I Got Asked To Cook The Barbecue.....

[N8man]

for a High School graduation party....50+ hungry young adults...

How many poke butts/pounds do you suppose I need to cook?

[dwfisk]

To me, being asked to cook for this kind of celebration is the best compliment I can get - congratulations for being asked to do the gig! I did my sons' graduation rehearsal luncheon for 60+ last week. Pulled pork sandwiches & chicken. I cooked 6@8 pound butts after trimming some thick fat that made 2@3-1/2 deep full sized foil pans after pulling and 60 pieces of chicken quarters, plus a full foil pan of slaw and a full foil pan of beans. Too much pulled pork and chicken (had a full pan of pulled pork and 28 pieces of chicken as leftovers); just right on the sides. So, I'm thinking 4@8 pound butts and you will be in good shape.

[Big Country BBQ]

Id cook about 1 butt to 4-5 people so id say 15 butts

[boiler93]

Are the butts the main dish or will there be other meats? I cooked 3-8# last week for 50 but they had a ton of appetizers and there was plenty of pork. Everyone enjoyed!

[N8man]

Butts are it...plus whatever sides and stuff the hosts scare up...
I'm responsible for the cooking of the barbecue meat only.....

[dwfisk]

Big eaters - thats about 1 pound of finished pulled pork per person!

PS: gonna be in Huntsville 6/24, any good restaurant recommendations?
Id cook about 1 butt to 4-5 people so id say 15 butts

[boiler93]

I would say you should be good with 5-6 butts based on my experience. Should be able to make at least 15-20 sandwiches per butt and thats being conservative.

[Bbq Bubba]

Id cook about 1 butt to 4-5 people so id say 15 butts

and youll have enough pork 180 people! :doh:

[BBQ Bandit]

Id cook about 1 butt to 4-5 people so id say 15 butts

Umm... that's a bit too much.

Just cooked 12 boneless butts (91 lbs. raw) for 150 people.

[Gore]

It all depends on how hungry they are and how good a cook you are. I cooked for a group once and picked up extra as I don't mind leftovers. I had 1.5lbs per person cooked weight and they cleaned me out. The scary thing is that half were women and children. :shock:

[Garrett]

If you cook 5 or 6 good size butts you will be in good shape, with prolly a little bit left over.

[landarc]

Based on an assumption that it is 50/50 boys to girls, and that there are healthy boys.

I am going to say figure on 1/2 pound finished per person (normally I would figure 1/3# per person, but, that assumes a spectrum).

50 people x .5 pounds = 25 pounds finished meat total.

assuming 40 percent loss in cooking

25lbs x 1.6 = 40 pounds raw pork (assuming bone-in)

Assuming 8 pounds per butt, you would need 5 butts.

[Hawg Father of Seoul]

5 is right, so I'd do 6.

[pahutchens]

My kids (three beautiful girls) when they graduated had a lot of boys show up and those guys ATE. I would use a teen male multiplier of x2.5

[columbia1]

I use a standard formula of 12 people per butt, which would mean 4 butts for 48, since it is your only meat I would add one for safe measure for a total of five butts.

[deguerre]

Big eaters - thats about 1 pound of finished pulled pork per person!



Not when teenage males are involved...

My kids (three beautiful girls) when they graduated had a lot of boys show up and those guys ATE. I would use a teen male multiplier of x2.5

See?

[John Bowen]

I would go with 5 butts if they are around 10 lbs each. It might not hurt while you are at it and toss on some Kielbasa Sausage ( 7 -8) with some of your rub for the last hour or so. That is always a winner IMHO.

[Fat Cap]

5 or 6 butts at 8 pounds each will be right on target with some extra for you to take home. Always better to have too much than not enough. It's the + after the 50 that can be scary!

Good Luck!

[gtr]

The 40 to 50# uncooked weight sounds about right to me, just wanna throw in that it may not be a bad idea to have a box of hot links or something like that on hand for backup - if you're running low they cook real quick. If you don't need 'em, just chuck 'em in the freezer for later.

