how much food do i need?

[FiremanVinny]

I was asked to bbq for a retirement party next week. Most will be hungry firemen. There is estimated 30 people. They are asking for tri tip and chicken. How much of each would you estimate?

[Hawg Father of Seoul]

I would do 20 lbs of tritip and 10 pounds of BS chicken breasts.

One time at work I cooked 11 lbs (10 steaks) of ribeyes, 5 lbs potatoes, and 3 lbs asparagus for 10 people and there was NOTHING left. Better safe than sorry.

[Offthehook]

Depending on sides that you have to offer I usually aim for 1/2 lb per person to 1 lb depending on the type of crowd.

[legendaryhog]

When I do big cooks, cater, etc. I estimate 1/3lb per person cooked weight for sandwiches, 1/2 cooked weight for plates (no sammies). You are going to lose about 1/2 your raw weight during the cook so you will have to double your cooked weight when purchasing your product. Also, kids eat less so if it is a family thing and you are counting kids in your 30 person party keep that in mind.

[cb25]

So far I've always estimated 1lb *uncooked* weight per person - and if I have a range I'm estimating, I always base on the maximum number of people I could have.

So far, I've never run out of food. Only problem was one time estimating for 40 people and closer to 30 showed -- we had a ton leftover. That being said, people were happy to take home leftovers :)