How many butts for 18 people?

ColAngus · September 2014

I'm cooking a butt this weekend for a family outing. I was just informed there's going to be 18 people... more than I expected.

Will one 8 lb butt do? Or should I try to find a 10 lb or two smaller butts?

Rusty Rooster · September 2014

You should net out about 60% of your original weight. So 10# should result in about 6# of servable meat. It would depend on if you are serving adults or children. Just last week I fed 18 men with 18# of per cooked weight and did not have much left. Children would eat much less.

yzzi · September 2014

Go big. Leftovers are always perfect. I always put some in individual sandwich bags and freeze and grab one for lunches when I got nothing else.

BOWHUNR · September 2014

I always figure one 7-8 lb. butt for every 10-12 people. It's better to have leftovers to enjoy or send home with guests than to run out.

Mike

SmokeyPitt · September 2014

I agree it is better to have too much than too little. If you don't want leftovers you would have to estimate your serving size based on the attendees and what other sides. 1/3 lb serving size estimate a 10 lb raw butt, 1/4 lb serving size is 7.5.

Number of People	1/x lb serving	Finished Total	Estimated Yield	Raw Weight
18	3	6	60%	10
18	4	4.5	60%	7.5

tarheelmatt · September 2014

Will need about 10-11lbs of raw meat.

ColAngus · September 2014

Thanks guys!!!!!

Hmm... Can I fix two 8lb butts on a large BGE?

Being that I have a Maverick ET 732, I ca

tarheelmatt · September 2014

Shouldn't be an issue.

SmokeyPitt · September 2014

Two 8 lb butts fit on a large with room to spare! When I cook butts I do three 8ish lb on one level. That is a tight squeeze but two will fit no problem.

They shrink as they cook...these were almost touching when I started. These were right at 8 lbs each

tarheelmatt · September 2014

@smokeypitt, is that an app you use for calculating? I have always used an equation that appears to be what the app uses.

SmokeyPitt · September 2014

tarheelmatt said:

@smokeypitt, is that an app you use for calculating? I have always used an equation that appears to be what the app uses.

Hi Matt,

It is just an Excel spreadsheet. I am just dividing the finished total by 60%. It is the same as:

1/3 lb serving = number of people / 1.8

1/4 lb serving = number of people / 2.4

tarheelmatt · September 2014

Oh, gotcha...

My method is similar...

#peeps x 5.6 / 16oz's = product

product/.6 (60%) = total product

Little easier your way, but if if you round to next pound up they are nearly the same. I come out to be 10.5lbs instead of 10.

tarheelmatt · September 2014

Watch out, or @SGH will call you a geek....

QDude · September 2014

After cooking 200 pounds of pork butt this last August, I weighed the end product of usable meat and found that there was a 50% loss. I was very surprised by that.

ColAngus · September 2014

It looks like my previous message was cut off.

I have a Maverick ET 732... I only have one meat probe. How do I monitor the temp of the other butt?

lousubcap · September 2014

If about the same size they will likely run about the same pace til the stall, then all bets are off. They could finish a couple of hours apart. You can use a cheap analog thermo from your grocery and insert it into the larger one while using the maverick on the smaller one til you get close. Best finish-line indicator is when the bone pulls clean generally in the low 200's. FWIW-

dldawes1 · September 2014

I only probe one butt and it has always worked out fine for me !!!! I have egged 4 at a time while only probing 1.

ColAngus · September 2014

dldawes1 said:

have egged 4 at a time while only probing 1.

We gotta promiscuous cook around here!

How many butts for 18 people?

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