[b182evrclear]

I vote 5 - 8lb butts. 6 if you want leftovers. Have fun!

[Jason TQ]

I dropped off food for a graduation party of a friend last weekend for 50 people. It obviously depends on how many kids to parents and if indeed all 50+ are kids (young adults).

The party I did was probably 50/50 kids to parents and I made a total of 20lbs of cooked meat that I dropped off. It was 10lb of pulled pork and 10lbs of pulled chicken. I also did 2 full sheets of mac n cheese and 1 full sheet of coleslaw. They said they had leftovers. But if the majority were mostly kids they I would upped to total cooked meat to 30lbs probably.

Have fun cooking!

[Pyle's BBQ]

It has all been said about meat. Now how many buns are you going to get?

[mn_big_dog]

I'm doing the same thing for my god-son's graduation next week. 40-50 people, planning four 8-9lb butts.

[Wampus]

I've done quite a few large cooks. Just did PP for 150 people wedding reception this past weekend and also cooked for a cub scout camp out for about 70 people.

I always figure 1/4 lb per person and it works out pretty well each time.


SO, if you have 50 people, that would be 12.5 lbs of COOKED pulled pork.
I also almost always get 40% loss, so that would mean you'd start with 20.83 lbs (call it 21 lbs) of raw pork.

So, that's about 3 butts (with a 7-8 lb average).


That's how the math would work if I were doing it.

[Wampus]

I'm doing the same thing for my god-son's graduation next week. 40-50 people, planning four 8-9lb butts.

2 weeks ago, I cooked the pork for the wedding reception for 150 people.
The cook thread for it is HERE (http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=162101).

I started with 12 butts, or just right at 96 lbs of raw pork butts.
When they were all cooked, pulled and bagged up, I ended up with 58 lbs of cooked pulled pork (60% yield, 40% loss). At 1/4 lb per person, that's enough pork for 232 people.

If you're doing 8-9 butts, plan on lots of leftovers.

1 8 lb butt will usually feed about 18-20 people (average) at 1/4 PP per person.

[N8man]

just got back from pricing meats....1st stop was the local Pork supplier (Hursey's Wholesale) they said it'd be between $1.39-1.59 per lb for whole pork shoulders...
order needs to be placed Wednesday morning, when the market price is set at that time..
last week it went for $1.39 a lb....hogs are then slaughtered after the order is placed.....don't get any fresher than that....

Then went to the local BJs....pork butts, previously frozen $1.70 per lb. as of this writing.....

Last time I cooked whole shoulders the average weight was around 18-20 lbs raw...

I think I'm going for the fresh meat and will get 4 whole shoulders....

[Wrench_H]

N8, I'm not sure how close you are to greensboro or if you are a member, but Sam's usually has butts for around $1.20/lb if you buy a case. That's 10 butts which is more than you need, but you can always freeze the extras for later this summer. Also,Bur-Gra used to have pretty good deals, but I haven't been in there in 15 years, so I don't know what they have these days.

[N8man]

unfortunately Greensboro is a 65 mile round trip....
Hursey is a 14 mile round trip...

I've had friends tell me Bur-Gra quality is hit or miss these days....

[Gore]

just got back from pricing meats....1st stop was the local Pork supplier (Hursey's Wholesale) they said it'd be between $1.39-1.59 per lb for whole pork shoulders...
order needs to be placed Wednesday morning, when the market price is set at that time..
last week it went for $1.39 a lb....hogs are then slaughtered after the order is placed.....don't get any fresher than that....

Then went to the local BJs....pork butts, previously frozen $1.70 per lb. as of this writing.....

Last time I cooked whole shoulders the average weight was around 18-20 lbs raw...

I think I'm going for the fresh meat and will get 4 whole shoulders....

