cooking for 200.

BBQchef33 · May 28, 2009

Ok, guys, I am roped into cooking for a party of 200. Actually, 140, + 30 kids under 12, and they added an extra 30 to cover shortage. I need a sanity check on what i plan to cook.

I tried the meat calculators and Im confused on the results. (some display cooked, some display raw weights, and they dont jive.

So here was my plan, sans calculator.

the plan is 4 meats, sliced briskets, pulled pork, ribs(baby backs) and Chicken. Plus burgers and dogs for kids, picky eaters and late comers.

I plan on putting out a few trays of sausage and peppers and Kielbasa for folks to pick on before serving the BBQ and to tke the edge off the hungryman. Sides will be baked beans, corn on the cob, pasta salad and tossed salad. Also Big Mistas pineapple slaw may get added as a surprise.

I was thinking 10 butts(average 7-8 lbs)
6 briskets (14# or better, full packers)
50 racks of ribs
2 x 40lb cases of chicken. One case of leg and thigh quarters, one case of breast and wing quarter. (or would it be easier doing spatchocked and cutting after cooked? )

sausage and peppers will be 3-4 full trays and kielbasa will be on a slicing board.

Burgers, simple count, 250 burgers/dogs and they may have leftover.. probably not because about 50 HS kids will be hanging out late as stragglers and will finish them up.

They want service from 2-7pm.. STAGGERED, BUT CONTINUOUS.

so.. that being aid.. how bouts your expert opinions?

tony76248 · May 29, 2009

In my opinion, that is way too much food.

A few weekends ago, 150 folks and I did 8 brisket flats(5-6lb), 4 butts (10-12lb), 8 chickens (32lb total), 15lb sausage and 15 racks of ribs(45lb total). Plus all the sides and desert. I ended up having two briskets left over. All of these weights are pre-cooked, that is about 200lb of meat prior to cooking. I can tell you the plates were loaded up too. My plan was to have plenty of smoked sausage on hand in case I needed to provide more meat were folks to eat more than I had planned. In the end I did cook all 15lb of sausage but initially only cooked about half. It was easy in that if you cook it you need it and if not, back in the freezer it goes.

FYI

the brisket, pulled pork and sausage are all easily prepped and cooked whereas the chicken and ribs will require more hands on. I cooked both chicken and ribs on site since imo that is the way to guarantee they come out best.

The burgers and dogs are burgers and dogs.

BBQchef33 · May 29, 2009

thats what I need to know.. i too thought it was alot, but the calculators gave me those numbers.

are the S0-EZZY calcualtors using raw or cooked weights?

smokinit · May 29, 2009

BBQchef33 said:
Ok, guys, I am roped into cooking for a party of 200. Actually, 140, + 30 kids under 12, and they added an extra 30 to cover shortage. I need a sanity check on what i plan to cook.

I tried the meat calculators and Im confused on the results. (some display cooked, some display raw weights, and they dont jive.

So here was my plan, sans calculator.

the plan is 4 meats, sliced briskets, pulled pork, ribs(baby backs) and Chicken. Plus burgers and dogs for kids, picky eaters and late comers.

I plan on putting out a few trays of sausage and peppers and Kielbasa for folks to pick on before serving the BBQ and to tke the edge off the hungryman. Sides will be baked beans, corn on the cob, pasta salad and tossed salad. Also Big Mistas pineapple slaw may get added as a surprise.

I was thinking 10 butts(average 7-8 lbs)
6 briskets (14# or better, full packers)
50 racks of ribs
2 x 40lb cases of chicken. One case of leg and thigh quarters, one case of breast and wing quarter. (or would it be easier doing spatchocked and cutting after cooked? )

sausage and peppers will be 3-4 full trays and kielbasa will be on a slicing board.

Burgers, simple count, 250 burgers/dogs and they may have leftover.. probably not because about 50 HS kids will be hanging out late as stragglers and will finish them up.

They want service from 2-7pm.. STAGGERED, BUT CONTINUOUS.

so.. that being aid.. how bouts your expert opinions?

I would stick with your butt count and back off on the brisket by 1 an the ribs with four meats I do two ribs per so maybe 40 racks and the chicken 30lbs mixed. Are you figuring on burgers and dogs for everyone or just the kids. If I do as a filler i would do 100 bugs and 60 dogs. With all your other goodies you have plenty. I would be a round $18.00 or so a head.

big brother smoke · May 29, 2009

Welp Pooh,

You are looking at 40 lbs. of cooked PP (sounds just right)
Briskie you are looking at around 45lbs cooked (sounds right to me)
Ribs (seem good); Keep in mind BBs call for 1/2 lb per person. However with four meats you are on target.

You can check out this website: www.allrecipes.com
No need to pay attention to the recipes just use the calulator for meats and sides

chambersuac · May 29, 2009

Just send any left overs my way

Michael in PA · May 30, 2009

I think you are very high on the meat. You're really cooking for 170, right? Per person - 1 1/2 bones (we use heavy racks), 1/10 of a bird (we use big birds and cut them in 10 pieces), 2 - 3 ozs each cooked pork and brisket. So - 22 racks, 17 birds, 55 lbs each pork and brisket assuming 50% yield. For most people that is a lot of food.

But I'm more concerned about your 5 hour service window. You're talking about serving 30 people per hour, on average. I hate that. Food degrades over time. So I would have to prepare a little extra in case I have to pull stuff that isn't to my liking AND spend a whole bunch of time there with little to do other than talk barbecue and absorb praise for a job well done, which is a lot of fun. We provide up to 2 hours of service and charge for every extra hour they want based on staffing.

SoEzzy · May 31, 2009

BBQchef33 said:
thats what I need to know.. i too thought it was alot, but the calculators gave me those numbers.

are the S0-EZZY calcualtors using raw or cooked weights?

Column E is the weight of the raw meat.
Column G is the weight of the cooked meat.

If you read across Row 15 it has all the descriptions about what Column is what.

If you have any other questions, I'm happy to answer them, just let me know what they are!

On the question on this thread, 200 feeding at will from effectively an AYCE 5 hours buffet, the numbers won't work out, you'll always end up short some how.

I would price this whole gig, one of two ways.

340 meals, in 5 hours most people could eat 2 meals in that time.

So be prepared to cook and fill, or cook in advance and reheat to order.

In pricing it I would therefore offer it priced as AYCE, or as loading the table twice once at 2 and again at 5, you can then stagger the cook and serve to two knows times.

Price it according to what you want to do.

BBQchef33 · May 31, 2009

Soezzy.. thanks.. Expect an email, i have more questions on the spreadsheets.

The hosts are supplying 5 servers/helpers.

They want babybacks, i usually get 2.25 and up.

The party starts around 2, and they want food available until around 7. I have no problem with that, as theres no rush. They also agree that it doesnt have to be constant, very informal and can be on demand instead of keeping the chafers full all the time. i plan on doing the ribs and chicken onsite and putting them in in batches 45 minutes apart so they come out in stages. Butts and briskets will be pulled(form the pit) by noon and i have 2 hot boxes being delivered to the site to hold them.

Also, after 7, the high school football and soccer team is showing up.. there goes the extra food.

cooking for 200.

BBQchef33

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tony76248

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BBQchef33

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smokinit

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big brother smoke

somebody shut me the fark up.

chambersuac

somebody shut me the fark up.

Michael in PA

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SoEzzy

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BBQchef33

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