# 1st try for a group(60-80)



## mdgoos (Jun 19, 2007)

Next week I am going to cook for my church; plan on making brisket, sausage, and Dutches wicked baked beans. There will be between 60-80 people, can anyone tell me about how much brisket, sausage, and beans I will need? (i would rather have too much than not enough)

And does anyone have a BBQ sauce recipe that I can make in bulk that is simple but still yummy for the sausage and brisket?

Thanks for the help.


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## goat (Jun 19, 2007)

I would cook at least 4 - 10lb briskets and 20lbs of sausage.  If beans are your only side, 5 gallons of beans.  If there are other sides, half that.  I use "Best Maid" BBQ sauce straight out of the bottle sometimes and it is pretty good for store bought.  Cattleman's BBQ Sauce is pretty good also, but do not get the SMOKEY!!  I usually figure 1 gallon of sauce to 100 people.


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## desert smokin (Jun 19, 2007)

When you start dealing with that many people, you need to take portion size into consideration. The numbers you are suggesting is 3/4 to 1 lb of meat per person based on your group size. That is a lot of food per person. What is your serving size in ounces per person and extrapolate from there. After you get that number put in a 10 to 15 percent fudge factor the insure your get everyone fed.
To view it another way, if you were grilling steaks, how many people in your church group could sit down and polish of a 16 ounce steak with trimmings.


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## deejaydebi (Jun 20, 2007)

"The numbers you are suggesting is 3/4 to 1 lb of meat per person based on your group size. That is a lot of food per person."


That might be but your going to lose 2, 3 maybe even 4 pounds a brisket from trimmings, fat rendering etc. and Dayral's been doing this sort of thing a for long time!


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## goat (Jun 20, 2007)

That 3/4 to 1 lb of meat is "uncooked".  After  I cook, cut up and trim a brisket, I can feed 15 to 16 people with it.  This is from my records and you may have some that are different.  Briskets are really a low yielding cut of beef.  I will stand by my numbers to feed the 60 to 80 head.  If you figure the 10 to 15% fudge factor you spoke of, you need to figure food for 88 to 92 people.

Comparing a 16 oz steak to 3/4 to 1 lb of uncooked brisket and sausage is like comparing apples to oranges.  I am not at home or I would quote you the yield differences from a chefs manuel.


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## mdgoos (Jun 20, 2007)

Thanks guys i am going to keep thinking about it, ist time for a big group i hope i dont disappoint.  We will see.


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## rookiesmoker (Jun 22, 2007)

MDGOOS,

After just doing a gig like this for a wedding reception, the one bit of advice that I will tell you is leave yourself plenty of time.

Do not be afraid of having the meat done early and refrigerated.  Then reheat and slice, trim, etc.....


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## mdgoos (Jun 24, 2007)

Found out today it is going to be 100, i hope i can handle this..........


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## mdgoos (Jul 2, 2007)

Well it turned out to be 125 people, stared this morning.  I have about 80lbs of brislet cooking right now.  I have never done more than about 30lbs on my smoker so this should be a good test to see if my smoker can handle it.  I will try to get some pics up soon.


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## gypsyseagod (Jul 2, 2007)

these people got it down. but as far as a plain sauce you can "modify",yer in texas so hit h.e.b. and in the generic isle they have lil' pig bbq sauce for like $2.00 per gallon and w/ some help it ain't bad. but then again in texas,who adds bbq sauce to brisket....


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## wild boar trapper (Jul 2, 2007)

This is my first post on this forum.  Just found it.

I often smoke large amounts of meat for family and friend gatherings.  Typically I smoke briskets, wild boar and chickens.

I like to have them done 3 or 4 hours before I plan to serve them.  I wrap them in foil and place them in an ice chest.  They "rest" in the ice chest.  Still, many hours later, they are still very hot.  Ice chests work great.


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## msmith (Jul 2, 2007)

Welcome aboard from another Texan glad you found us.


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