20lbs * 4 butts * 60% return ~ 50 pounds for 50 people.

Well, we can see N8man regards his cooking rather highly. :thumb:

I hope you have enough. :shock:

[mn_big_dog]

2 weeks ago, I cooked the pork for the wedding reception for 150 people.
The cook thread for it is HERE (http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=162101).

I started with 12 butts, or just right at 96 lbs of raw pork butts.
When they were all cooked, pulled and bagged up, I ended up with 58 lbs of cooked pulled pork (60% yield, 40% loss). At 1/4 lb per person, that's enough pork for 232 people.

If you're doing 8-9 butts, plan on lots of leftovers.

1 8 lb butt will usually feed about 18-20 people (average) at 1/4 PP per person.

Not doing 8-9 butts......"Doing FOUR 8-9lb butts"

[N8man]

I'm figuring on having more than 40% loss on whole shoulders versus cooking
trimmed butts...maybe around 50% taking into consideration that there's more skin
fat and bones than what's on butts alone....

but I will defer to those that are more experienced than I....

the last whole shoulders I cooked...wished I had weighed them
when they was cooked and pulled....
http://i717.photobucket.com/albums/ww171/n8man_album/Shoulder_Beefcake_8.jpg

http://i717.photobucket.com/albums/ww171/n8man_album/Shoulder_Beefcake_11.jpg

[dwfisk]

IMO you have a plan (and good choice on the fresh cuts, wish I could find that kind of place). Of course, if your whole shoulders are as good as they look, it might just all get eaten, and that's a good thing. Good luck with the cook.
just got back from pricing meats....1st stop was the local Pork supplier (Hursey's Wholesale) they said it'd be between $1.39-1.59 per lb for whole pork shoulders...
order needs to be placed Wednesday morning, when the market price is set at that time..
last week it went for $1.39 a lb....hogs are then slaughtered after the order is placed.....don't get any fresher than that....

Then went to the local BJs....pork butts, previously frozen $1.70 per lb. as of this writing.....

Last time I cooked whole shoulders the average weight was around 18-20 lbs raw...

I think I'm going for the fresh meat and will get 4 whole shoulders....

I'm figuring on having more than 40% loss on whole shoulders versus cooking
trimmed butts...maybe around 50% taking into consideration that there's more skin
fat and bones than what's on butts alone....

but I will defer to those that are more experienced than I....

the last whole shoulders I cooked...wished I had weighed them
when they was cooked and pulled....
http://i717.photobucket.com/albums/ww171/n8man_album/Shoulder_Beefcake_8.jpg

http://i717.photobucket.com/albums/ww171/n8man_album/Shoulder_Beefcake_11.jpg

[N8man]

Picked up the meat this morning, I got 70 pounds of raw whole pork shoulder
@ $1.49 per lb...4 shoulders....in the fridge....
they is pretty too...

http://i717.photobucket.com/albums/ww171/n8man_album/fridge_full_060713_zps0720cecd.jpg


Drumpit is sitting and waiting, at the ready, gonna fire it up around 11pm...hope to have the meat on by midnight...but gonna take a nap first...needs my beauty sleep.......

[deguerre]

Go on and take your nap there cuz. Then bark them b!tches up!

[boogiesnap]

i can be there by the time they come off. :becky:

[letdasmokeroll]

i just did 3.. 8lb butts for a party of 40 plus 40lbs of chicken quarters there was nothing left but everyone left full the pulled pork was gone in about 40 minutes lol so i would say maybe 5

[The Pigman]

I cook 10lb butts and fig 20/25 good size sandwiches per butt




Id cook about 1 butt to 4-5 people so id say 15 butts

[thistle]

Doing the same type of picnic myself next weekend-I'm planning on 3 butts, a medium sized brisket, 10 lbs. of chicken (done a day ahead), w/ 5-7 racks of spares (day of the picnic), heavy on the sides-slaw, salads, rolls, bean dip/chips, pickled shrimp, & poundcake/fruit for dessert-congrats to your graduate, & good luck!

