I have painted myself into a brisket corner-please advise

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Royalslover

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OK so I've bitten off more than I can chew. Because of this site my que is pretty well known within my circle of influence. I have a friend that wants me to cook brisket for 200 peeps for a anniversary party on the evening of July 3rd. I was thinking one for each 15 people which would be 13 briskets. The BIG problem is I only cook on a uds. I have access to another two that I built for friends. I'm half tempted to see if I can borrow or rent a stick burner so I can do them all at once. I have never used a stick burner so this idea makes me nervous. Also my wife is unhappy that I agreed to do this in the first place since I will have family in town. Of course I don't remember her telling me this in the first place but that's another story..... So my question for you is is what should I do? Tell them sorry, can't do brisket but can do pork ahead of time? Go ahead and cook brisket ahead of time? Try to go the stick burner route? Please give me some advise here.
 
If you're going to go through with it I'd consider getting use of a stick burner. Breaking the cook up into smaller cooks will take a lot of time....and Mrs. Royalslover probably won't be happy about that. Doing it all at once in the stick burner will be the quickest way.

As far as using the stick burner, see if you can practice on one. They're really not that hard to figure out. Plus, there's lots of people on here that can walk you through the process of cooking on one. PM me if you want more info...
 
Tell your friends you're sorry, but you've got a previous engagement with your wife that wasn't on your calendar. Buy her some flowers and say you're sorry you forgot about the family coming into town.
 
Cook ahead of time. You'd be surprised how easy it will be and will give you oodles of practice on the pits you are familiar with. Cook to tender and leave on counter to cool to 140. Wrap them up and refrigerate. Do not wrap them with the excess juices but do leave them in it while you cool and they will absorb some back in. I like to cool flat side down because of this. Reserve the juice so you can use them when you heat them back up.

As for amount I figure 1/3 lb per person which is 67 lbs on the 200 people. Figure thats 134 lbs uncooked so you will need around 10 13 lb briskets. Now remember that this weight includes point and flat. Will you just be slicing the point or will you be serving it as an appetizer? I always like to cook more than I need but am careful not to overdo it. Your thought on 13 seems right at the fringe. If this is all adults you are right on target.
 
If you haven't used a stick burner before, I wouldn't recommend trying this. If they fell in love with your UDS que, and are expecting that same BBQ, you may disappoint them by trying a different approach. Just my $0.02
 
How do you agree to cook for 200 people on July 4th weekend without asking your wife first?

Anyway, I would tell him you can't do it.

I've found I don't enjoy BBQ'ing if my wife isn't on board. If you have family coming into town it's going to be even more stressful — not to mention rude.

There is a time and a place for everything and you can't let your hobbies get in the way of your family.

Just my $0.02.
 
Order stainless Hooks and borrow a cpl UDS - Hang 6 in Each. Make the visiting Family Help.
 
mikerooooose said:
How do you agree to cook for 200 people on July 4th weekend without asking your wife first?

Anyway, I would tell him you can't do it.

I've found I don't enjoy BBQ'ing if my wife isn't on board. If you have family coming into town it's going to be even more stressful — not to mention rude.

There is a time and a place for everything and you can't let your hobbies get in the way of your family.

Just my $0.02.
Click to expand...

I like this answer better than mine. I officially change it :wink:
 
Thanks for the advice so far. The wife thing is not a huge issue, especially if I do it ahead of time. I work from home and so I am home every dang day. I could easily do it ahead of time and my wife would totally be on board, she just wasn't' crazy about me spending the 3rd. I just like fresh meat so much better than warmed meat. Let me ask you this. Say I rent or borrow a stick burner and cook them all ahead of time. How would you recommend doing it? I personally am not a fan of once cooked point-too fatty for my taste. I was thinking of separating the point after cooking the packer, cooking it again whole and then chopping the whole thing rather than slicing. My typical mo is to make burnt ends out of the point and slice the flat.
 
Royalslover said:
Thanks for the advice so far. The wife thing is not a huge issue, especially if I do it ahead of time. I work from home and so I am home every dang day. I could easily do it ahead of time and my wife would totally be on board, she just wasn't' crazy about me spending the 3rd. I just like fresh meat so much better than warmed meat. Let me ask you this. Say I rent or borrow a stick burner and cook them all ahead of time. How would you recommend doing it? I personally am not a fan of once cooked point-too fatty for my taste. I was thinking of separating the point after cooking the packer, cooking it again whole and then chopping the whole thing rather than slicing. My typical mo is to make burnt ends out of the point and slice the flat.
Click to expand...

I have done them ahead of time and just kept them whole wrapped in the fridge. Do you have enough room in your fridge for that many briskets?
 
Last edited:
ButtBurner said:
I have don't them ahead of time and just kept them whole wrapped in the fridge. Do you have enough room in your fridge for that many briskets?
Click to expand...

If not, you can earn extra wifey points by purchasing another fridge. :thumb:
 
Yea you definitely bit off a bit much. 13 briskets with one drum. Cant please everyone all the time.
 
Ha, three at a time would take forever to get through the cycle and probably effect the quality.

Go pork or pass.
 
I feel it's a perfect excuse to get another Smoker myself.

Id get a Vault.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkICSDQMn4U"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkICSDQMn4U[/ame]
 
Question..have you ever cooked that much at a time? Cooked for a crowd that size?

Since this is an anniversary party you want it to be top notch. If you haven't cooked in bulk like this before, do you want to run the chance denting your reputation just to get the number??

If it was me I would go pork, you can do it on what you have plus it's forgiving and heats up well.
 
You are probably going to have one hell of a learning curve cooking that many briskets for that many people, especially if it is on a pit you are not familiar with. At least I am pretty sure that I would.
 
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