food quantities for 250 people at friends daughters wedding

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pignout013

Fire Starter
Original poster
Jan 26, 2011
36
10
Littlerock,Wa
Thanks for the help. I had a log book for all my events over the years but seem to have lost it, Since this is a BBQ forum you would have to say "that's the pits" .  I have a hard time remembering what happened today so good luck on what happened last year so any help would be appreciated. Any way, Menu is Pulled Pork, Brisket, Potatoe salad, Slaw, Beans, and sauce, all home made. Any help with the quantities would be great.Green weight on meat would be great. Can't remember shrink LOL. Thanks
 
For brisket and pulled pork figure 1/4 lb. per meat per person so you need 62.5 lbs. of finished product then add a 10% safety margin and that takes you to 68.75 lbs. You will loose approx. 40% weight during cook so you will need to start with 115 lbs. of raw meat (each type).

I don't have a calculation for the sides, but I would make at least 2 gallons of BBQ sauce if not closer to 3 gallons. Also to help limit how much meat people take I highly suggest you use either potato rolls sliced in half for the buns or small buns. That will help to keep the servings to a smaller more uniform size.
 
You think that low Jl?  I usually figure 1# of raw meat per person is a pretty good guideline, but I think you could be safe in knocking that down to 3/4# or less since it's a wedding and I'm sure there will be any number of elderly and children that won't eat their 1# of raw.  Roughly 125 pounds of finished meat product is my estimate, best thing about it if you precook all the meats, you can just have the excess still in vac sealed bags, keep them warm in roasters in water, then just refreeze afterwards and you have meals ready to go at a moments notice.   If it's being served, you can run lower numbers as well since you can control the portions, if it's buffet style, you might be better off staying on the high side.  More than one person will have eyes way bigger than their stomach.  As far as beans, I will typically just serve Bushs baked beans and go by the servings listed on the back of the Sams Club size cans.  Potato salad, I use 5# of potatoes per 20 people.  Can't tell you on slaw, it's just not that big here in Texas.  Sauce you can offer a spicy, a sweet and middle of the road one and either just have them in warming containers or just in the squirt bottles near the meats.
 
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For most catering outfits I have worked for they figure it at 1/4-1/3 lb. per person on the meats. If your doing a big family thing and know they eat  a lot you could push as high as 1/2 lb. per person, but for a 250 head wedding that gets expensive really fast. Plus you want them filling up on sides more than meat - thus keep the bun size small.
 
Sounds good Jl....that's why I brought up the point of whether it was being served or self served.  Could make a big difference.
 
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