# Seeking advice on my plan



## culpepersmoke (Aug 23, 2021)

Nephew is getting married and in lieu of a traditional bride’s wedding shower they have opted for a family/friend’s BBQ party. I’ve been asked to cook the meats. I’m still waiting for a head count but we anticipate it to be around 160. We have agreed just to do pulled Chicken and Pork. The most I’ve ever cooked for is about 40 so this is kind of exciting for me and I was hoping some of you with more experience could look over my plan and help me with it. I'm told the bride's family is doing the sides, Not sure what but I've been told there will be plenty.  The party is on a Saturday afternoon (3PM to 8PM). My plan is this:

Chicken – 25 birds average of 5.5 pounds per for a raw weight of 137.5 pounds. Cooked and pulled I’m expecting about 34 pounds of finished product.

Pork Butts – I figure I’ll need 80 pounds of raw meat (10 butts?) to yield about 40 pounds of finished product.

Maybe 180 burger buns.

2 gallons of sauce

My plan is to cook the chickens on Thursday, pull and refrigerate in aluminum trays.

Friday, cook the pork, pull and refrigerate in aluminum trays.

Saturday tow my smoker to the venue about 1:00 PM, get a fire going and reheat the trays. To keep the meat warm while serving (I’m guessing between 4 and 6) they have a couple large electric roasting pans that we’ll transfer the meat to.

Does this seem like a solid plan, any suggestions?

Thanks everyone.


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## justplainbob (Aug 23, 2021)

if 74 lbs of cooked meet is the finished result,  that will be almost 1/2 lb per person
most likely a couple of 1/4 lb sandwiches per person 
i think you need more burger buns 
good luck


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## thirdeye (Aug 23, 2021)

So I'm seeing about 130 pork sandwiches, and 130 chicken sandwiches.... are you good with these numbers?

One thing on the buns, don't use the huge buns, the small standard ones will work better for portion control.  That said.... King's Hawaiian has hamburger buns, and being a little sweet these work great for pulled pork sandwiches (especially if you have coleslaw for a PP sandwich  topping).  And, I've had really cook luck with slider rolls also from King's Hawaiian.  They make 3 varieties.  These would be good if you think some people want one pork slider and one chicken slider. 

I've cooked for 20+ at an annual event where we serve 125 to 175 and we've never needed 2 gallons of sauce.


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## chef jimmyj (Aug 23, 2021)

I would not go with Whole Chickens, the yield is not great, there is a lot of waste to deal with and they take a lot of space reducing how many pounds you can cook at one time. 80 pounds of Thighs, will yield 160 4 ounce portions. Thighs have been hovering at $.99/Lb. 2 gal of sauce is just shy of 1oz per sandwich and will be plenty...JJ


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## SmokinAl (Aug 24, 2021)

Here is a spreadsheet you can use to calculate the amount you will need.
Al


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## culpepersmoke (Sep 24, 2021)

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone. The event went great, had plenty of food. My cook turned out great and a good time was had by all :-).


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