# If you ever have to feed 75,000



## butchersbest (Feb 12, 2012)

From “The Greater American Cook Book” Ruth Berolzheimer 1939

LOS ANGELES COUNTY ANNUAL BARBECUE

Imagine 75,000 persons at one barbeque! And then think of the headache you would get planning the food for such a crowd.

  But to Lieutenant C. W. Ellison of the Sheriff’s Department of Los Angeles count, California, it is just another day’s work,

for he is the chef for such a gastronomical undertaking each year, the proceeds of which go to charity.

This is the way it is done……

Construct 4 underground brick pits, each 8 feet wide, 15 feet long and 8 feet deep, covering the bottoms with large rocks to hold the heat. 

Build a fire in each of the pits and let them burn from 8 to 10 hours , so there is a solid bed of charcoal. Cover charcoal with sheet iron and

place a layer of wet burlap sacks on the sheet iron.

Meanwhile, cut 40,000 pounds of prime steer beef (forequarter, only) into 25 pound chunks, tie in cheesecloth and saturate cloth with a

barbecue sauce made of the following ingredients cooked together for about an hour.

300 crates tomatoes-chopped, 4,000 Lbs Onion chopped, 50 Lbs garlic, 25 Lbs green chili pepper-chopped after removing seeds,

50 Lbs ground celery seeds, 50 Lbs ground Oregano(marjoram), 10 Lbs ground Cumin seed, 125 Lbs black pepper, 700 Lbs salt

and 100 Lbs vinegar.

Place the meat in prepared pits on the wet burlap sacks. Cover pits with boards, then with canvas and finally with about 18 inches

of sand to hold the heat. Leave meat in the pits, undisturbed, for 14 to 15 hours.  When it is taken out, meat is so tender that no knife

is needed to cut it---the bones slip out.  About 8 ounces of meat is served to each person.

Do not know if it is barbeque, but certainly low and slow.

*ButhersBestQ*


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## sprky (Feb 12, 2012)

Sounds like BBQ too me. They do something like that here for a rodeo but not on that scale.


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## ronrude (Feb 12, 2012)

There was a tractor pull in Page, ND in the 70's that buried beef in a pit.  Fantastic stuff.  I would love toget my hands on some of that again.


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## butchersbest (Feb 12, 2012)

I have done a whole pig, and some beef this way, in a 4x8x6 deep pit at an Eagle lodge once. Just seasoned the pig with rub and wrapped in wet cheesecloth.

The beef was wrapped in Banana leaves and tied with twine.

Took almost a cord of wood, keg a beer and a fire department permit to do it.

Would never want to try something like this.

ButchersBestQ


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## scarbelly (Feb 12, 2012)

Hello Butchers Best  - that LA County BBQ sounds like a lot of fun.

Would you do us a favor and stop by Roll Call and introduce yourself so we can give you a SMF Welcome


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## boykjo (Feb 12, 2012)

That must have been a busy day feeding a football stadium full of people.............................Looking at the cubic feet I would think 40,000 pounds of meat would fit but the boards would take up a lot of that room....... Is this something that was done back in 39 at the annual bbq.......  Interesting article.......

It would take me a few days to grind all that meat up and make sausage........
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






   
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Oh and welcome to SMF................
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Joe


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