OK, I had planned to blog more (and post more photos), but once things got rolling Friday morning, I was pretty much too busy. Here’s how the cooking schedule turned out:
- Friday, 6 am to 2 pm: smoked 4 briskets, which I then double-wrapped in foil and put into a 180-degree oven (until Saturday afternoon).
- Friday, 2 pm to 9 pm: smoked 2 briskets and three elk roasts (ditto foil and oven).
- Friday, 10 pm to Saturday 5 am: smoked two legs of lamb, a (small) pork tenderloin, and one more elk roast (ditto foil and oven).
- Saturday, 5 am to 2 pm: smoked three bone-in turkey breasts, which I then put into roasting bags and put into a 120-degree oven to keep warm.
I carved up the brisket, elk, and port starting around 2 pm, put them into foil pans covered foil, and stuck them in a 120-degree oven. I held off carving the legs of lamb and the turkey until just before 4 pm. Everything turned out well except the lamb — it was (IMHO) overcooked.
At 4:15, nobody had shown up yet (4 pm was the announced starting time), the sky was getting increasingly overcast with rain clearly to the west, and I was worried if anyone would show up. Then people started showing up, and pretty soon we were packed. I’m not sure what the final count was, but I suspect it was over 120; we ran out of name tags (150) and large serving plates (150).
It actually started raining around 5 pm, so I had to move the grill and smoker (which I had set up to use as a second grill) under the deck canopy. But the rain didn’t seem to hurt attendance, and it cooled the temperature down quite a bit. The rain itself was sporadic, coming and going through the evening, though it was pretty steady (and a bit heavy) when everyone started leaving.
Almost all the smoked meat got eaten (I set aside some brisket and turkey for Sandra and me), and I grilled up about 60 hamburgers and the same number of hot dogs before demand began to slacken (there were only a few of each left over). Everyone seemed to have a great time; the kids especially loved all the various bottled sodas.
In all, a success. ..bruce w..