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[jdmessner]

I am getting ready to cook a meal for around 100 people next week. I've been working on my timetable to make sure everything is doable. I was able to get a good deal on some whole chickens at GFS (average chicken was 5 lbs). They froze them just before they went out of date and sold them to me for $1.60 a bird. Was debating spatch vs. beer can chicken (or in my case diet Dr. Pepper). After experimenting and doing some research I decided to just cook the birds standing up, but without clogging up the works by putting in a foreign object. I am also making baked beans using a modified version of "Keri's Hog-Apple Baked Beans" which was posted on the previous web site.  Here is my time table:

Monday: Brine the chicken using the PH brine recipe that Kristin posted as part of a comparison test in 2010. While the chicken is brining, I’ll cook some fatties and smoke some bacon to go in the baked beans.

Tuesday: Apply rub, cook and carve up the chicken. I think I can do this in two batches. 

Wednesday: Reheat chicken; cook the beans.

A friend from Texas is supposed to be sending me some of his "secret" rub to use. I’ve had his rub before and it is good! My plan is to reheat the chicken in disposable aluminum pans with some chicken stock; cover it and get a little steam going to get it up to temp and keep it moist.

Normally my preference is to cook and serve the same day. However, since I don’t usually cook for this large a crowd, it seems like there would be less pressure to do it the day before if at all possible. I could go the other way around and try to cook the chicken the day of, but I like having some wiggle room and less stress the day of.  How much quality will I be losing by reheating?

[Queball]

That's a big cook .... 100 people. It's out of my realm of experience ....... but FMT, Riverrat and Bentley, I'm sure, could be of assistance.

[SmokinHandyman]

I don't even want to attempt a cook like that.
10 to 15 people for me.
Good Luck to you
I get nervous cooking for my wife and I.

[Free Mr. Tony]

I think if you are doing the re-heat, your plan is solid. The steam and broth should help keep it in good shape. What is it to be used for? If you are carving it, are you serving it sort of pulled? Sliced? Sandwiches?

Watch those bones. It is very difficult when doing that much food to catch everything when you are pulling the meat.

[pz]

Wow - 100 people is way beyond my pay grade - best of luck on your cook 

[jdmessner]

What is it to be used for? If you are carving it, are you serving it sort of pulled? Sliced? Sandwiches?

Watch those bones. It is very difficult when doing that much food to catch everything when you are pulling the meat.

Actually carved is probably the wrong word, cut would be more appropriate. I'm planning on cutting it up into wings, drumsticks, thighs, and the breast in 2 or 3 pieces depending on size.

It is a free community meal, so hopefully people will get their money's worth at the very least! Other people are making side dishes, salads and desserts. There will also be several people willing to help, so it's not all me (unless they need someone to blame)!

Thanks for your vote of confidence!

[Quadman750]

Put chicken into vac bags or ziplocks and reheat in hot water, it will stay moist

[Free Mr. Tony]

What is it to be used for? If you are carving it, are you serving it sort of pulled? Sliced? Sandwiches?

Watch those bones. It is very difficult when doing that much food to catch everything when you are pulling the meat.

Actually carved is probably the wrong word, cut would be more appropriate. I'm planning on cutting it up into wings, drumsticks, thighs, and the breast in 2 or 3 pieces depending on size.

It is a free community meal, so hopefully people will get their money's worth at the very least! Other people are making side dishes, salads and desserts. There will also be several people willing to help, so it's not all me (unless they need someone to blame)!

Thanks for your vote of confidence!

I would be somewhat skeptical of the skin in your process if you are serving as whole cuts. I have served tons of chicken pieces out of coolers after cooking, which is essentially the same thing you are doing. The chicken kind of steams itself packed in the coolers, but stays hot forever. The trade-off is the skin. It's not ideal to me, but the masses never seem to care.

If it were me doing it, I would go get a test chicken. Cook it as you are planning to. Re-heat, and let it sit in the foil pan for approximately the amount of time of the service day. See where you are at quality wise, and adjust if needed. Whenever I do larger cooks, I try as much as I can to duplicate the conditions the meat will be in during the event well prior to the event. It never goes exactly as you think it will, but this gives you a baseline for expectations.

If it's amazing during your test, it's probably going to be somewhere in the very good range when super-sized to 100 people. If it's simply average during your test, its most likely headed for below average when multiplied. It gives you something to work off of for the big day.

Good luck.

[Jcorwin818]

I just completed a cook for 200 people.  I did the Butts and they also served Hot Dogs and Hamburgers which I didn't have to worry about.  Cooked 2 cases of butts which is 16 Butts totaling 144 lbs. The cook went well but the shredding,saucing and holding of the product was a lot of work. I pulled it off but never again.  I did this all on my Traeger Texas and a borrowed Traeger Jr which meant two days of cooking and one day to process.  It can be done but going forward I would want a cooker which I could cook all 16 Butts at once the night before the event, process, sauce, pan, warm up and deliver prox 30 minutes prior to serving.  It was fun, challenging and a heck of a lot of work.  It's now back to competitions and recreational cooking for me.

[mowin]

What do you plan on cooking on? And can you fit it all in one shot? If you can't, I would think cooking the day of is out.

[jdmessner]

Put chicken into vac bags or ziplocks and reheat in hot water, it will stay moist

I really like that idea!! Will do a trial run this week. How long do you think it would take to bring a 2 gallon bag of chicken pieces up to temp?

[Kristin Meredith]

You will probably need to test to see how long to bring a vac sealed bag up to temp.  It would be a lot of boiling water for that many pounds.

[jdmessner]

What do you plan on cooking on? And can you fit it all in one shot? If you can't, I would think cooking the day of is out.

I have an old large Traeger. Someone once said they thought it was a 150. I have not been able to find one like it on internet. I'm not real tech minded, but I will review the post on another thread about posting pictures and try to document the grill and the process.

If I can reheat without loosing too much in quality, I know I will sleep better the night before instead of doing it the day of. A couple more practice runs are in order. My guess is it will take 18 - 21 chickens at a time, so we are looking at 2 batches. My wife suggested one the day of and one the day before, but whenever I do it, I want to go till it is done.

[Bentley]

Solid cooking plan.
Zero with this type of meat. 
My only suggestion, pull the chicken from heat source on initial cook at 160°.  You are in safe zone, it will be much more moist when it is reheated!

However, since I don’t usually cook for this large a crowd, it seems like there would be less pressure to do it the day before if at all possible.
How much quality will I be losing by reheating?

[JoeGrilling]

I had to cook for 35 a few weeks ago and the plan called for two pork butts the day before and six racks of Costco St Louis ribs.  I modified my Traeger Texas 34 Elite to handle six racks of ribs to be cooked the day of the event.  Folks barely touched the pulled pork and went to the ribs.

It's funny how you plan things in advance and folks taste determines the consumption.  The ribs were a hit.  My wife asked her brother-in-law if he wanted to take home some of the cake.  He replied no but if she was offering ribs he would take some.  She has another event planned in a few and had planned for me to make pulled pork.  After the party she said cancel the pulled pork.  You're cooking ribs.