Butts for a wedding...

All depends on weight of your butts, and portion size.
Figure about 50% yield - so a 10 Lb. Butt will give you 5 Lbs. to serve.

If doing smaller rolls, like a hamburger roll, you can get about 4 sandwiches per pound. If doing a Kaiser type roll, figure 3 sandwiches per pound.

So rough numbers, if your doing 16 butts, each at 10 Lbs, your yield would be 80 Lbs. of finished pork. 80 Lbs. is good for 240 nice sandwiches or 320 small ones.

your mileage may vary.
Rick

I figure 1/4 pound per person for finished product. 150 people means 37.5 pounds cooked pork. 50% loss means you need 75 pounds of raw butts (average 8 pounds per butt makes it around 9 to 10 butts needed) to get 37.5 pounds.
after smoking I wrap in foil, let cool them put each butt in a gallon zip lock freezer bag and freeze if more than 3 days out of serving. When I warm them up I leave them in the foil (whole butts) bring the temp back to 180...cooler till ready to serve.

When we do catering we like to take into account what time of day the meal will be, (they tend to eat a lot more at meal times than the middle of the afternoon), what is the age of the crowd,(young kids and old people won't eat as much), the weather, (really hot out people won't eat as much) and how much other food there is going to be. We usually budget for a 5oz serving but sometimes a 4oz would actually cover it. In rare occasions, like a bunch of big boys going to be there and not having much other food, we will go up to 6 oz servings.

I would think your butts would yield more than 50% (should go at least 60%) and I wouldn't be a bit afraid of warming pulled pork back up after you cooked it. I like to use a boil bag if that is available. You can vacuum seal it and warm it up in hot water then cut the bag open to serve it as needed. A good quality freezer bag would be my second choice. Starting with cold meat in a food warmer would be third I guess.

I'd say cooking it ahead would be your best bet since you will probably be busy enough already with everything going on.

I wouldn't be afraid of adding a bit of sauce to help with moisture if needed.

One other thing that doesn't have anything to do with the question asked but of all the weddings we have catered, I've yet to see as many show up as what RSVP'd before the wedding. On the other hand, you would hate to run out.

Good luck!

mbailey,

Thanks.

How about this: smoke, pull, put in vac bag, add some finishing sauce or bbq sauce, and then vac seal.

maybe do this 1-2 days in advance.

then place bags in near boiling water closer to serving time.

It will take a while to warm in water, you better practice a batch. When I was doing 4# bags it took 15-20 minutes a bag.

I use a little apple juice for moisture, about a cup per bag. I used a one gallon heavy duty freezer bag and stirred the meat(by hand) about half way through warming.

I think you've got it. There is a slight difference between an actual "boil bag" and just a regular vacuum seal bag. The boil bags seal is designed to hold up to the hot water a little better. Just keep an eye on them when warming them in hot water in case the seal would open up. I think we set a 1200watt steam table to about 180F and they work great.

quote:

Originally posted by mbailey:
There is a slight difference between an actual "boil bag" and just a regular vacuum seal bag. The boil bags seal is designed to hold up to the hot water a little better. Just keep an eye on them when warming them in hot water in case the seal would open up.

For a little extra protection, after you vac seal it. Double seal the end of the bag. I'll do that on occasion with ribs. I've had the seal break a couple of times in the freezer.

I've decided to pull the butts, store them in vacuum bags, and reheat them in boiling water at the event.

Some folks say to add liquid to the vac bags. Would you recommend plain apple juice or Okie's finishing sauce?

Okies finishing sauce, apple juice as back up...Since my vac seal doesn't do well with liquid in the bag, I usually freeze the liquid into cubes or some other shape and add to the pork before sealing. It melts as the bag is heating back up...good luck!

I just reheat the sealed bags in the oven at 212*. Sometimes the heat breaks down the seal, and when in boiling water, I've gotten a small leak. Makes for a slightly mushier pulled pork.

It works great in the oven. Whether in water or air, 212* is 212* .

I've changed my mind again.

I did two test butts.

One butt was pulled and vac packed.
The other butt was foiled, cooled, stored whole, re-warmed in the oven (225F) in the foil, and pulled.

The second butt was better. More juicy, better texture, more flavor.

So...

Can I re-warm the foil wrapped butts in an oven or Nesco at about 220-240? What internal temp should I shoot for when re-warming?

Any other advice?

You may get many answers to you question, anywhere from reheating to your liking to an internal temp of 165°.

Personally I would take it to a minimum of 145°. You may or may not want to add some liquid of your choice when reheating depending on the desired moister of the meat.

Enjoy,

Tom

quote:

Originally posted by Mad_Angler:
I've changed my mind again.

I did two test butts.

One butt was pulled and vac packed.
The other butt was foiled, cooled, stored whole, re-warmed in the oven (225F) in the foil, and pulled.

The second butt was better. More juicy, better texture, more flavor.

So...

Can I re-warm the foil wrapped butts in an oven or Nesco at about 220-240? What internal temp should I shoot for when re-warming?

Any other advice?

Well, food serving safety typically has reheat specified to take up to 165, then decrease down to any temp above 140 degrees (f). So the next thought is typically "why do I need to reheat to 165 degrees, cause I can eat it cold from the fridge if I want, liked a sliced beef cold cut sandwich?" Part of this reheat to 165 degrees is to make sure it's safe to hold at, say 145 degrees the rest of the day. If your slowly re-heating a product up to 145 degrees to hold for the day, it can be in the 'danger zone' for too long.

I too find that the more 'whole' the product, the better it tastes reheated. However, reheating a whole butt typically takes longer than pulled pork. You can also try 'pulling' the pork your going to vacuum bag or foil, but leaving it much larger pieces than you would normally serve. Then when you vacuum pack it, you can do so in a flatter pack, which stacks easier than round butts, and also reheats quicker.

Rick