boiling bags later. Re-Heated the brisket in the oven, Par smoked the chickens and then finished them on a weber OTG with the sauce same for the ribs. Pre-cook all you can, simplify your life! The flavor doesn't disapppear because you didn't babysit it all night, in some cases it improves.

 

[Riz58]

Take advantage of all the tools available, including the oven in the house. This is not a contest, purist need not apply. You are feeding 75 folks in mass.

I fed 50 people last fall using nothing but a Charbroil Akorn, Masterbuilt electric smoker (for the chicken), and my home oven. The brisket was gone within 10 minutes. 4 of 6 racks of ribs disappeared, and 20 of thirty chicken thighs were gone. The few leftovers went home with the event sponsors.

When I do a big bunch like you are, I stage it based on low and slow. Briskets and butts on 12 to 13 hours before serving time. Cook in the range of 250. Plan on a slightly shortened 3-2-1 for ribs. When the ribs are ready to go on, I pull the butts and brisket, place them in aluminum chafing pans, cover then, and into the oven they go at 275. After 4-5 hours they would not be taking on much more smoke anyway. Ribs go on as soon as the brisket/butts are off.

If serving chicken, I cheat further. I use thighs, pull the skin off, season them well (paprika, chili powder, etc adds color), and back time to put them on the smoker so that they will be done no more than 15-30 minutes before departure.

Usually the brisket will be done around the 11 hour mark (cook to tenderness, not time) and it is placed in a Styrofoam cooler to rest. Same with the Boston butts. I pull the pork about 30 minutes before departure and back into the cooler. Ribs and chicken come off when done, also get stacked into the cooler, and away I go.

By stacking (foil wrapped) in the cooler, I have been able to hold the food hot and fresh for up to 3 hours.

Hope this helps.

 

[aawa]

I would personally start at a lower temperature and cook throughout the night vs doing a hot and fast cook. For large cooks like this, I try to build in as much time so that there is room for error so you can still properly rest the meats.

You don't want something to go wrong and really have to push the envelop to get things finished. With a low and slow cook, you can always finish hot and fast if there is an error. With a hot and fast cook, you risk the chance of scorching/burning the ends/outside of the meat if you try to cook it hotter and faster if you try to correct an error.

Making sure the food is on the table for service in time is the #1 priority. So use everything in your power and plan for "if" something goes wrong vs planning for everything to go perfectly.

 

[Diesel Dave]

I agree with everything said here, might as well go for the all nighter Brother.
I'll be here as I have to do some butts L&S for a Sunday lunch too.

The one thing it seems you didn't take into consideration is when you load a cooker up like that, with that much meat, it takes about an hour for it to get back upto temp. Or at least that's my experience.


No worries though, you got this :thumb:

 

[peeps]

Hey man, for my Bon Voyage Bash/Party I had to ship my smoker before the event. I took my time prior to it and cooked all my meats and froze them right off the smoker. Everything tasted great. I pulled the pork and ziplocked it with no sauce and made giant boiling bags later. Re-Heated the brisket in the oven, Par smoked the chickens and then finished them on a weber OTG with the sauce same for the ribs. Pre-cook all you can, simplify your life! The flavor doesn't disapppear because you didn't babysit it all night, in some cases it improves.

Jed, I have the time to do it on on Earl and just hold it once it's done. The last "big" cook I did was for an 11am meal time, so I did the butts and pepper stout beef the day before and just reheated and it worked out just fine. I should not have to do that on this one though. If it means I cook overnight, so be it. :thumb:

Take advantage of all the tools available, including the oven in the house. This is not a contest, purist need not apply. You are feeding 75 folks in mass.

I fed 50 people last fall using nothing but a Charbroil Akorn, Masterbuilt electric smoker (for the chicken), and my home oven. The brisket was gone within 10 minutes. 4 of 6 racks of ribs disappeared, and 20 of thirty chicken thighs were gone. The few leftovers went home with the event sponsors.

When I do a big bunch like you are, I stage it based on low and slow. Briskets and butts on 12 to 13 hours before serving time. Cook in the range of 250. Plan on a slightly shortened 3-2-1 for ribs. When the ribs are ready to go on, I pull the butts and brisket, place them in aluminum chafing pans, cover then, and into the oven they go at 275. After 4-5 hours they would not be taking on much more smoke anyway. Ribs go on as soon as the brisket/butts are off.

If serving chicken, I cheat further. I use thighs, pull the skin off, season them well (paprika, chili powder, etc adds color), and back time to put them on the smoker so that they will be done no more than 15-30 minutes before departure.

Usually the brisket will be done around the 11 hour mark (cook to tenderness, not time) and it is placed in a Styrofoam cooler to rest. Same with the Boston butts. I pull the pork about 30 minutes before departure and back into the cooler. Ribs and chicken come off when done, also get stacked into the cooler, and away I go.

By stacking (foil wrapped) in the cooler, I have been able to hold the food hot and fresh for up to 3 hours.

Hope this helps.

Thanks! I've got plenty of room in Earl, so using various devices to finish shouldn't be an issue...but I'm not afraid to do so if I ran into an issue. Done it before :wink:

It sounds like there is no getting around the overnight cook, though.

I would personally start at a lower temperature and cook throughout the night vs doing a hot and fast cook. For large cooks like this, I try to build in as much time so that there is room for error so you can still properly rest the meats.

You don't want something to go wrong and really have to push the envelop to get things finished. With a low and slow cook, you can always finish hot and fast if there is an error. With a hot and fast cook, you risk the chance of scorching/burning the ends/outside of the meat if you try to cook it hotter and faster if you try to correct an error.

Making sure the food is on the table for service in time is the #1 priority. So use everything in your power and plan for "if" something goes wrong vs planning for everything to go perfectly.

I totally what the top priority is, hence my post making sure I don't fark it up :wink:

So, lets say I'm working in the 250-275F range with an overnight cook, with this load on the cooker, should I be looking at hitting the grates with the beef at 7-8pm? And the pork going on about 11p-12a?

 

[Diesel Dave]

Yes to the last part of that reply, earlier the better

 

[peeps]

I agree with everything said here, might as well go for the all nighter Brother.
I'll be here as I have to do some butts L&S for a Sunday lunch too.

The one thing it seems you didn't take into consideration is when you load a cooker up like that, with that much meat, it takes about an hour for it to get back upto temp. Or at least that's my experience.


No worries though, you got this :thumb:

Yeah, I have surely experienced that, so I usually overshoot the target temp before loading up the cooker.

 

[Shagdog]

Peeps, I ageee you may be cutting it close on time.. In the past I've held butts/briskets in a cooler for 5-6 hours and they've been too hot to handle when removing. I say back up your times and aim for finishing big meats early. Then you've got some breathing room if something happens that wasn't on your agenda, like a bad stall or meat just not cooking as fast as you thought. Better to have everything ready early than the alternative.