PDA

View Full Version : Advice on cooking for a group

Slicer021
11-15-2017, 07:20 AM
Hey Yall. I have decided to carry on the Thanksgiving tradition that my Dad started of cooking for my family. We used to cook whole hog we are in Eastern NC but over the last few years has been too much on my Dad with a very back back and health declining. Last year I decided to cook a 15 lb Shoulder on my Smoker using Meatheads Rub and it was a huge hit even though it was not traditional NC Que. I love trying all types of different Que and not stuck with my Regional food. This year a cousing and I will be cooking for 28 people. We are using his large Offset this time and I am going to fire up my PBC for some Ribs or maybe a Turkey. I was looking for some advice on how much food do you guys think would be good for 28 people? Thanks in advance for any info.
sudsandswine
11-15-2017, 09:37 AM
I think 1/4 to 1/3 lb per person is often used in calculations, but I would probably work off half a pound of meat per person for Thanksgiving - better to have leftovers than not enough, but it just depends how much you think each person will eat. Based off that, you'd want around 14lbs of cooked meat, but doing ribs along with a meat could skew the numbers. 3 or 4 bones per person plus a 1/4 pound of meat? Then a slab of spares would feed 3 to 4 people and you could reduce the amount of "other" meat.

I usually get about 50% yield on bone in pork butts and about 60% yield on brisket depending how much trimming I do.
BillN
11-15-2017, 01:59 PM
Sounds like fun, I would error on the side of having too much food so there will be lots of leftovers.
PatAttack
11-15-2017, 02:40 PM
Why not continue the tradition of a whole hog???

I'm sure your Dad could just sit back and supervise to make sure y'all don't fark it up!:-P:laugh:
Slicer021
11-15-2017, 03:20 PM
Why not continue the tradition of a whole hog???

I'm sure your Dad could just sit back and supervise to make sure y'all don't fark it up!:-P:laugh:

I definitely want to cook a whole hawg next year. I do not have a pit set up for one and I don't want to use a gas pig cooker like we have always used. I want to either make me a grill or pit to be able to cook a whole hog over some nice wood coals.