Anyone ever cooked a whole steer in the ground?

Help Support CattleToday:

Chunk off some brisket and chuck for your smoker. Cut the steaks for your use and burger the remainder. Make it as simple as possible.
 
What ever you do make sure you are confident of getting the desired result otherwise you will have a lot of hungry and cranky people after you.
We used to do an annual hangi at our boat club's grounds on an offshore island. We had permanent brick lined pits with cuts of meat and vegetables going in baskets then lowered into the burnt out pits and covered. We catered for several hundred people and it was always a melt in your mouth success. I organised it one year and thanks to one of my predecessors who did a detailed modus operandum on the procedure and it was a breeze to do.
My tip would be to have someone who knows what they are doing, don't try to wing it.

Ken
 
What ever you do make sure you are confident of getting the desired result otherwise you will have a lot of hungry and cranky people after you.
We used to do an annual hangi at our boat club's grounds on an offshore island. We had permanent brick lined pits with cuts of meat and vegetables going in baskets then lowered into the burnt out pits and covered. We catered for several hundred people and it was always a melt in your mouth success. I organised it one year and thanks to one of my predecessors who did a detailed modus operandum on the procedure and it was a breeze to do.
My tip would be to have someone who knows what they are doing, don't try to wing it.

Ken
Your hangi sounds like a good time! Oh, even if we didn't cook the steer at all, no one would go hungry. Every year we serve 100 lbs of brisket smoked on mesquite. 100 lbs of ribs and 100lbs of butts smoked on hickory. 150 chicken halves smoked on mesquite, and 100 or 150 gallon pot of wild game Brunswick stew. All that is for supper. We tell people to wait till 11 AM to come over, and for dinner before we open the field at 1PM, we will have 100 -125lbs of catfish filets deep- fried in peanut oil, a washtub full of slaw, which is also still out there for the BBQ at supper. Dunno how many fries and hushpuppies.

We will have plenty of help. The dove field alone takes in $50k (200 @$250 each), which we donate the profits after expenses to the local 4H and FFA. The Extension Agent and FFA coordinator gets the members of their clubs to come help ( which saves us paying people and increases the amount of money 4H/FFA gets). And their parents come help too! :)
We of course feed all of the help. usually 40-50 with parents, and all. About half the hunters have their families come over for the supper, so thats about 150 more. A local MC rides over each year for supper with their ole ladies, but they pay us $250 each just to eat. They try to pay $250 each for their ole ladies, but we say HELL NO you won't either But I have seen them slip around and give it to the 4H or FFA leader anyway. Thee is usually about 60 of them, but we still have a lot of food left over, which we sell for a donation. The stew we sell for $50 a gallon. That is the seed money Scott and I keep for next year.



I have decided to get 200 lbs of ground beef because that's about what I use every year making chili and spaghetti for folks, and get all the rest made into sausages. We will probably grill about 300. Not everyone will eat one with all that other food around.
 
Your hangi sounds like a good time! Oh, even if we didn't cook the steer at all, no one would go hungry. Every year we serve 100 lbs of brisket smoked on mesquite. 100 lbs of ribs and 100lbs of butts smoked on hickory. 150 chicken halves smoked on mesquite, and 100 or 150 gallon pot of wild game Brunswick stew. All that is for supper. We tell people to wait till 11 AM to come over, and for dinner before we open the field at 1PM, we will have 100 -125lbs of catfish filets deep- fried in peanut oil, a washtub full of slaw, which is also still out there for the BBQ at supper. Dunno how many fries and hushpuppies.

We will have plenty of help. The dove field alone takes in $50k (200 @$250 each), which we donate the profits after expenses to the local 4H and FFA. The Extension Agent and FFA coordinator gets the members of their clubs to come help ( which saves us paying people and increases the amount of money 4H/FFA gets). And their parents come help too! :)
We of course feed all of the help. usually 40-50 with parents, and all. About half the hunters have their families come over for the supper, so thats about 150 more. A local MC rides over each year for supper with their ole ladies, but they pay us $250 each just to eat. They try to pay $250 each for their ole ladies, but we say HELL NO you won't either But I have seen them slip around and give it to the 4H or FFA leader anyway. Thee is usually about 60 of them, but we still have a lot of food left over, which we sell for a donation. The stew we sell for $50 a gallon. That is the seed money Scott and I keep for next year.



I have decided to get 200 lbs of ground beef because that's about what I use every year making chili and spaghetti for folks, and get all the rest made into sausages. We will probably grill about 300. Not everyone will eat one with all that other food around.
Sounds like you got it sorted.
Some permanent brick lined pits might be worth considering if this is an annual event and if you are interested in doing some hangi style cooking.

Ken
 
Sounds like you got it sorted.
Some permanent brick lined pits might be worth considering if this is an annual event and if you are interested in doing some hangi style cooking.

Ken
Yes, I AM interested in learning about hangi. I had never heard that term til I read your comment. What is hangi? Where can you get more info about it?
 
Labor day, we may have to cook a 700-800 pound steer. Intial thought was to put it on a spit like ou see on the western movies. But, that will take a lot of time and a lot of wood to make coals. And in 90+ degree weather, some one would have to keep a fire going, shovel coals, and stand by the thing to turn it for hours. Someone suggested putting it in a pit like you do a whole hog. HAs anyone ever v cooked a beef that way?
 
Getting it out is why I said quartered. You can probably lift quarters if it is wrapped in burlap, or rest the covered carcass on some sort of wire rack on top of the coals. I think a cattle panel would work.
I'd nix the cattle panel idea because of the galvanize. The fumes it releases when heated are toxic.
 

Latest posts

Top