I was asked to provide smoked pulled pork for sandwiches for about 130 people. I'm thinking of smoking 6 of them. Does anybody have an idea how many pork butts I should do? Thanks in advance!
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I'm not a cater or chef, but I'm sure they will need more info to give you a decent guess.
What kind of crowd are you feeding...football players,kids, elders???
Are you have any other meats with this outing or what kind/many side dishes???
How big are the buns you are putting the pulled pork on???
This should help with the answers.
What kind of crowd are you feeding...football players,kids, elders???
Are you have any other meats with this outing or what kind/many side dishes???
How big are the buns you are putting the pulled pork on???
This should help with the answers.
This is a "pot luck" church event - all ages will be present. I assume we will have standard sized "hamburger buns". The pulled pork will be the main meat event, although there will be many other side dishes.
At the very end of this thread is a very cool spreadsheet someone created. I have used it a few times and it gives me a good idea where to start. I always tend to add one more butt or an extra rack or two, just to be safe and I always have leftovers. It's amazing how much people love your product and are thrilled to take some home if they can. Good PR move too for future requests.
http://forum.cookshack.com/eve...022947217#6022947217
http://forum.cookshack.com/eve...022947217#6022947217
Allowing 1/3 lb per person and 40% shrinkage, you're looking at 8. I'd do 9 to be safe and have some left over for future meals at home.
the number of PB depends on the weight of each and they do vary widely. Generically for a diverse group as this you might consider 1.5 sandwiches per person (some will have none and some will have 2 or more; some will have larger or smaller servings as well) with an average of 4 0z (.25 lbs) per sandwich.
130 (# of people) x 1.5 (#sandwiches each) x .25 (serving size of 4 oz.) x 2 (50% shrinkage or loss during cooking) = 95 lbs of raw PB
130 (# of people) x 1.5 (#sandwiches each) x .25 (serving size of 4 oz.) x 2 (50% shrinkage or loss during cooking) = 95 lbs of raw PB
I used 9 lb butts in my calculations. Tn Q and I agree closely except I only used 40% shrinkage. Go with TN Q's recommendation to be safe. Left overs freeze well in food saver bags.
I just picked up a case (8 PB's)at Sam's. I will get one more. Thanks for the help!
Like the good cooks above say for a mixed group.
Many folks use 2/3 lb of raw butts per person and 10% overage.
Works out to about about 86 lbs plus about 9 lb overage.
Pretty close to 95 lbs bonein butts.
Some folks will have some hotdogs to feed smaller kids,who often fill up on chips,and other junk.
Good luck.
Many folks use 2/3 lb of raw butts per person and 10% overage.
Works out to about about 86 lbs plus about 9 lb overage.
Pretty close to 95 lbs bonein butts.
Some folks will have some hotdogs to feed smaller kids,who often fill up on chips,and other junk.
Good luck.
There must be a run on pork butts in this area. Sam's was out and could only get 4 cases (of which I got one). Hornbachers was out. I may have to stock up on hot dogs for emergency use!
Thanks to all for your help!
Thanks to all for your help!
I like to figure 1/3 lb on a big bun. But only one per person. At 50% yeild, that would be about 86lbs.
RandyE
RandyE
UPDATE:
I ended up smoking 8 pork butts for this event. In the past, it took about 22-24 hours to bring the temperature up to 190F. This time I injected each of them with about 1/2-1/3 cup of mixed apple juice, white grape juice and lemon juice. Much to my surprise, they were done (190F) in less than 12 hours. Most of the injection overflowed my drip pan and ran all over my deck. UGH! Anyway, the pulled PB's turned out super moist and everyone loved them.
We only had about 70-80 people show up and I had about 1/2 of the meat left over. None went to waste however as people were more than happy to take the remainder home with them.
Thanks to everyone for the advice!
I ended up smoking 8 pork butts for this event. In the past, it took about 22-24 hours to bring the temperature up to 190F. This time I injected each of them with about 1/2-1/3 cup of mixed apple juice, white grape juice and lemon juice. Much to my surprise, they were done (190F) in less than 12 hours. Most of the injection overflowed my drip pan and ran all over my deck. UGH! Anyway, the pulled PB's turned out super moist and everyone loved them.
We only had about 70-80 people show up and I had about 1/2 of the meat left over. None went to waste however as people were more than happy to take the remainder home with them.
Thanks to everyone for the advice!
Randy must use the same east TN math as we use in east KY. 
Great discussion here. I'm feeding 100 people pulled pork this weekend. Is the recommendation still one of these for sizing "how much"?
Approach one:
1/3 pound per person cooked (5 oz)
100 people means a need for 30 pounds cooked weight
40% shrinkage means I need 50 pounds untrimmed, uncooked weight.
Approach two:
Many folks use 2/3 lb of raw butts per person and 10% overage.
0.6 pounds * 110 people = 66 pounds uncooked
I see, however, the final answer in this case was "I ended up smoking 8 pork butts for this event. ... We only had about 70-80 people show up and I had about 1/2 of the meat left over.
So that was likely 64 pounds raw / 2 (half not used) = 32 raw weight served for 75 people or about 19.2 pounds cooked or about 4 ounces per person.
Approach one:
1/3 pound per person cooked (5 oz)
100 people means a need for 30 pounds cooked weight
40% shrinkage means I need 50 pounds untrimmed, uncooked weight.
Approach two:
Many folks use 2/3 lb of raw butts per person and 10% overage.
0.6 pounds * 110 people = 66 pounds uncooked
I see, however, the final answer in this case was "I ended up smoking 8 pork butts for this event. ... We only had about 70-80 people show up and I had about 1/2 of the meat left over.
So that was likely 64 pounds raw / 2 (half not used) = 32 raw weight served for 75 people or about 19.2 pounds cooked or about 4 ounces per person.
I also did a wedding where they were expecting about 200 people of which about 100 showed up. I went with 10 pork butts (1 case +2) and still had about 1/3 left over. The left-overs were much appreciated!
This is not a spreadsheet,but Elizabeth and her late husband were fine comp cooks,restaurants operators,and caterers.She just recently sold all their operations,but has always been very helpful to many of us.
Elizabeth's Cater Portions
Elizabeth's Cater Portions