# Catering for 125 people, looking for some advice



## soul-q

Hello to all members,

Sorry this will be wordy, but I want to give as much detail as possible. I have my first large catering event coming up in less than a week, I'll be doing 2 large 16-18lb briskets, 2 bone-in butts about 10lbs each, and about 15 chickens in the smoker. I'll also be doing a vegetarian option of smoked eggplant with a light vinaigrette sauce.

I'm pretty versed at smoking, but this is a big corporate event and definitely the most I've ever cooked for at once. My questions are mainly related to transporting the food while keeping it hot so that when I put it in the chaffing dishes it'll be ready to go. The plan is to cut the briskets at the event, just before the line starts to maintain moisture and when one is gone I'll get the second out to cut, the pork I'm going to pull prior to leaving my kitchen, and the chickens I need to cut apart before leaving my kitchen as well. I have a 3-4 foot tall Cambro warmer (not sure of exact height) and two large coolers. I plan to rent the chaffing dishes and another slightly smaller Cambro warmer to use to transport as well.

Let's assume a lunch time of noon, and I'd like the briskets to be done at least 4 hours before that so they can rest in the Cambro. I know I need to keep the internal above 140. I'm hoping to hear some advice from others who have done a large order like this that then must be transported to a different location, and then cut and served. I plan to heat up the Cambro first with hot water before putting in the briskets. Does anyone have a ballpark idea of how long they can sit in a Cambro before going down below 140? I was not planning on using a chaffing dish for the brisket nor a heatlamp, just expecting it to go to plates pretty quickly once the line starts.

For the pork, well this is much easier than brisket, but also I don't want to lose too much heat once it's pulled and placed back in the Cambro to when it's served. I'll also have chaffing dishes to add heat to this once setup on site. I typically rest the pork as well a couple of hours. Any advice on this process to ensure top quality up to buffet time?

The chicken is trickier. I believe it'll smoke best whole, then cut up into pieces, bone-in, and transported to location in the Cambro. Once there and the chaffing dishes are steaming, I'll put that into the chaffing dish and cover with the lid. I have a feeling I'll have at least 2-3 trays of chicken due to the amount so I'll just keep pulling out of the Cambro and into the chaffing dish when needed. If anyone has any tips on how best to do this please do advise. Also, is there a best practice on separating the chickens into 6 or 8 pieces, and is it best to cut apart after it's smoked?

Last, anyone ever smoke eggplant? I love grilled eggplant and fried eggplant, but haven't yet smoked it. I'm planning a dry run this weekend to test it, but if anyone has any thoughts on how best to do this please share. My plan was to halve it lengthwise, cover in olive oil and some salt and then smoke. The recipe I sourced says to smoke for 1 hr or until tender but no temperature was listed. I also read some conflicting threads on the skin, some saying to peel it and others saying to leave it on. Any thoughts? Once it's done, I'll slice each half into 1/2 inch cuts and place in the chaffing dish. I'm thinking this should be one of the last things to smoke so it doesn't wilt on me, but again, if you have any thoughts please share it!

One last thought, about 22-24 lbs of brisket, about 15-17 lbs of pulled pork, and 14-15 chickens cut apart/bone-in plus other sides should feed 125 people at a corporate lunch? Definitely don't want to run out of food... 

Thanks in advance!

Alston


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## marctrees

SoulQ - Experienced answerers will want to know your location to have a sense of temps during  transporting your food, etc.

What temp weather do you expect, how long to transport, in preheated vehicle or dead cold, etc

Any re heating appliances at your serving locations, or just sterno?

And just my thought - Should there also be a non smoked main course offering for the not smoked folks?

Like maybe plain baked skinless breasts that people seem to like (hell if I know why, but they sure seem to)     Marc


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## dirtsailor2003

Why whole chickens? I've found it best to use thighs, shredded for large groups. Cut up whole birds usually yields a ton of waste as there are lots of parts people won't eat. 

I'd do the pulled pork a day or two in advance and reheat the day of. 

