Beef. It's what's for dinner.

[smokymountainrain]

I’m handling all the food for our Ward Christmas party minus the salads. The theme is Cowboy Christmas. I have no idea what cowboys eat vs non-cowboys but I knew beef had to be on the menu. I’m sick of making brisket for every big party so I’m changing things up and I’m having some serious regrets. 350 people is the expected HC but I’m guessing it’ll be closer to 200-250. Party is tomorrow evening. Cooking has started.

Menu:

Pulled Beef - Whole Chuck Roll (175 pounds) smoked and then pulled.
Roasted Carrots - 21 pounds of baby carrots pan roasted. (Smoker at 450)
Garlic Parmesan mashed potatoes (90 pounds)
Roasted Onions - 20 pounds of oven roasted (Smoked at 400)
Au jus - I didn’t want to try to make gravy so going with an Au jus. 5 gallons.
Cornbread - 8 Hotel pans
Peach Cobbler 8 Hotel Pans
Homemade Root Beer - 30 gallons made in 10 gallon batches

I’ve never worked with chuck roll so this has been a learning experience. There aren’t a ton of online reference to doing this so I’m pretty nervous. I figure if it turns out terrible I will get out of future assignments. So far it’s pretty tasty. Getting it pot roast tender is the challenge now. Huge pieces of meat that take up way more space in the smoker because of the height of the cut.

Mashed potatoes are also a huge new menu item at this scale. I’ve made these for 50-75 but never this scale. Same with the other root vegetables.

what is your go to homemade root beer recipe?

[CJF]

I’m handling all the food for our Ward Christmas party minus the salads. The theme is Cowboy Christmas. I have no idea what cowboys eat vs non-cowboys but I knew beef had to be on the menu. I’m sick of making brisket for every big party so I’m changing things up and I’m having some serious regrets. 350 people is the expected HC but I’m guessing it’ll be closer to 200-250. Party is tomorrow evening. Cooking has started.

Menu:

Pulled Beef - Whole Chuck Roll (175 pounds) smoked and then pulled.
Roasted Carrots - 21 pounds of baby carrots pan roasted. (Smoker at 450)
Garlic Parmesan mashed potatoes (90 pounds)
Roasted Onions - 20 pounds of oven roasted (Smoked at 400)
Au jus - I didn’t want to try to make gravy so going with an Au jus. 5 gallons.
Cornbread - 8 Hotel pans
Peach Cobbler 8 Hotel Pans
Homemade Root Beer - 30 gallons made in 10 gallon batches

I’ve never worked with chuck roll so this has been a learning experience. There aren’t a ton of online reference to doing this so I’m pretty nervous. I figure if it turns out terrible I will get out of future assignments. So far it’s pretty tasty. Getting it pot roast tender is the challenge now. Huge pieces of meat that take up way more space in the smoker because of the height of the cut.

Mashed potatoes are also a huge new menu item at this scale. I’ve made these for 50-75 but never this scale. Same with the other root vegetables.

[CJF]

Anyone ever shopped at Chef'Store? Apparently they've got brisket at $2.89/lb through Sunday. I'm being tempted to stop on my way home this afternoon and see what it looks like.

Just make sure it’s not select. There are subtle differences between prime and choice that the average brisket eater won’t notice. In my experience, the difference between select and above is noticeable and not in a good way.

[Pelado]

Anyone ever shopped at Chef'Store? Apparently they've got brisket at $2.89/lb through Sunday. I'm being tempted to stop on my way home this afternoon and see what it looks like.

I think so. It's more of a restaurant/caterer supply store, right? I haven't bought any meat from them lately, but don't remember any problems from what I've purchased in the past.

[Eddie]

Anyone ever shopped at Chef'Store? Apparently they've got brisket at $2.89/lb through Sunday. I'm being tempted to stop on my way home this afternoon and see what it looks like.

[MartyFunkhouser]

I made quesabirria tacos yesterday. Went with the Cooks Illustrated recipe. Really easy and delicious.

[Non Sequitur]

Just watched a YouTube on the virtues of picanha. Before I go down the rabbit hole, is it a thing I should care about, and if it is, what should I know about it?

[Jeff Lebowski]

My wife grew up on a farm but doesn't eat much meat now. Go figure. But I have conditioned her to be able to enjoy medium or medium-rare on occasion.

