Smoking Westy
is one Smokin' Farker
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2012
- Location
- Bloomington, IL
Ok so I’ve got a big date coming up on August 26th and I’m planning on cooking for about 35 people.
First, let me start with a quick back story - on August 26th of 2011 I rode my motorcycle home from work, called a couple of buddies to come over for a beer in the garage to kick start the weekend. Within minutes of them showing up, my heart stopped and I fell over dead on the garage floor. My heart had stopped at the age of 31 (until that point, perfectly healthy). They did CPR, got the paramedics there who lit me up with the paddles 7 times between the 4 mile ride from my garage to the hospital. Since I’m here to type this, ultimately they saved my life. I was unconscious for 9 days and the docs told my wife and the family that IF I woke up, I would probably need dependent care the rest of my life because my brain had been without oxygen for over 5 minutes. I’m fairly stubborn and I proved everyone wrong by waking up on day 9 and I’ve pretty much recovered 100%.
So if it wasn’t for my friends being around on that day, I simply wouldn’t be here. I never would have got a chance to join this forum, finally own a smoker (which I got a month or so ago) and more importantly I never would have got the chance to see my 1st child born (wife is due on November 2nd). The last year has been crazy from arriving DOA at the hospital to finding out we are expecting. I’m the buddy in the group that always throws the big bashes and does all the cooking so I figured a big get together is in order for the 26th.
Few details of the cook…
1) Planning on feeding 30-35 (8 of which are kids ages 11 and under)
2) Meat will include
- pulled pork (roughly 25lbs of raw butt is what I’m thinking of targeting)
- burgers, brats and dogs for the kids and the few folks that don’t want pulled pork :doh:
3) Cooking on my 22.5” WSM, mostly likely with Stubb’s briquettes and apple or peach smoke wood. I’ll be firing up the cooker mid-day Saturday in hopes that the butts will be done early Sunday morning. Once they are done I’ll foil, wrap in a towel and place in a cooler until we are ready to pull
4) There will be a ton of side dishes (including some smoked beans, chili cheese dip w/ smoked tri tip for meat), appetizers and deserts
And a few questions…
1) Does it sound like enough pork?
2) Finally does anyone have a finishing sauce that they wouldn’t mind sharing? I’ve made up a few homemade sauces but haven’t nailed one yet. I’d like a thin sauce to have on the side if at all possible and have a little time between now and then to make up a few batches.
Thanks!
Westy
First, let me start with a quick back story - on August 26th of 2011 I rode my motorcycle home from work, called a couple of buddies to come over for a beer in the garage to kick start the weekend. Within minutes of them showing up, my heart stopped and I fell over dead on the garage floor. My heart had stopped at the age of 31 (until that point, perfectly healthy). They did CPR, got the paramedics there who lit me up with the paddles 7 times between the 4 mile ride from my garage to the hospital. Since I’m here to type this, ultimately they saved my life. I was unconscious for 9 days and the docs told my wife and the family that IF I woke up, I would probably need dependent care the rest of my life because my brain had been without oxygen for over 5 minutes. I’m fairly stubborn and I proved everyone wrong by waking up on day 9 and I’ve pretty much recovered 100%.
So if it wasn’t for my friends being around on that day, I simply wouldn’t be here. I never would have got a chance to join this forum, finally own a smoker (which I got a month or so ago) and more importantly I never would have got the chance to see my 1st child born (wife is due on November 2nd). The last year has been crazy from arriving DOA at the hospital to finding out we are expecting. I’m the buddy in the group that always throws the big bashes and does all the cooking so I figured a big get together is in order for the 26th.
Few details of the cook…
1) Planning on feeding 30-35 (8 of which are kids ages 11 and under)
2) Meat will include
- pulled pork (roughly 25lbs of raw butt is what I’m thinking of targeting)
- burgers, brats and dogs for the kids and the few folks that don’t want pulled pork :doh:
3) Cooking on my 22.5” WSM, mostly likely with Stubb’s briquettes and apple or peach smoke wood. I’ll be firing up the cooker mid-day Saturday in hopes that the butts will be done early Sunday morning. Once they are done I’ll foil, wrap in a towel and place in a cooler until we are ready to pull
4) There will be a ton of side dishes (including some smoked beans, chili cheese dip w/ smoked tri tip for meat), appetizers and deserts
And a few questions…
1) Does it sound like enough pork?
2) Finally does anyone have a finishing sauce that they wouldn’t mind sharing? I’ve made up a few homemade sauces but haven’t nailed one yet. I’d like a thin sauce to have on the side if at all possible and have a little time between now and then to make up a few batches.
Thanks!
Westy