How would you keep up? Smoking meat for a 3 day event.

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Nascarfantom99

Assistant Cook
Joined
Oct 9, 2013
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If you had to serve food Friday, Saturday and Sunday and you expected to be busy how would you always have enough food. Would your smoker be cooking food non stop from Thursday through Sunday. I've smoke meat from a webber and been up all night. My idea is to buy a Lang smoker. I've watch videos where he just gives it wood after wood until he had a big bed of coals and then it's good to go for hours and then I watch a video where he gives it a log every hour.

What's the trick. I had a friend that use to sell tri tip at a weekly street fair and he came with meat either already cook or meat that was mostly cook. How car in advance can you smoke meat and put it on the smoker to heat up to have the same quality ?

I know many meats I like to cook take 5 or more hours. Wen a event opens at 9:00am it's hard to have stuff ready unless you were up all night or some how pre cook items.

How would you do a 3 day busy event and keep up with food. I'm guessing I can't low and slow everything. If I did I would have to hire someone to stay up all night.

I'm planning on buying a Lang 84 and Also buy a grill.

My favorites to cook are pork butts, baby back ribs and brisket. I do have taco I'm going to try to make from the smoker. I normally cook beef chuck in the oven until it shreds and make a killer taco. I'm going to try to make a version from smoke beef chuck.

In the past I've seen guys come to this event and run out of food. I don't want to be that guy. I also don't want to be that guy that ends the day with a ton of cook food. I'm use to cooking for a small crowd. I need to learn how to cook for a big large crowd.

Whats the best way? What's the trick?

A normal vendor can keep up because his food is quick to cook. When you low and slow your food you can't just throw meat on the smoker and have it ready.

Can you pre stock,up and still have a good product?
 
The trick is to pre-cook the majority of the meat, measure it out into 5oz vacuum sealed bags, reheat them in a large crock pot full of hot water. And when it's time to serve, you just take out one bag, cut it open and dump it into a sammitch bun, hey? At least that's what I plan to do.
 
Crock pots full of water aint my cup of tea..but cooking in advance is the only way to fly. Reheating brisket and butts works well to slice and or pull..panned up with some liquid and reheated on the pit or oven..some say even better than fresh cooked. Leftover ribs and chickens aint a good idea. I would cook those on D Day if you were having those.
 
sausages and wings also must be cooked onsite. Hey, B-dub, how does reheating beef brisket slice for you?
 
I would only want to use the bbq to re heat meats. I would not want to use a crock pot. I think I'm going to have to cook some meat and throw it in a cooler and wait for it to be cold and re heat it and compare it to fresh. Fresh is the way to go but timing is everything. This event you have vendors that sell out and can't make their food fast. One has done marinated pork on a stick and when it sold out he can't just marinate more. If I sell out of smoke meat I just can't smoke more. I have to find away to have enough. This event you don't want to sell out and this event you don't want to have a ton of leftovers. So it would be hard getting it right.

That's why have have to mix something in that cooks fast. Everything can't be low and slow. That's why I might buy a smoker and a big grill. The grill can be for the faster food.

I hope to order the Lang in November and just practice with it and see what I can cook fast and what I can cook slow and how stuff is fresh and reheated. I jut have to learn as I go.
 

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