[old_gregg]

Needless to say, meats of all sorts have been a sore point at many times in our marriage.

[Clark Addison]

For those of you who have family members who like food cooked to a different wellness than you prefer: Don't you just make a portion to their liking?

My wife prefers medium-well. My children have been taught in the learning of their father, and want medium-rare. So whenever I'm cooking steak, prime rib, or even brisket. I cut a small portion off about 3/4 of the way through the cook. The smaller portion usually cooks a little faster. Then when I'm ready to reverse sear on the castiron grill I just leave my wife's portion until it barely red. Easy Peasy. Everyone gets meat the way they like it.

When doing steaks, yes. I usually do tenderloin/filets, as while they are not my favorite, they have the least amount of visible fat and everyone can agree on them. I sous vide more than anything else. I will do some "good" steaks at about 2 inches thick, and then a few others at about half an inch to an inch. I will sous vide them all at about 132 degrees usually.

Then I start heating up the cast iron, but before it gets fully hot I throw on some of the thin steaks. These will get a few minutes on each side to make sure they are done all the way through. Then, when the pan is fully hot, I throw on the other steaks for a couple of minutes. All the steaks are done at about the same time with different levels of thickness and doneness.

Roasts are a little more problematic. I will do a chuck roast or some short ribs more than anything else just because it is easy to please everyone. In the comparatively rare (ha!) times that I do a rib roast, I cut a few thin slices off right before we eat and throw them into a cast iron pan to make sure they are good and ruined. Then I wait for the inevitable "this really has a lot of fat in it".

[Bo Diddley]

For those of you who have family members who like food cooked to a different wellness than you prefer: Don't you just make a portion to their liking?

My wife prefers medium-well. My children have been taught in the learning of their father, and want medium-rare. So whenever I'm cooking steak, prime rib, or even brisket. I cut a small portion off about 3/4 of the way through the cook. The smaller portion usually cooks a little faster. Then when I'm ready to reverse sear on the castiron grill I just leave my wife's portion until it barely red. Easy Peasy. Everyone gets meat the way they like it.

For my MIL, that would mean all of us eat our roast while her portion cooks for another hour.

[Art Vandelay]

For those of you who have family members who like food cooked to a different wellness than you prefer: Don't you just make a portion to their liking?

My wife prefers medium-well. My children have been taught in the learning of their father, and want medium-rare. So whenever I'm cooking steak, prime rib, or even brisket. I cut a small portion off about 3/4 of the way through the cook. The smaller portion usually cooks a little faster. Then when I'm ready to reverse sear on the castiron grill I just leave my wife's portion until it barely red. Easy Peasy. Everyone gets meat the way they like it.

[Copelius]

It must be the generation. My MIL is a wonderful cook, but her roasts are so overdone. I remember when I cooked steaks for them and asked how they would like them, my FIL asked for medium rare and looking at his face as he consumed was looking at a man who just arrived at an oasis after way too long in the desert.

[Art Vandelay]

In the early years of our marriage, my wife would sometimes at dinner shout out "Kids, I just got a piece of fat in my meat!!", with the same level or warning, urgency, and fear as if she had discovered a severed toe. For a while I would just roll my eyes in an effort to keep the peace, until I realized the real-world harm this was having on our kids. We now have a couple of kids that have normal, healthy relationships with red meat, but a couple that remain damaged by her influence.

Along with her fat-phobia, her mother has also never cooked any meat in her life less than 20 degrees over the optimal temperature, which my wife was conditioned to think of as "normal and safe". Needless to say, meats of all sorts have been a sore point at many times in our marriage.

One of the reasons I got into BBQ was that it is one of the few methods of cooking meat that we can al enjoy. Even then, the first few times we had people over for pulled pork, she would tell our guests "Don't worry about the pink parts. That is an effect of the smoke. It doesn't mean the meat isn't done". I made her stop doing that.

That made me chuckle out loud.

[Bo Diddley]

This is why my parents/aunts/uncles, and grandparents before they passed....had equal amounts of meat, potatoes, and gravy on their plates. Have to have something to get that dry as shit down.

This. A thousand times this. Mrs Diddley still makes way too much gravy so as not to make the mistake of being short.