How many Men will a rack of ST Louis Ribs Serve?
 

So, how many racks of ST. Louis trimmed ribs will I need for 40 people?

Thanks!

I would say a minimum of 25, depending on size of the guests appetite and how much you want to impress them. I can eat 6 ribs myself easily but I over indulge at times.

with other food, i count 3 folks per rack. I usually serve ribs with trays of chicken. So 3 bones and a piece of chicken is what most will take. Remember, some will take more, and other will take less so it levels out.

With ALOT of other food, 4 folks per rack.

if its the main portion of the meal, 2 per rack and then a few extra.

one rack per man. no sides needed.

Or, I actually figure that if there are the normal sides to a BBQ (tato salad, beans, cole slaw...) then three bones per person.

I'd say that if you had a couple sides and a half slab a person that you would look impressive in your offering and not stingy, or cheap.25 slabs would give you a little leeway and a couple of extra's in case of unexpected guest, or take out's .. Good Luck>> Later C

Will there be beer? That effects my capacity...

You weigh a buck and a quarter....how much affect could beer have? :heh:

Um...got me.

If they're really, REALLY good ribs, probably about 100.

Where I come from, 3 bones per person isnt hardly a snack. Mind you, we're EATERS
'round here. Seriously though, if it's more a social gathering with a LOT of food, 3 bones each is ok. If they're there to eat BBQ, Ribs, etc., and you make really scrumptious (my wifes word) ribs, you'll need a rack or two each. I made some 25+- racks last time and 30+- people showed up. The ribs were gone in about 30 minutes (yes, all 25 racks). Luckily I'd made another 6 9# butts to hold off the real eaters!
What can I say... I say "we're having a BBQ" and they literally fly in from Denver.
:-)

Ribs only 1/2 rack per person, ribs and another protein 3 ribs per person, same if you have sides, people will still take more protein than sides. You should have in your contract what you plan on serving so if you come up short there are no arguments.

1/2 rack per person for your average eater.

most Men I know will destroy a whole rack if hungry though. :razz:

^^^ this

Thanks, brethren. There will be lots of sides as well as 48 BBQ chicken thighs and 32 quarts of chili. The person paying the bill bought a case of spares from BJs which was 12 racks. So, that's all they will be getting but with everything else I think it will be plenty.

Joe I have done two Dominion Pwr dinners this year for the work crew of all lineman, had 3 meats at each and did 4 bones pp per request and had some left over each time. I think 3 bones is sufficient.

Guess I was wrong. :mmph:

We did 40 racks for forty people at a metal works factory, nice sale.

Thats what you get for guessing. :thumb:

OK, the cook went off very well. Some of the African Americans even gave me the highest of compliments by exclaiming that there was "no way a white guy cooked that BBQ."

OK, I'm officially Native American according to the Commonwealth of Virginia, but I will take the compliement as high praise.

Thanks, brethren for all your help! The cook raised money for the local food bank which is about as worthy a cause as I know of.

Congrats on the successful event Bo, we all knew you were gonna put out some good Q, the real question is did you have enough ribs! :)

Yep, ribs worked out just about perfectly.

Best advice yet..... 1/2 rack per person unless complimented by another meat item.

You know if you come up short they will not look to the cheapskate for running out of food, they will look toward the caterer as not properly estimating the food.

In food service, no matter what - you will always be the bad guy at someone else's expense.

.

Winning all the way around!!!

Awesome! I must admit, on of my personal favorite moments in BBQ was when I received a compliment much like yours. It's one thing to get great reviews from folks who rarely if ever eat BBQ and rarely if ever get really good BBQ and/or are half starving to death before they eat and/or about as drunk as no tomorrow... It's another thing to get great reviews from those who reallly KNOW BBQ. You did it bro!

I would suggest that you re-think using meat someone else bought. If I didn't buy it I don't serve it. Buying, transporting and storing meat until cooked is a high risk endeavor. What most people can tolerate by way of slightly-off meat will be a big problem to people with compromised immune systems like the elderly and young.

I'm being picky but I am in CA and everyone wants to sue.

Thanks, bro, and I agree with you. But, in this case, I was at BJ's with him and I picked out the meat. He just paid the bill before we left.

i recommend half a rack per person with three big sides-like Cole slaw potato salad and Bbq beans. i can easily eat two racks of ribs if the are trimmed.
I recommend only getting untrimmed ribs they are loaded with fat-taste best and taste of fat will satisfy most eaters-never get untrimmed ribs.

http://thebarbecuemaster.net

Thats also a nice thing about pork. Your nose will let you know if you have a problem B-4 the rub even hits the meat.

Boy is that the truth. I opened a case of butts to put on the smoker for an overnight cook and phew, they were bad. Good thing I was doing this ahead and re-heating because first thing in the morning I was at the meat supplier getting another case. I would have been out of luck if I hadn't decided to cook ahead. The meat supplier told me that they sell only 10% bone-in and this was in cooler too long even though it was ok date wise. Next time I'll check dates and open a cyrovac before I leave.