As for transporting you mention being done four hours in advance and then into the Cambo. That should be doable to maintain the proper temp. 

One last note you may want to re-visit the amounts of meat you are prepping. Seems a bit light for the size of group.


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## HalfSmoked

Cambros will hold temps for a lone time provided they are set up right as stated your area and weather will play a large part in this. Not always the correct amount like for my family you better do more but a good rule of thumb is 1/4 lb finished meat per person. wish you success with this project.

Warren


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## soul-q

Marctrees, thanks I did forget that info, I'm in Los Angeles and the temp both day before and day of is high if 67-70 and lows of 49-52. The trip to the location will take about 30 minutes, max of 45. Transporting in a van that can be warmed up also. There is a single consumer sized oven at the location that I could utilize as well. 

Dirtsailer2003 - I am concerned about that as well. I calculate I should have around 65-70 lbs of meat altogether, plus the eggplant course for vegetarians and then the sides. It is for Nike so the organizer has told me it'll be a leaner more health conscious group. I had thought to maybe do 3 smaller briskets instead of two larger ones to be safe, but right now it's about 1/2 pound per person. Also it's a lunch business meeting so I feel like there won't be as many binge eaters since they have to go back to work as it's a Tuesday. Am I under here? I would start with 50 lbs whole chickens, 20 lbs pork butt bone-in, and 30-32 lbs of brisket before cooking...

The event organizers want it to be fork and knife, so I'm probably going to pull the chicken too instead of serving it bone-in. 

Halfsmoked - it will be close to 70 degrees when transporting and cooking, but night before will drop to about 49 degrees.


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## hillbillyrkstr

seems light to me.


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## dirtsailor2003

soul-q said:


> Marctrees, thanks I did forget that info, I'm in Los Angeles and the temp both day before and day of is high if 67-70 and lows of 49-52. The trip to the location will take about 30 minutes, max of 45. Transporting in a van that can be warmed up also. There is a single consumer sized oven at the location that I could utilize as well.
> 
> Dirtsailer2003 - I am concerned about that as well. I calculate I should have around 65-70 lbs of meat altogether, plus the eggplant course for vegetarians and then the sides. It is for Nike so the organizer has told me it'll be a leaner more health conscious group. I had thought to maybe do 3 smaller briskets instead of two larger ones to be safe, but right now it's about 1/2 pound per person. Also it's a lunch business meeting so I feel like there won't be as many binge eaters since they have to go back to work as it's a Tuesday. Am I under here? I would start with 50 lbs whole chickens, 20 lbs pork butt bone-in, and 30-32 lbs of brisket before cooking...
> 
> The event organizers want it to be fork and knife, so I'm probably going to pull the chicken too instead of serving it bone-in.
> 
> Halfsmoked - it will be close to 70 degrees when transporting and cooking, but night before will drop to about 49 degrees.


If you are going to pull the chicken go for skinless boneless thighs. Way less waste and price per pound will work out better than whole birds. I did whole chicken once and that was a mistake.

When doing multiple meats its always hard to decipher the correct amount of each one. Are you serving or is it a grab a plate and serve yourself venue? I am feeding 100 later this year, chicken and pulled pork. I plan on (6) 8-10 pound butts, 30 pounds (non-cooked weight) of skinless boneless thighs. Plus there will be sides. The chicken will be chopped, not pulled as I find its quicker to chop it up.


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## hillbillyrkstr

20 pounds of pork is your starting weight. You'll lose 40% or more while smoking it.


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## hillbillyrkstr

18 pound briskets will lose a few pounds of weight after trimming and a lot more after smoking as well.


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## hillbillyrkstr

I don't smoke while chickens so I don't know enough about the loss but I'll assume your using mass market, store bought chickens and those are pumped full of water so your gonna lose a lot there to. 

I'd revisit the quantity planning stage and account for loss somewhere in the range of 35-40% to be safe. Hate to run out of food. Worst that happens is you have extra. Always better to have to much.


