80# smoke for the weekend

[gruelurks]

Gotta love being able to buy meat by the case around here. 80#s of pork butt rubbed, wrapped and ready to go for the company picnic this coming Sunday.

 

[bmudd14474]

Looks like the start to a good time. Cant wait to see the results.

 

[fishawn]

WOW! Busy this weekend..... Keep us posted.

 

[werdwolf]

OH YA!! looking good, will be waiting for the rest of the
Q VIEW!

 

[beer-b-q]

Looks like this weekend is going to be very busy for you. Good luck and be sure to post some Q Views.

 

[gruelurks]

Thanks, I will for sure post pics of the aftermath. I am feeding 120 adults and 60 kids. We also have burgers, dogs and chicken along with all the potluck everyone is bringing.

I think I might do the fast method this time, due to time constraints and only having a 30" MES to smoke with.

 

[billbo]

Wow! Now that's a pile of meat! You better get going

 

[the dude abides]

That's a lot of pig man! Where's "around here"? And what is the "fast method" that you're doing?

Good luck and keep us updated

 

[gruelurks]

I'm 20 miles NE of Detroit roughly. The fast method is not really fast, but using the oven technique to finish it off.

 

[rickw]

That's a lot of meat, you need a big stick burner for all of that.

 

[jspryor]

Cooking for the entire company...absolutely no pressure there, eh? Good luck and have fun!

 

[gruelurks]

Got the first 7 butts done, first 4 came out this morning around 11am. Coolered for 2 hours then fell apart in to the pan. Next 3 went in around noon and just came out to the cooler a bit ago. They cooked really fast for some reason. I even probed different sections to make sure they hit 195 and they were solid. *shrug*

Last 2 are about to go in the MES in an hour, I figured I'd let it rest for an hour since I had a small flare up by the burner from runaway fat drippings.

So far so good though, lunch time is 1:30 pm tomorrow rain or shine! I made some apple bbq sauce, Carolina mustard sauce, and the famous forum finishing sauce from the sticky. I also have my own concoction I am tossing together for the chiliheads using some Blair's Mega Death hot sauce.

 

[gruelurks]

With 2 hours to go to feed time +/- the last butts just came out and hit the cooler. Got the other two aluminum pans of pre-pulled heating up in the oven at 300 with some apple juice. Q-Views pics soon to come!

 

[mballi3011]

you better put a gitty up in your step. Thats a mess of, pile of, heppin load of meat there grue. Good luck I'm sure you will pull it off.

 

[capt dan]

Thats a heck of alot of work for the MES, you used up half its expected life in one weekend LOL.
Hope it all turns out nicely for you!

 

[gruelurks]

Funny you say that, I was thinking to myself during the last batch that this thing is just going to quit on me in the middle of it. But it held up like a trooper, and did well. I got the last two butts pulled 45 minutes before the scheduled chow time and made it to the picnic site with 10 minutes to go. Fortunately the hired catering guys were behind so we ended up serving a 1/2 hour late anyways. Lesson learned, 80#s of pork is TOO much for 180 people, including 60+ kids. We barely made it into the second of three pans, but the rest all went to a local homeless shelter for dinner, along with the other leftover meats from the hired guns.

It was nice to see everyone going back for pork over the burgers and chicken, and the bbq sauces were a big hit. Not too many folks liked the mustard sauce, but SoFlaQuers vinegar sauce went over great, along with the apple bbq sauce I made. The biggest compliment for me was from the catering guys, http://www.richmondmeatpackers.com/, who gave me a hearty thumbs up after trying the pork.

Attached a few more pics. Oh, lesson learned, you cannot, CANNOT, get away with not foiling the butt at 165 and expect it to be tender and falling apart moist. I left one unfoiled to test out that method, and it was hard to pull.

Thanks again SMF!
Mick

 

[bmudd14474]

great job for a MES

 

[shooterrick]

That be a lot a pig for the MES! pnts to ya!

 

[old poi dog]

80 lbs. on your MES ! You both did a Great Job!!!

 

[deltadude]

GREAT JOB for that BIG FEED!

You mentioned in another MES pulled pork thread you are thinking about buying a larger electric for such jobs.

You would have to ask Ronp, and other MES 40" owners, I own a 40" MES, but I think the MES 40 could have done the job. With 4 racks 2 per rack, plus it has a higher watt heating element, the 40" should be able to handle the job.
You would have to rotate the meat about every two hours, to keep all the roast cooking evenly. So you would probably have to add 1-2 hours cooking time.

Again that was a lot of work, if you had to get 8 smoked pulled butts from a caterer, you saved enough to pay for your MES.