Advice on Party

[meat magician]

My boy is turning 4 in a few weeks and we are going to have a BBQ

Last year I did ribs and they seemed to be a hit, but in the intrest of keeping things from getting redundant I am going to do a pork butt instead of ribs. My question is how much should I plan for per person? We have 10 adults, 3 children under 4 years old, a 12 year old and a 10 year old. So 10 adults and 5 children for a total of 15 people. Going to set out buns for choice of sandwiches or just pile some on a plate and chow down, everyone else is going to bring a side. I was thinking about doing 2 8-9 lb butts.....but I am afraid of having too much, then again I'd rather have too much than not enough if I only did one butt.

8lb (if I did 1 butt) x 16oz per lb = 128 oz

128 oz div. by 12 (3 of these kids wont eat much

) = 10.66 oz per person. does this sound ok or should I throw on a rack of ribs for good measure too.

 

[pineywoods]

As a general rule you can figure your going to get 50% of the raw weight when cooked. Then figure about 1/3 lb per sandwich if people are making their own. So now all you need to figure out is how many sandwiches people are going to eat. i generally figure 1 per child and woman and 2 for the males. This is only a guess and the way I figure it.

 

[irishteabear]

I would do two butts. Don't forget about shrinkage after it's cooked. Leftover pulled pork freezes well and also makes great doggie bags.

 

[meat magician]

I forgot how much weight you lose on a butt, probably better go with 2 then. I made up 25 lbs of andoulli sausage this last weekend (70/30 venison/pork ratio) and may drop a few lbs of that in the smoker for a few hours too, only 3-4 of us will eat that though. Going to do the butts over night and then rest them in the cooler with the foil and blanket wrap. Wont pull them till just about meal time, around noon.

 

[mballi3011]

Now you do lose alot of meat due to shrinkage in the cooking process. I would do 3 butts for you can always have too much but you cann't have enough. You can always freeze it too. Leftovers are a good thing too. I have to keep some PP in the freezer or the wife wouldn't be real happy.

 

[scarbelly]

I agree with the others - you can never have too much as it freezes well. I hate running out - it is just embarassing - you might also think about throwing in a few hot dogs as some of the kids may not enjoy the PP or sausage.

 

[autoferret]

dont forget about sides (slaw, beans, potato salad, corn bread, corn, ABT's, maybe a fattie)
When ever i do a BBQ i alway try to do a few sides if u have friends that cook like i do make it pot-luck style and tell everyone what you'll be maken and see if others want to bring a side (works out great most of the time!)

 

[rbranstner]

Oh yea do at least two if you have room do more that is unless you already have pulled pork in the freezer. There's nothing better than having the itch for Q at the last minute and you just run down to the freezer and thaw out a bag. The stuff freezes good so don't worry about too much.

 

[mnbike]

I did a birthday party last weekend. There were 12 adults and 3 children. I did one 7 pounder and a 8 pounder. Had lots of sides. I'm guessing I had about 4 pounds of the 16 pounds smoked left over

 

[meat magician]

Thats what we're doing, the pork is my responsability and everyone else is making the sides. Pack of Dogs and a few burgers will be on hand for those not wanting the pork too, pretty sure they will not be used because everyone loves que, but it's nice to give people the option if their not in the mood for que. Appreciate the advice so far, thanks guys, and of course you can expect the Q-view the night of the cook and day of the event

Real busy work schedual keeps me from smoking as much as I'd like to so I'm looking forward to doing a cook. I think I'm going to get them on around 7pm the night before, and try to have them done by 7-8 am the next day. Wrap in towels and put them in a cooler to rest while I nap for a few hours. My wife can keep an eye on the temp because I usually leave the thermo probe while they rest. I got a nice 16 qt. electric roaster that I will use to keep it all warm & serv from after I pull them, getting excited now, hope it all turns out!

 

[okjsmoker]

I always throw something else on there, just for the simple fact that while I got the smoker going I might as well try to fill up the grate.

Something simple like Hot Links would be good.... and easy!