Estimating portions/amounts

[winemakers]

I have just been volunteered to provide pulled pork for a high school graduation party for my much beloved niece.  Any suggestions for estimating how much butt/person?  I expect that there will be on the order of 50+ guests, most of whom will be ravenous 17~18 year olds.  Having not enough is the sin of sins, and too much just means frozen leftovers, however, I would appreciate any and all quantity guidance.

I plan to start cooking soon and freeze the butt-of-the-gods in gallon 'foodsaver' bags.  Then, at party time in July, I was planning to drop the gal. bags in boiling water for a short period to reheat, and move to several crock pots to serve.  Big sandwich rolls flanked by squeeze bottles of several of my favorite sauces to customize to the notoriously individualized teenage taste.

What do the experts think of my plan?

[Habanero Smoker]

The plan sounds good. Iceman often cooks for crowd, so I am sure he will respond with the amounts.

[car54]

From what I know, when you smoke a bone in pork butt you lose just about 50 %. A 15 lbs butt will yield about 9 lbs. Allow about 1/3 of pound per sandwich and because you are feeding teenagers they will want 2 plus other food.

I hope that helps, Brad

[car54]

I was just thinking about the gallon size food saver bags. I think it would be better to have more "thinner" size bags that would defrost and cook quicker.

Brad

[Oldman]

E-mail Chez Bubba (he is a member here) as he does a lot of what you are talking about with pork. 

[asa]

I have just been volunteered to provide pulled pork for a high school graduation party for my much beloved niece.  Any suggestions for estimating how much butt/person?  I expect that there will be on the order of 50+ guests, most of whom will be ravenous 17~18 year olds.  Having not enough is the sin of sins, and too much just means frozen leftovers

Winemakers - sounds like fun, and a great plan for serving. For 50+ teenage boys, I'd start with 40# of shoulder. (Frozen leftovers should be a goal, by the way - so far, after a couple of weekends of smoking I haven't made enough to freeze because the Ms. keeps inviting more people to the parties) If half of the attendees are of the female persuasion, I'd guess that 30# might be enough and you could have some to freeze away. You'll want some sides like beans, potato salad, and slaw (made by "someone's mother" as per the NPR segment I pointed to yesterday) and, if you have a grill, grilled hot dogs make a great buffer when required quantities are difficult to predict with accuracy (easy to store, easy to cook when needed, and if you get all beef franks, you can be a gracious host for those who don't eat pork). But I'd suggest smoking more than you think you'll need, get a FoodSaver, and freeze some away for emergency situations. Have fun - your reputation will be established after this episode.

Art

[iceman]

car54 is real close on the portions. Kids love beans and slaw. For some reason they go for chips instead of potato salad though. Vacumed sealed bags work good. Make sure you get some juice in with the meat before you seal it up. Thaw them out in the refer a day or two ahead and then reheat in a covered pot and serve in a chaffing unit or in a slow cooker to keep it warm. Youngins seem to like the sweeter type BBQ sauces not the vinegar styles. Don't forget to load up on cold sodas and the napkins. Have a great cookout.

[winemakers]

Thanks for the guidance. 

Smokin' for mama and my two boys is exciting, for 50+ intimidating.


Cant wait for the show though. ;D


mld