I've been practicing, I have a WSM 22.5, & I've been doing team dinners (30+ hungry athletes) for the last couple of years-if I'm not ready now, I'll never be....

[N8man]

The meats are on!!!....actually they been on for a bit...
they went on the fire at 10:30pm...smoking with red oak
and royal oak briqs...temp is a steady 250*

Did I mention I got 70lbs. of raw whole pork shoulder on the DrumPit?:thumb:

[N8man]

checked on temp.....1:30am 250*

nap time...

[N8man]

4am.....250*

[Garrett]

I bet it's smelling gooood by now!!!

[N8man]

the backyard has that ol timey barbecue joint
smell......Heaven.......

wet morning...

http://i717.photobucket.com/albums/ww171/n8man_album/wetmornii_zps469d3d70.jpg

@ 7 and a half hours...top 2 shoulders before I switched grates
from top to bottom

http://i717.photobucket.com/albums/ww171/n8man_album/topshoulders_zps25c3d98f.jpg

and the bottom two...

http://i717.photobucket.com/albums/ww171/n8man_album/bottomshoulders_zpsa771a2ac.jpg
I've increased the cooking temp to 275*

on edit....
it's settled in @300*

[sfisch]

Just cooked for 100 people for an open house last weekend, did 6, 8lb butts and 100 pieces of chicken. Had plenty of leftovers.

[slow-smoker]

Looking good N8. I just need to get that "Smell-a-vision" app for my computer, and I'll be set.

[bluetang]

Mighty fine there! They gonna be eatin good.

[N8man]

The smoke has cleared, the barbecue is gone and bellies were filled...
I received word that the barbecue was a hit....

No pictures unfortunately of the finished pork except for the aftermath...

http://i717.photobucket.com/albums/ww171/n8man_album/bonesfatskin1_zps37e5cc17.jpg
http://i717.photobucket.com/albums/ww171/n8man_album/bonesfatskin2_zpsea31a651.jpg
http://i717.photobucket.com/albums/ww171/n8man_album/bonesfatskin3_zps0eb74217.jpg

From start to finish the DrumPit was a trooper, cooking 16 hours throughout
the night, horizontal rains and wind...can hardly wait to do it again!!!

last shot of the DrumPit....
http://i717.photobucket.com/albums/ww171/n8man_album/DrumPitShelter_zpsdc8175be.jpg

[N8man]

I ended up with about 35 pounds of finished meat out of 70 pounds raw, by the way...

[deguerre]

That answered the question I was about to ask. :grin: Nice trays there Nate! Don't appear to be that much left.

[Big George's BBQ]

Glad it went well Nate- of course I knew it would Being asked to do something like that means you have a Great reputation

[deguerre]

Well, notorious at least...great? I dunno, he is my cuz and seeds don't fall that far from the orchard, after all...

[N8man]

addendum....
just got off the phone with the folks I cooked the barbecue for...
quote,"That was the best barbecue anyone here has ever ate..." end quote...

yeah, I'm proud and happy.....:becky:


and a big thanx goes out to this wonderful bbq community of ours for
all the collective information contained therein....:clap2:

N8

[deguerre]

addendum....
just got off the phone with the folks I cooked the barbecue for...
quote,"That was the best barbecue anyone here has ever ate..." end quote...

yeah, I'm proud and happy.....:becky:


and a big thanx goes out to this wonderful bbq community of ours for
all the collective information contained therein....:clap2:

N8

Personally, I'm not the least bit surprised. Take a bow, cuz.:thumb::thumb:

[gtr]

Yup, based on what I've seen from ya in the past it'd be hard for me to imagine it turning out any way other than fanfarkingtastic. :thumb:

I may have finally found a source for whole shoulders in SoCal - apparently Asian markets have them. :whoo:

Masterful work work N8! :clap2: