Bride Butts

I looked up the manual and it says your smoker has a capacity of 160# of butts/shoulders. Assuming a yield of 50% which should be safe, one full load will give you 80# of finished meat after bone removal.

Assuming 6oz servings, you'll need ~56#, so one full load will do you, with a little left over for wedding crashers. If you've got a bunch of heavy eaters or don't plan to do a bunch of sides, go with 8oz per person. If there are a lot of kids coming or you know the crowd to be lighter in their appetite, go with 5oz per person.

One labor saving tip: you should be able to find boneless, un-netted shoulders from a commercial food supplier. If you can find these, the work of pulling your load of meat will be reduced to almost nothing. Also, the yield on these is much higher, so you'll cook less. Enjoy the party.

http://www.thewestcoaststore.c...-206_smartsmoker.pdf

To tag onto Todd's good advice,CS is VERY conservative in their suggested loads.

I have a CS 160*,half your size,and I could do that crowd in it.

Todd has suggested the 120 qt coolers ,on here,being very reasonable.

Since you have room,I really prefer bonein butts,and don't find they take us any longer to pull.

I'd check the price on ordering a light case of butts-around 65 lbs,and see if it is cheaper than buying the smaller amount.

You never can tell with wholesalers.

You can send home doggy bags,or feed the work staff-they'll love you.

You can always plastic wrap,and foil the extra couple butts,freeze and give it to them for their one month anniversary.

I know,I know,my teammates will accuse me of being an old sentimentalist.

Double foil those butts,load it up,and cover with newspaper for a snug fit.

They'll be too hot to handle, in eight hrs.


Just my $0.02

In Minnesota, I'd go with Pork Butts, you'll find them at Sam's Costco.

How you going to serve it at the wedding?

Great advice, I love the opportunity to talk about smokin' meat. Most guys I know carry around pictures of their wives and kids in their wallets...I have pictures of my smoker! I plan on putting the pulled/chopped meat into large electric roasters set to warm. What to you think about adding any sort of liquid to the roasters to keep it moist? Right now I can get bone in butts/shoulders from our local grocer for .99 lb.

Go with something basic, not sauce for the roasters.

SO Pork Baste works for me.

http://forum.cookshack.com/eve...311038883#2311038883

I don't do catering, but my rule of thumb with pulled pork: each pound of bone in pork butt yields two finished sandwiches. Five pound butt, ten sandwiches.

This assumes allowing guests to make their own sandwiches on hamburger-size buns, probably 5 to 7 ounces, and I also discard as much fatty/connective tissue as I can when I clean. Lately I carve off a good deal of bark and bag it separately for myself to snack on.

The best way to stretch the meat, other than good side dishes, is to go with smaller cocktail buns or hot dog rolls. People without a lot of experience with pulled pork tend to put less meat on two smaller buns than they would on one larger bun.