Grilling for 40 people on 4th. Tips?

[Haggises]

Looking for some logistical tips for a big grill party on the 4th, 40+ people.
I'll be grilling up chicken, pork, Italian sausage and burgers. Wife will be taking care of veggies, and guests will be bringing sides.
Any tips on how to keep food flowing from Weber gas grill to guests would be appreciated.
I've done big parties before (maybe not this big) but sometimes it seems that by the time I finish grilling the last pieces of meat. most guests have gorged on the earlier stuff and are already replete.

 

[Jim]

What form is the pork in? The chicken and sausage can be started either in the oven and finished on the grill, or grilled the day before 80% and just finished that day. Keeping the menu as simple as possible is another thing. Using chafing dishes to hold and keep everything hot until you are done cooking, while not perfect, is another strategy.

 

[Haggises]

ideally the pork would be in the form of a whole pig, but I'll have to make do with something like boneless country-style ribs or similar.

 

[strop]

Any way you can borrow a grill from a neighbor?

 

[Jim]

ideally the pork would be in the form of a whole pig, but I'll have to make do with something like boneless country-style ribs or similar.

If you are doing a suckling pig that should cover most of your meat needs, add some chicken and you should be good for most of your guests. Except perhaps those wacky vegetarians...

The good news with this is you can have the pig almost done when your guests arrive and hold it in a pre warmed cooler until its time to serve. Makes it nice and juicy.

 

[Acmemfg]

Not exactly my style but.....

Many people I know will par-boil chicken and ribs until they are pretty well cooked and then finish them on a grill using their sauce of choice to baste and glaze the final product. I have been to many cookouts where this practice has been followed and the end result was pretty good.

The sausage and burgers will basically take care of themselves.

 

[coachschaller]

Use coolers to store the meat. It will keep it warm

 

[life2short1971]

I would do ribs early in the morning so they are already done when you start other stuff. If you keep them wrapped and warm they just get better.

 

[Shaving_CHENG]

Start early, and don't be afraid to use the oven to start, and finish on the grill

 

[ouch]

Once again, my invitation gets lost in the mail.

 

[JaggerDragger]

I have been to a large cookout and a neat grilling trick that I saw was to keep the sausages in an aluminum deep dish lasagna type pan full of beer and other spices on the grill boiling while the other meats slow cook on the grill. When the rest of the meat is done and just before you serve the sausages you throw them on the grill for a few minutes.

This trick worked good at a casual gtg where guests would drop in, that way you could give them a fresh grilled sausage that had been pre boiled in beer so it was really quick to prepare.

 

[Haggises]

Once again, my invitation gets lost in the mail.

I guees I sent it to the Fortress of Solitude when I should have gone NJ. My bad.

 

[ouch]

 

[Wid]

If you were to do whole chickens and pork shoulders you can do them early wrap them in foil and keep them in a cooler lined with bath towels. They'll keep hot for hours. Then you can concentrate on the other meats that only take minutes to cook.

 

[jbaca]

Ask some of your minions to give you a hand create someone to manage drinks and get a couple of the gals to pitch in helpers abound in a group that large...
Remember its about fun too..

 

[Haggises]

Any way you can borrow a grill from a neighbor?

A possibility.

Not exactly my style but.....

Many people I know will par-boil chicken and ribs until they are pretty well cooked and then finish them on a grill using their sauce of choice to baste and glaze the final product. I have been to many cookouts where this practice has been followed and the end result was pretty good.

The sausage and burgers will basically take care of themselves.

Start early, and don't be afraid to use the oven to start, and finish on the grill

That might work. Though I do want to keep kitchen heat to a minimum as no AC in there.

Use coolers to store the meat. It will keep it warm

I would do ribs early in the morning so they are already done when you start other stuff. If you keep them wrapped and warm they just get better.

I have spare coolers - never thought of using em as keep warmers....brilliant!

Keep a spare tank of propane handy. Always. Just in case.

Always.
Add bacon too?

I have been to a large cookout and a neat grilling trick that I saw was to keep the sausages in an aluminum deep dish lasagna type pan full of beer and other spices on the grill boiling while the other meats slow cook on the grill. When the rest of the meat is done and just before you serve the sausages you throw them on the grill for a few minutes.

This trick worked good at a casual gtg where guests would drop in, that way you could give them a fresh grilled sausage that had been pre boiled in beer so it was really quick to prepare.

I've never done beer-boiled sausages....but I will test out tonight!

 

[Haggises]

If you were to do whole chickens and pork shoulders you can do them early wrap them in foil and keep them in a cooler lined with bath towels. They'll keep hot for hours. Then you can concentrate on the other meats that only take minutes to cook.

You might just be onto something with the pork shoulder.....
I once did a Kalua-ish pork shoulder that worked pretty well and could have fed many, many people.

Ask some of your minions to give you a hand create someone to manage drinks and get a couple of the gals to pitch in helpers abound in a group that large...
Remember its about fun too..

I was considering paying my son and his friend to be official waiters. Might last 10 minutes
Used to have my brother in law handle drinks - until he gave up alcohol. Hope to keep the guests happy and toasted with a half-keg, wine, sangria and vodka punch.

 

[jesseix]

Maybe do some large cuts of meat that don't require a lot of babysitting... something like tri-tip or pork shoulder as mentioned above. I definitely love cooked to order sausages and burgers but I've q'd for big groups before too and you will be constantly turning/flipping/moving, so cooking some big pieces of meat that you can cut up will yield lots of stuff for people to pick on.

 

[PugslyCat]

Never fill the entire grill with hamburgers at once. Only fill half the grill and add the rest when the first ones are turned. That way you have a few coming out all of the time instead of a bunch of food at once and then nothing for a while.

Considering the diverse menu, I would definitely consider bringing in an extra grill. It's not just a capacity issue, but also a heat management problem. The more grate area and burners you have the more varied heat zones you can create. You can have some zones that are very hot and others that are barely warm enough to hold cooked food or toast buns.

With multiple grills and a little planning you can keep the lid down on some of your food to retain some of the heat. If you only have one grill the lid is up most of the time as you flip brats and burgers.

If you don't have an extra gas cylinder and don't want to get one, I would see if a local rental shop has a large but simple charcoal grill available. The ones here have open top four to six foot long rectangular grills. One of the benefits of these grills is that you can stand on one side to cook and there is no lid in the way if you are serving somebody standing on the other side.

 

[John Von Wuggz]

Any way you can borrow a grill from a neighbor?

+1