Large Cook - Need Advice

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lstoker

Knows what a fatty is.
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I've got a BBQ celebration at work coming up at the end of the month. I will be cooking lunch for the entire facility which will mean 100-110 people. Will be bringing both of my offset in and cooking on them so I'll be running around 275F

Pork Butts seem to be the best yield for such a large group. Can someone double check my math here - Let's say 100 people that will consume 1/3 lb per person. By my calculation I'll need 67-70 lbs of raw pork. Does that seem right?

Also - I've never cooked this many pork butts at once, my largest cook was for about 50-60 people. I typically see about an 1 hr/lb running at 275F so my pork butt cooks usually finish up in 8-9 hours. How much longer should I factor in for such a large load out like this?
 
Actually pork loins are the best yield, there is almost no waste and little shrink. They slice wonderfully for sandwiches. You can always put the rib-end slices in their own pan as they are higher in fat. The cook time is the biggest advantage. At 275° they take less than 2 hours.

Your guess of 1/3 lb per person seems low. But for butt estimates, I work up the amount of cooked weight, then double that for trim, and shrink loss. So if you arrived at 10# of cooked weight, I would cook 20# of raw weight.
 
thirdeye said:
Actually pork loins are the best yield, there is almost no waste and little shrink. They slice wonderfully for sandwiches. You can always put the rib-end slices in their own pan as they are higher in fat. The cook time is the biggest advantage. At 275° they take less than 2 hours.

Your guess of 1/3 lb per person seems low. But for butt estimates, I work up the amount of cooked weight, then double that for trim, and shrink loss. So if you arrived at 10# of cooked weight, I would cook 20# of raw weight.
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We are calculating the loss the same. I'm accounting for 50% cooking loss so 100 people @ 1/3 lb is ~33 lbs / .5 = 66 pounds

What would you recommend per person?
 
75 lbs seems safe. If serving on sandwiches you'll need less meat. Having all that meat on one smoker will increase your cook time; the ambient temp of the smoker will be much lower than 2-3 butts so it will take longer for the meat to come up to temp. Also, there will be more cold moisture in the cooker as it cooks.
 
If you do a google search for "oakridge catering calculator" the first link is to download an excel file.

I used it last month when I cooked 3 meats for 100 people, and it was fantastic. They all ate like linebackers, and we still had a bit left over
 
Thirdeye is correct on yield and cook time. And I do enjoy a good pork loin. But I would hesitate do it for a large crowd. In my experiance most folks far prefer pulled pork. Given the types of pits you have it's unlikely that your cook time will increase by a noticeable amount when full. And of course this is just my opinion based on my experience.
 
Brisket and links/sausages go a long way as well.

If brisket is not your thing, you can smoke the links/sausages and slice them about 1/2 to 1 inch thick when time to serve.
 
Thanks all. I checked out the calculator looks very close to what I was calculating. All the pork butts will be cooked on my 28 x 60 Outlaw so I really don't think the meat load will change things by a large degree. I'll probably factor in an extra hour of cook time.
 
lstoker said:
We are calculating the loss the same. I'm accounting for 50% cooking loss so 100 people @ 1/3 lb is ~33 lbs / .5 = 66 pounds

What would you recommend per person?
Click to expand...

It depends on the demographics. You know the habits of the workers better than anyone, but for pulled pork I shoot for 1/2 pound per person. Once I supplied pulled pork for a bachelor party where the guests were all younger cowboys and roughnecks and we used 1 pound as the multiplier and still almost ran out of food.

I cook loins on site in drums for the smell factor and freshness and stagger batches by 30 minutes. For pulled at one annual event we cook all night and have them in a hotbox by 10AM. For all the others I cook ahead and vacuum seal, and reheat in tabletop roasters.

BfBRyFZ.jpg


SonVolt said:
Only problem with pork loins is they taste like pork loins. :-D
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I hear you, but you have to consider 90% of the guests might think barbecue is a burger or steak. And 75% of folks will use a little sauce out of habit. So an injected loin with a good rub is not too bad. In addition to cooking only loins.... I use loins as fill-in meat at pig or lamb roasts with no problems at all.
 
thirdeye said:
I hear you, but you have to consider 90% of the guests might think barbecue is a burger or steak.
Click to expand...



If someone showed up at my place for barbecue and expected a burger or steak I would kindly welcome them to America and inquire about which part of Europe they are visiting from.
 
elcapitan said:
Brisket and links/sausages go a long way as well.

If brisket is not your thing, you can smoke the links/sausages and slice them about 1/2 to 1 inch thick when time to serve.
Click to expand...

Love sliced links on top of pulled pork sandwiches! Also, a great (and simple) option for another protein.
 
JeffinNE said:
Love sliced links on top of pulled pork sandwiches! Also, a great (and simple) option for another protein.
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Yes sir,
You can feed a large group easy, nice compliment, have room in the smoker,

lstoker here is a sample menu:
Pull pork
Links/Sausage
cole slaw/potato Salad from Costco or Sams
Beans(add some of that smoked pulled pork chopped)-maybe
white Bread
onions
pickles
BBQ sauce

:thumb:
 
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