Crowd Size Potato Salad, Smoked Pulled Pork, & a Candy Bar!! (Serves 35-40)

We buy the whole butts and have the butcher remove the bone and excess fat.  We season them and smoke at 225 degrees.  Low and slow is the formula. 

We are making the smoked pulled pork and the potato salad for an open house this afternoon and here is how we go about crowd size cooking.  First we do a lot in advance.  We take a long time and find low and slow to be the best result.  The 2 pork butts went on the smoker yesterday at 9:30 am.  They were boned and well seasoned with black pepper, salt, and garlic powder.  The water pan was filled with fresh citrus and onions.  The smoker temperature was kept at 225 degrees F. for 6 hours.  Next we removed the butts, wrapped them in foil and placed them in the oven at 225 degrees F. for another 6 hours.  When cool I slide them into the refrigerator for the rest of the night.

Note:  If a smoker is not available simply roast in an open flat pan at 225 degrees F. in your oven for 6 hours to start the process for melt in your mouth BBQ.   Place another pan of water, wine, or beer in the very bottom of the oven with cut up citrus and onions to provide moisture in the form of humidity in the oven.

Remove the butts and wrap tightly with aluminum foil.  Be sure to either place the wrapped butts in another pan or cover a pan they are in with secure tight foil.  The meat will give off quite a bit of liquid now and you do not want a big mess.  Place into the oven or back out on the smoker at 225 degrees F. for another 4-6 hours.  It will depend on the weight and volume.  As long as you have the meat tightly and securely wrapped it sshould not dry out.

Cold and ready to pull apart, thus "pulled pork."

Remove and leave wrapped to cool.  Refrigerate until cold.  Lay the cold pork butt out on a cutting board and cut the butchers twin and pull it off the meat.  Using very clean hands pull the piece of meat apart.  I usually have 6-8 hunks of meat lying before me.  With your fingers pull off and discard any membrane, fat, or gristle.  You will have beautiful meat to tear or chop or slice as you desire.

Ready to eat and relax the work is done when serving this BBQ.

My "secret sauce" is whatever kind of BBQ sauce you like thinned with apple or pineapple juice and spiced with an ample amount of hot sauce.  Honestly, it has never mattered if I spent hours on a homemade sauce or empty several bottles of open BBQ sauce into a bowl.  As long as I stick to the above formula it has always been a hit.  Currently we prefer Long Horn or Sweet Bay Ray's but I am not sure it matters as long as you thin with fruit juice and season with hot sauce!  Pour the sauce over the pork, cover tightly with foil, and return to the oven at 225 degrees until serving time.  Or,  put the meat in a slow cooker on low or a roaster on it's lowest setting until time to eat.  Serves 30-35.

The potato salad recipe is given at the following link.   thehiddenpantry.blogspot.com/2011/02/creamy-potato-salad-and-cream-cole-slaw.html

 As is my creamy Cole Slaw recipe plus more pictures.

If you cook the potatoes with the skins on then peel they do cot get mushy and fall apart as easily.

To serve 30-25 I used 8-10 pounds of potatoes boiled in the skins then peeled and sliced.  1 1/2 dozen hard cooked eggs, and one bunch of celery cleaned and sliced.  I prepared these items the day before and stored them in the refrigerator until just before serving time.

For this much dressing I used 1 quart of Hellman's mayonnaise, 4 tablespoons of Dijon mustard, and 2 or 3 tablespoons of sugar.   I also thinned the dressing with about a cup of buttermilk.  Whisk together and pour over the salad fixings.  Season well with salt, pepper, and a bit of celery seed, tasting until it is just right!

Everyone loved the "CANDY BAR."

One nice idea my daughter-in-law and her friend did was a "CANDY BAR."  The teenagers all loved this as did everyone else!  Since Memorial Day is just around the corner I hope these large quantity recipes will help you with your summers activities.