Pricing Whole Hog?

Bourbon Barrel BBQ

Bourbon Barrel BBQ

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I've had some interest locally for catering whole hogs. We've got our prices set per pound for the regular meats but hogs are quite a bit more labor intensive. Do most quote a price based on raw weight. i.e. 100lb hog for 100 people? The dog and pony show for a hog on site just adds to the labor so I'm assuming most consider that versus just cooking several butts. Any thoughts?
 
your gonna need a bigger hog for 100 ppl. maybe more like 150-175lbs a lot of waste in a whole hog.
 
indianagriller said:
your gonna need a bigger hog for 100 ppl. maybe more like 150-175lbs a lot of waste in a whole hog.
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I'd also assume that the prices would move on a sliding scale based on size. A small pig may cook in 12hrs while a big hog could take 20+. The labor is quite a bit higher on the big hog.
 
Not sure what you mean. I can cook a whole hog just as easy as cooking 2 cases of pork butts. Probably same time and cost? FYI, a 100# pig will only net you about 30-40 lbs of finished product.
 
Bbq Bubba said:
Not sure what you mean. I can cook a whole hog just as easy as cooking 2 cases of pork butts. Probably same time and cost? FYI, a 100# pig will only net you about 30-40 lbs of finished product.
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I understand you get a smaller yield out of the hog I'm more interested in how you would price the difference between a 100lb hog and a 180lb hog since they are many many hours different in time. My question is simply do you charge more for the bigger hog since it takes longer to cook? Two 90lb hogs would seem more profitable than one 180 pounder.
 
2 smaller hogs might be more profitable than 1 big hog, but marginal at best. How much does running your pit for an extra 5-8 hours cost you anyway? Not much relative to the revenue from cooking for that many people.
In my neck of the woods the price/lb for hogs goes way down for big hogs so that's the cheaper option, by far.
One more thing - Do you pull all the meat and pan it before service, or do you carve to serve? My hogs are presented on the buffet line and meat is carved and put right on people's plates... The last thing I want is to make half the crowd wait while I swap out one carcass for a second hog.
And for labour... A hog is less labour for me to cook than 10-15 pork butts... unless I inject it.
 
burbon barrel; im with Early Mornin do the small hog fill in with the shoulder's or butt's your meat will go alot further. good luck! let us know how it come's out
 
I would rather cook 125 Lb. pig than a 60 Lb. pig. It is just as easy and a lot more forgiving. A 60 Lb. pig has a tendancy to dry out sometimes. I don't really care to go much over 125 Lb. because it gets much more difficult to handle due to the size and weight. Just my opinion.
 
Prairie Smoke said:
2 smaller hogs might be more profitable than 1 big hog, but marginal at best. How much does running your pit for an extra 5-8 hours cost you anyway? Not much relative to the revenue from cooking for that many people.
In my neck of the woods the price/lb for hogs goes way down for big hogs so that's the cheaper option, by far.
One more thing - Do you pull all the meat and pan it before service, or do you carve to serve? My hogs are presented on the buffet line and meat is carved and put right on people's plates... The last thing I want is to make half the crowd wait while I swap out one carcass for a second hog.
And for labour... A hog is less labour for me to cook than 10-15 pork butts... unless I inject it.
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Do you just quote a price based on raw weight then?
 
Just cooked one on new Years eve 100 lbs 10 hours head of feet off fed 35 people had 25 lbs left hog was $1.59 per lb. I am with Smokeyw 125 lbs is the perfect size.
 
Are you cooking in the stretch or did you get a bigger cooker?
jon
 
jonboy said:
Are you cooking in the stretch or did you get a bigger cooker?
jon
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I'm placing an order for a bigger cooker at the end of march. The Stretch has worked well but we've hit full capacity several times this past year. I even had to cook 2 batches for one event. Along with that we've been asked by several people to do hogs so it's time to upgrade.
 
Bourbon Barrel BBQ said:
I'm placing an order for a bigger cooker at the end of march. The Stretch has worked well but we've hit full capacity several times this past year. I even had to cook 2 batches for one event. Along with that we've been asked by several people to do hogs so it's time to upgrade.
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Thats a nice problem to have. :thumb:
 
What Does a 100 lb hog feed? about how many?

If it yields 35-40 lbs is a 1/4 lb a good estimate pp?
so 140-160 servings? That seems like to many, i was guessing it would feed 60-80?

thanks, Eric
 
Goddahavit said:
What Does a 100 lb hog feed? about how many?

If it yields 35-40 lbs is a 1/4 lb a good estimate pp?
so 140-160 servings? That seems like to many, i was guessing it would feed 60-80?

thanks, Eric
Click to expand...

Approximately 30ish% yeild so 100 lb would go 30 lbs at a MINIMUM 1/3lb serving so 90 if your serving.

I like serving "pig pickin" style, meaning heres your plate, go grab some hog! Usually figure 1/2 lb per person then.
 
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