Pulled Pork for a Group

I have done 6 butts of that size on a large going with 3 each on two levels. I think 2 butts will be enough for 29 people but leftovers are always nice. Here is a shot of 4 butts on one level, they are stood up on the narrow ends. You can pull the pork and put it in ziplocks in the fridge for a couple days and reheat by putting the bags in simmering water. -RP

Do 3 butts and you'll have more then enough plus leftovers for an army. What I usually do for parties is a night smoke. Get the butts on at midnight then they should be done in the morning. Wrap the butts in foil then towels. Put them in a cooler. They should be hot for 4+ hours. I typically will pull the butts 2 hours or so ahead of the party then just stick the shredded pork in a pan, cover with foil and keep it on warm in the oven. This works very well for me so you don't have hungry guests waiting and an angry wife :laugh:

The Naked Whiz has a FAQ section that answers how much pork.
http://www.nakedwhiz.com/ceramicfaq.htm#howmuchmeat

You can figure 2.4 servings per pound of raw meat.

There is a lot of good information on the site.

An egger who used to cook for the troops used the formula below. For those into details, I have put them. For those who just want a simple answer I put that too.

First the caveat to the calculation:

Older folks will eat less, younger people eat more. The number of side dishes will either increase or decrease this amount. It is always smart to add an extra 20% of uncooked product into the end result, especially if you would like to have some leftover pork for other meals.

The long calculation:

(# of portions[i.e. people]) * (1 cooked pound/3 portions) * (1 uncooked pound/(1 - 0.4) cooked pound[i.e. due to the 40 % of mass lost by the raw pork when cooked due to fat and collagen rendering and water loss]) = # of raw pounds of pork needed.

Note, this assumes 1/3 of a pound per person (i.e. 1 cooked pound/3 portions).

To simplify:

# of people * (1/3) * 1/(1-0.4) = # of raw pounds
# of people * (1/3) * 1/(1-2/5) = # of raw pounds
# of people * (1/3) * 1/(3/5) = # of raw pounds
# of people * (1/3) * 5/3 = # of raw pounds
# of people * 5/9 = # of raw pounds
# of people * 0.56 = # of raw pounds

OR

For those that have a lot of pork already and want to know how many people it will feed.

# of people * 5/9 = # of raw pounds
# of people * 5/9 * 9/5 = # of raw pounds *9/5
# of people = # of raw pounds *9/5
# of raw pounds * 9/5 = # of people
# of raw pounds * 1.8 = # of people


To summarize:

If you assume a half of a cooked pound per person, the equations are:

# of raw pounds * 1.2 = # of people
# of people * 0.83 = # of raw pounds


If you assume a third of a cooked pound per person, which is recommended. The equations are:

# of raw pounds * 1.8 = # of people
# of people * 0.56 = # of raw pounds


If you assume a quarter of a cooked pound per person, the equations are:

# of raw pounds * 2.4 = # of people
# of people * 0.42 = # of raw pounds

There is a formula some use to determine how much raw meat is needed to yield a certain number of servings.A serving is 4 ounces ,which is a decent sandwich.Keep in mind this is for "SERVINGS",not number of guests.Divide the number of servings you wish to serve by 2.4.

Normaly I figure 1 serving per woman or child.
2 servings per adult male.
Teenage boys HA! :woohoo: 3-4 servings! :laugh:

45 'servings' % 2.4 = 18.75 pounds of uncooked pork.
If I were in your circumstance,I would cook 3, 7-8 pound butts.Good Luck!

lots of good advice but I would definitely try to do the butts a couple of days ahead. (you can enjoy your guests more & have had butts go a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOG time) You can smoke the turkey the day for the smell wow & throw some onions on after, everyone will be starving HAVE FUN!

Cook the butts with your dome temp at 250, I think you will like the results better. Shorter cook time and less chance of your fire going out. -RP

Trust me, try it, you will like it. -RP