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## soul-q

Hillbillyrkstr - I get my meat from restaurant depot so it's a little better quality than most grocery stores, in my opinion. I do want to have light meat too in it so I couldn't do just the thighs. They did request more chicken than brisket or pork, so how much more weight in raw chicken do you think I should add on top of the 50 lbs?


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## soul-q

Btw, I've read that a whole chicken yields about 60% meat vs carcass.


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## hillbillyrkstr

I did a 16 and 18 pound brisket last year for 70 people along with and extra 25 pounds of point that I made into burnt ends, and 20 pounds of pork butt (starting weight).

All the brisket was gone, had some left over Pork and it was a fattie contest where 20 fatties were entered and all those were gone as well. 

Hope that helps a bit. Good luck.


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## dirtsailor2003

soul-q said:


> Btw, I've read that a whole chicken yields about 60% meat vs carcass.


If you really pick at it or boil the carcass down. And your yield is going to be primarily dark meat.

If you really need white meat, then do all chicken breasts. Yes you can pull or chop chicken breast too. They aren't as forgiving as thighs so you really need to pull of the smoker at 160° and let the carry over finish them. You could also consider a 50/50 mix of thighs and breasts.


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## soul-q

Pardon my ignorance, but what do you mean by a fattie contest?

Lol, my autocorrect changed "fattie" to Carrie. That's an unfortunate autocorrect for the ladies named Carrie.


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## hillbillyrkstr

A fattie is its own invention. Type fattie in the search bar here and you'll see a whole bunch of them.

Our rules are 1 pound ground meat rolled out. Stuff anything you want inside and roll up. Then wrap in any variation of bacon you want. 


http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...-way-out-ranch-fowlerville-michigan-july-23rd

Here's last years fattie contest link.


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## soul-q

Guys thank you for all the advice, I really appreciate it! So if I were to add another 15-20 lbs of chicken, which they want more chicken than pork or brisket, I should be ok I'm thinking?

@hillbillyrkstr  - that fattie event sounds like an awesome time! That's something I'd love to experience at some point.


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## hardcookin

For pulled chicken I usually use 70% dark meat and 30% white. Some use a 60-40 mix...I use boneless skinless thighs and breasts.
I know you mention they wanted mostly chicken but I would bet the brisket won't last long.
A 8-9 lb butt will yield about one 1/2 pan of pulled pork usually.

Good Luck!


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## soul-q

hardcookin - thanks for that ratio, out of curiosity where do you source your meat from for the best price when doing pulled chicken? I've only smoked whole bone-in chickens before, when you do the thighs and breasts that are boneless do you still go 275-300 degrees or do you lower it since you don't worry about crisping the skin?

About how long does it take and what temp do you do these? 

Just found out I can get boneless breasts, thighs, and legs from my supplier, so if I do use boneless/skinless chicken, how much do you get from the total weight? If I have 60lbs will it cook to just a little under due to moisture loss?


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## hardcookin

soul-q said:


> hardcookin - thanks for that ratio, out of curiosity where do you source your meat from for the best price when doing pulled chicken? I've only smoked whole bone-in chickens before, when you do the thighs and breasts that are boneless do you still go 275-300 degrees or do you lower it since you don't worry about crisping the skin?
> 
> About how long does it take and what temp do you do these?
> 
> Just found out I can get boneless breasts, thighs, and legs from my supplier, so if I do use boneless/skinless chicken, how much do you get from the total weight? If I have 60lbs will it cook to just a little under due to moisture loss?


Boneless skinless I brine the chicken , And I usually smoke it at 275-300 and it takes around an hour. Keep in mind every smoker is different.
I'm not sure what the yield is, I should have kept better notes but the last time I done PC it was pouring rain that morning and I had my hands full.

I done a full pan of pulled chicken, full pan of baked beans and a full pan of pulled pork that day.

My meats it all depends, sometimes on sale and other times from a distributor. Like now my local Wegmans has pork butts on sale for $.99 lb.
And I will load up my freezer.I can't even buy pork butts by the case at that price.


