Back Garden Q for 60 People

[LM600]

Hi All,

Later in the year I am planning a Saturday BBQ for about 60 people.

My menu will consist of :

Pulled Pork
Ribs
Bratwurst
Chicken
Mac 'n' Cheese
Fries
Salad Stuff
Bread Rolls

Equipment :

Brinkmann Professional Charcoal Grill
Pro Q Excel 20 Bullet Smoker
Deep Fat Fryer

Now, I do not want to be getting up at silly o' clock on the Saturday to start cooking as these things tend to end up with a hardcore (about 12 or so) of my Mates partying well into Sunday....

So, my question is can I cook as much of this as possible on the Friday (I have the Friday off work) and then just reheat on the Saturday?
Would this work....

PP on the Friday, cooled and then reheated in a covered pan with a little liquid in the Excel on the Saturday

Ribs on the Friday, cook using the 3-2-1 method but stopping after the -2- step, wrapping and cooling until the Saturday, then reheating for the -1- step also in the Excel - not sure about the tenderness of the ribs by doing this

Chicken on the Saturday, get this cooked on the grill with some smoke just before they all arrive and hold in the warming drawer of my oven until ready to serve

Brats on the Saturday, have these smoking away on the grill as the guests are arriving

Mac 'n' Cheese, Saturday - in my oven!

Fries, As and when on Saturday!

[Steve]

Sound advice from Al there, if you do have a vac packer then ribs can be vac packed and then boiled in the bag and they're pretty good. I've done this to give a sample to my butcher and I know Adie has done it successfully too.

[Swindon_Ed]

With the chicken what you might want to try is after smoking them to crisp up the skin throw them in the deep fat fryer for a couple of minutes. I saw this done by a BBQ joint on DDD which looked good but have not tried this myself.

[LM600]

Cheers for the replies Fellas, much appreciated.

The ribs, I guess on maybe 20 or so racks, so this could be a bit of a challenge to fit all on the Excel in one go...

Yeah, a vac-pac would be the solution and then just sous vide it all....but, I am yet to persuade the Mrs that this is a vital piece of equipment...along with all the others!

[LM600]

Dr Sweetsmoke,

You, Sir, are a genius!

Thanks for the top tip...I was looking at my regular rib rack and thinking "That just isn't going to cut it....what can I do...and how can I modify XYZ?"

Now I know!

This gig is going off on the August Bank Holiday Saturday (so a while away yet) but I will definitely take lots of pics

Thanks again Mate

[LM600]

With the chicken what you might want to try is after smoking them to crisp up the skin throw them in the deep fat fryer for a couple of minutes. I saw this done by a BBQ joint on DDD which looked good but have not tried this myself.

DDD, Quality show!

Thing is, I was going to cook the chicken, remove the skins and then crisp that up later for personal use!

[LM600]

With the chicken what you might want to try is after smoking them to crisp up the skin throw them in the deep fat fryer for a couple of minutes. I saw this done by a BBQ joint on DDD which looked good but have not tried this myself.

It was on telly last night! Johnnys in Kentucky