graduation party. help.

[rstoffel]

I've got the honors to smoke some pork butts for pulled pork sandwiches for good friend family. They're expecting 250 people and want me to smoke according. How many pounds meat do I need. This will be my biggest smoke job. Any rub recommendations and type wood to use. What I use fir my personal use may not be good fir large group. Any help appreciated. Let's get the smoke on.

 

[bmaddox]

I usually only cook for 15-25 people and figure 1/2lb finished product per person. They key is finished product. A 10lb butt will only yield 6-7 pounds of pulled pork. You might want to do a test run to see what kind of yield you are getting.

As for wood, hickory is usually a safe bet as it gives a good smoke flavor that is not over powering. If you want a little less smoke flavor you could go with pecan.

 

[radioguy]

Bmaddox is right. It's finished weight you have to figure. 40% loss is a good starting point. I did a party last year 80 people and cooked 6 butts in the 8~10lb range. With sides there was more than enough. With good Q you dont want to run out and disappoint. I use hickory cherry mix...2/3s hickory 1/3 cherry.

Good luck, post some pics.

RG

 

[jirodriguez]

OK - couple of things that will help you. Do all the smoking and pulling ahead of time and vacuum pack the pork in 10 lb. bag, they can be reheated in a pot of hot not quite boiling water. Use smaller buns, this helps keep the portion size down to between 1/4 to 1/3 lb. per portion. Kids and women generally will eat less so that helps offset the guys who will eat more.

Now for the math: 250 people at 1/3 lb. per person equals 75 lbs. of finished product needed. Raw to cooked loss is approx. 40% so you need to start with approx. 125 lbs. of raw bone in pork butt. If you want an additional 10% safety net bump up to 138 lbs. of raw meat. So you are needing to cook approx. nine to ten 10 lb. pork butts for 250 people with a 10% safety factor.

Also serving filling sides helps a well, and don't forget to make a bunch of BBQ sauce!