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## soul-q

Thanks hardcookin, I appreciate the information. I'm planning on brining it all overnight as well in two large cambros. Doing it this way with the boneless/skinless will give me a much closer total weight vs start weight since I won't have the bones in there as well. Plus I have never use my big butcher knife but now I get to!

Man, smokin in the rain sounds miserable. We are actually getting massive rainfalls here right now but luckily it's ending late tonight and then expecting sunny days through next week.


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## jokensmoken

Last summer doing an event for about 70 people I had very good success holding my 2nd brisket and pork shoulder for well over 5 hours in about 70°-75° temps.
I don't have a Cambridge and simply use large towel lined coolers I pre warmed with 150° water heated on the side burner of my grill and deep fry burner.  I would think you'd get even better results with an actual Cambridge.
And as marctrees pointed out, something un-smoked should be considered...It wasn't a problem perse but I did have a few folks ask " isn't there anything that wasn't smoked"...Something that hadn't occured to me as most of my other get togethers or parties were understood to be smoked BBQ and attended primarily by folks that knew that.
Good luck with the event...
Walt


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## soul-q

Hey Walt, thanks for the info. It'll be slightly cooler here during the day, it will drop to about 50 the night before but I'm used to that weather here and my results have so far been great. I am considering doing the eggplant roasted or grilled instead or maybe smoking half the eggplant and roasting the rest so there is some non-smoked foods. 

My pork is the smokiest but my brisket is a mild smoke flavor due to how I ration it's cold bract with the smoke. I'm really excited about the chicken actually, I'm going to cook them closer to regular oven temps but in the smoke so they should have a mild smoke flavor as well. 

I have done one other event for this company, last minute, so only time for pork butt and pork ribs, fed about 25-30, and they adored it. They did pick the menu and this time around is also somewhat of a trial run for bigger events with them as they're budget for this was smaller than it should be so we have agreed to cost saving measures to make it work.


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## jokensmoken

Best of luck to you...I just had the promoters of the largest out door armature 4-4 hockey tournament in Michigan contact me this week...I was asked how realistic it was to combine the event with a "smoke fest" type BBQ event...Probably at least a year off but could be a blast as they've had well over 1000 in attendance the last several years...Far beyond my personal capability but not beyond our "smoking community's" capability.
Best of luck...Doing events is a blast and I've made many good friends...Not much money yet...But lots of friends.


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## hillbillyrkstr

Soul-q we're having this years fattie contest (4th annual) in July. I don't know where your from but we're in Michigan so if your close stop by.


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## jokensmoken

I'm near A2 and would love to check it out...Fill me in...
Have smoker will travel.


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## soul-q

@jokensmoken  That sounds awesome, all it takes is one start to get things going. This will be my first large commercial event. I say large, but 125 people is not large compared to 1000+ !!


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## soul-q

@hillbillykstr -  I'm going to put that on my calendar and will try to make it. It's a bit of a jump for me as I'm either in Los Angeles or Georgia during the summers, but camping, beer, and a smoking contest makes me smile!


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## hillbillyrkstr

Well your welcome soulq. Can camp at my place all weekend. I'll be up early Friday to start smoking Pork butts for Saturday.


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## soul-q

So the event went great, both briskets were consumed without any leftovers (as can be expected!).

The event was cut down to 105 people about 3-4 days prior to the actual day, can't remember exactly as I'm still tired and foggy in the head from all the cooking. I had a tray of pulled pork leftover, as well as a tray of chicken leftover.

I brined the chicken breasts for 30 minutes, then smoked them and the thighs at about 250-275 for an hour exactly. When they were done I chopped them and it was some of the best chicken I've ever had.

Thanks for all the help/advice on this!


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## marctrees

Excellent Success !!!!!!!  

You did SOOO many things good that contributed to the end result.

    Marc


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## hillbillyrkstr

Good deal soulq! Glad it worked out.


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## hardcookin

Thanks for the update! Now go take a long nap :biggrin:
Glad it all turned out good!


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