Large cook next week , need advice!!!

Muscrat

Muscrat

is one Smokin' Farker
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My dad is retiring from the and wanted me to cook for the party. Approx 100 folks. He wants brisket, chicken, sausage, couple pork buts and some beans. They are planning to eat at approximately 4:30 on Saturday. Luckily the guy I'm building the cooker said I could use it that weekend.

Here's the big questions. Should I cook the briskest on Friday and the rest on Saturday or get up early on Saturday and cook it all the same day? Chickens and sausage won't take that long I don't think.

Any and all help is much appreciated so thanks in advance.
 
Oh yeah I'm thinking 6 briskest. If that would be enough?
 
Are you cooking on site or cooking,then transporting the food to another location?
 
IMHO, Looks like it may be a long day and bring a helper.

Good luck with the cook!
 
You will have to start mighty early to get the brisket done and resting then cook the other stuff.I am not sure how I would go.In my past large cooks,I have found it easier to finish early and hold rather than bring it down to the wire.I say cook the brisket Friday,better safe than sorry,if something were to go wrong.Give yourself enough time to overcome any mishaps that may arise.Good Luck.I would say post pics but it sounds like you will not have time to take any.
 
If I cook them on Friday what's the best way to reheat? I normally wrap tightly in Saran wrap befor resting.
 
There are many more experienced brisket cooks on here than me.That being said,I would do as you usually do,rest for an hour or two,wrap up in a double layer in HDAF,chill them then throw them back on cooker next day til they get up to a warm temp(170 ish) then pitch em in a cooler while I cooked the other stuff.I do believe the brisket is the last thing you will want to prep(slice) for serving,as it will dry out quickly.This may be totally wrong but is the method I would try if I were doing the cook.I hope you get replies from more veteran brisket cooks.
 
First, your cookers are GREAT so no worries there!
If you are willing to cook hot-n-fast there is no reason you can't do briskets in 7-8 hours including a 1-2 hour rest. Assuming it takes an hour to get the cooking temps balanced out at about 275*-325*, I would fire up about 6:30:
  • briskets on at 7:30, wrap the briskets in BP about 11:30-12:00 and put them back in until probe tender around 2:00-3:00 and rest until eats at 4:30
  • put the butts go on at 7:30 with the briskets, they should be great by 2:30-3:00 and can rest for an hour or so
  • chicken on at about 1:30-2:00; done in 2-3 hours
  • sausage on at 3:00-3:30; done in 45 minutes
 
Thanks for the props on the cooker.
The last one I had I was cooking briskets at 300°. I've got a roll of BP somewhere. Might have got lost in the move. I was planning on using foil pans. And if my memory serves me correct they were taking about 8 hrs total.
 
i think reheating may add more work to your process. i would put them on about 3am foil at 8am and look cooler at 11:30-12:00. this will give you 4-5 hours holding time at most, but will give you a good enough buffer time if the cook goes long. if you unwrap, drop the temp to 180* before re-wrapping and coolering they will not over cook, and should hold until 4:30 easily.
 
Ok here's part of the plan. I just need guidance for the rest of the plan. I'm gonna cook everything on Saturday. I did find my roll of BP. I've done comp briskest and won money doing so but it was only one brisket at a time. The plan is to put the meat on at 4am, wrap tightly in BP at 8am and continue until done. At this point I'm not sure if I can just set them in a cooler until ready to serve or if I need to do something else such as wrap in Saran wrap or what ever the brethre suggest.

As far as the chicken it will be 30 thighs and 30 legs. I'm terrible with chicken. I figure one the brisket goes on I'll put the chicken in a bribe for about 6 hrs or so. Then can I just put them on the upper rib rack or so then need to be in some type of pan. I'll include a pit of the upper rack. Sausage is a no brainer!!!
Also gonna do 2 pork butts. I'll be cooking the briskets at 300°.

Thanks in advance.
 
Top rack. Should be somewhat hotter!
 
Last edited:
You will be fine wrapping in BP and putting in cooler. Just vent them off, rewrap, and put in a pre-heated cooler with old towels to fill the empty space.Look Forward to seeing it finished.
 
That's a hard and long day. You must be younger and more ambitious than me. As an old fart I would do the brisket and butts the day before. If you're a beer drinker those long cooks can become off balance.
 
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