Charity Cook

[Ted B]

This past Thursday, "Team Weber Michigan" was asked to grill for a fundraiser for the Christian high school that we went to.  They raise money each year with a dinner.  The money goes to defray the costs of tuition and running the school.  We had to provide three types of meat 4 oz in size.  Kot choose beef satay, Brandon choose pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon, and I grilled italian chicken kabobs from one of the weber cook books.  Dave and Big B loaned labor and grills.  It took all five of us to get it done. 

This was our first large cook.  They were expecting up to 225 people and around 180 showed.  The weather was predicted at heavy rain, 20mph+ winds, and then they threw up a tornado watch.  Thankfully, as is common in Michigan the meteorologists were horribly wrong.  There was little rain, light if any wind, and no tornado.  Had the watch gone any longer, they would have canceled the dinner and we would've been stuck with about 150 lbs of meats.    Party in GR if that happened!

Big B(Brent) brought a snowmobile trailer and loaded 13 grills.  We grilled at the site, which was a church.  He also pulled out some favors as you will see in the pics. 

Everything went pretty well for our first over-size cook.  There was a bit of nervousness bordering on panic from all of us, but we pulled it off in the end.  Everyone seemed to love the food and couldn't believe we grilled like this all the time. (they don't own Weber Kettles, then they'd know how much easier it is)  Another couple was there doing half taters on some monstrous Charred and Broiled gassers.  The taters were good, just not as good as they could be.   

All right enough reading better get to the pics for Brian.

The trailer



Brent's invention.  He's our creative director when it comes to accessories and such.





All secured



The set-up.  Boom!!  Thanks B!  Brent scammed the tent off a good natured local hardware store











Once the cooking started photos were the last thing on our minds, so no action shots.  Brent managed to remember the food pr0n



I grabbed one of left overs.



Here is the room of people.  For Hogsy and Golly, the guy in the front center of the pic is from Tazzy.



While it was a little stressful, I think we all enjoyed the experience.  Half the fun of grilling like this is sharing it with others.  Gotta spread the Weber gospel!  We were all wiped out after.  Two days of prepping and preparing for a couple of hours of grilling.  I for one will be doing it again next year. 

Thanks for perving.  Sorry about the length. 

[Big B]

Awesome post Ted

It was an absolute riot to do(but stressful:P)......glad everything turned out like it did. Can't wait to do that again

PS. We had nothing to do with the gassers!!!!!!

Brent

[1buckie]

 "There was a bit of nervousness bordering on panic from all of us,"

OH, knock it off................first off, you're cookin' on Webers & then ya got a bunch of people that know what they're doing behind the wheel !!!!!
It always comes out fine when you have those two elements !!!!!

I did 150 over 4 hours in 103 degree heat....a group of ya ought not to even be breathin' hard........

Great cookup & great pics & for a good cause....schools don't get the funding
 like they used to......

I esp. like the shots with everybody's lid bales in play ........

[1911Ron]

Good job guy's, outstanding!

[mike.stavlund]

That is awe-inspiring, Ted!  You guys have got it going on.

+1 to the lid-bales all lined up.  And that Kettle-securing setup is ba-rilliant. 

[Duke]

I'm sorry I waited so long to read this post. You guys really know what you are doing on Webers! I can see the excellent results and teamwork. I hope you were all able to raise the funds needed for the school. You guys first class WKC'rs!

[G]

Nice work.  Must have been busy tending to all those kettles....and love the trailer pic.

[Hogsy]

Great work Ted.... Sure had your work cut out
Food looks awesome
BTW , there's no way that guys from tassie , there's no scar on his neck and he's only got 5 fingers

[glrasmussen]

Nice job! Taking on the challenge is a big step. The cook was probably the easy part,  the prep work I 'm sure was the toughest. 

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2

[Duke]

Great work Ted.... Sure had your work cut out
Food looks awesome
BTW , there's no way that guys from tassie , there's no scar on his neck and he's only got 5 fingers

I bet you wouldn't catch him chucki'n a sickie after a little footie! 

[Ted B]

Thanks everyone.  Whenever I cruise thru the forum, I feel like such an amateur compared to what everyone is doing when is comes to grilling, restoring, rescuing, and reusing.  Lots of inspiration is pulled from the collective group here.


Ya know buckie, you are the undisputed champ of cooking for large groups of people...We could only hope to be as calm. 

@rasmussen The prep was more work than the cook. After we all decided what we were going to do, we realized we all picked meat on a stick like we were cooking for the county fair.

@hogsy  He probably does have a neck scar.  He's crazy like an...Aussie, I guess.  And Duke-no way he chucks a sickie after a night of drinking.

Big B made the trailer setup.  He's our resident expert on those types of things. 

[mike.stavlund]

These photos make me so happy that I had to come back and perv at them some more. 

Brent and I have the same Milwaukee impact driver.  I feel like a big-shot now. 

[Cookingmama]

this is reallyawesome to read.  and THIS is what its all about.  so cool.  helping others, extending what we have and what we know.  Ted, i know exactly how you feel about feeling like an amatuer , everyone here makes it looks so great and so easy.  its a great group to be a part of. 

[1buckie]

 "@rasmussen The prep was more work than the cook. After we all decided what we were going to do, we realized we all picked meat on a stick like we were cooking for the county fair"

Which then led to really uniform, streamlined looking plate-ups.........
On an unconcious level, everyone's in the groove !!!!

"Ya know buckie, you are the undisputed champ of cooking for large groups of people...We could only hope to be as calm."

But it all went at least according to plan, or better.....I see no mention of anyone pissed off at having to wait to be served, or ending up with less than stellar food......
BIG slaps on the back & congrats all around !!!!

Think of that 'nervousness' as creative tension, ready to be unleashed toward a good result.....

PS: At least several of those photos need to go into "Just a Photo I Liked" thread....hint,hint...

[Ted B]

Buckie
I had two major concerns going in cold food and undercooked food. We avoid both of those as well as got enough out quick enough so no one was waiting. I'd do it again when asked. I really enjoy sharing the food with others. Funny thing is people think one of two things. Either no way I can make food that good no matter what grill I use or all I need is a weber charcoal and I can be that good. They don't appreciate the prep and practice it takes.

I had my son's teacher say she wants a weber by Father's Day for her husband. She wants either yellow or lime green preferably a performer.  . If I can't find one of those she's okay with a red one. Told her if I find any of those, I'm keeping them!  Don't think she gets what it takes to find some of these things.