Must feed @ 300 people

Jake · September 2005

I made the mistake of bringing in pulled pork for an office lunch last week, now the owner wants to have a tailgate party at the football game and feed around 300 people. How many pounds of Boston butt will that take? I was guessing around a 150lbs. Would this be close?
Jake

BlueSmoke · September 2005

Jake,
150 pounds (finished) will be fine - that's half a pound a person. Depending on various other considerations: number of vegetarians in attendance, time of day, duration of the party, other dishes, etc., you could get by with 100 pounds.[p]Figure you'll need two pounds of uncooked butt to yield one pound of pulled pork.[p]HTH
Ken

Jake · September 2005

BlueSmoke,
Thanks, mostly we were just going to figure on sandwiches with onion and pickle.

Car Wash Mike · September 2005

Jake,
When we catered, it was 1/4lb meat and 1/4lb sides per person. [p]Good luck, I thought I had problems with 50.[p]Mike

Jake · September 2005

Car Wash Mike,
200 lbs uncooked would be a close estimate?

Spring Chicken · September 2005

Jake,
While everyone else is thinking "pounds" I'm thinking "golden opportunity" to say, "Hey boss, I need two Big Green Eggs to cook that much."[p]Spring "Opportunity Seeking a Place to Knock" Chicken
Spring Texas USA

Jake · September 2005

Spring Chicken,
1 mini, 1 small, 2 large, and 1 XL. One more in any combination and I will have to add on to the backporch.
Although, maybe if I hide the mini and the small in my barn I could have enough room for another XL, and say it was a token of his appreciation.
Jake

drbbq · September 2005

Jake,
I think 200 lbs would be good.

Car Wash Mike · September 2005

Jake,
I personally think you have meat left over. You smoke a ham or butt and shave. It stacks up quick and looks like a lot. 5-6 slices of pulled pork looks great, bet it doesn't weigh 1/4 lb.
When you get done, I would like to know the outcome.[p]Mike

Car Wash Mike · September 2005

drbbq,[p]Royal week is coming up. Am I invited to your camp?[p]Mike

Snoopy Dog Dog · September 2005

Jake,[p]We always plan on 1/2 pound uncooked per person for large groups like you said and we always have some left over. I'd get about 15 ten pound butts. You will have some people who will make a tiny sandwich and some people will eat several. It all works out in the end.[p]Chris

Chris · September 2005

Jake,[p]Think "thick bun", not large, but thick. You can probably get away with less meat, 100-125# cooked range. Also make plenty of extra sauce available.[p]After that think "people flow". Feeding 300 IS NOT a bigger version of feeding 25 or 50. You'll need a long table or several being worked from BOTH sides. And then try to stagger the people into shifts.[p]I feed 200-250 every Memorial Day using a 3'x5' grill & pit. Just the first pass takes 45 min to get everyone through before 1/4 of them come back for seconds and thats after grilling for 30 min first[p]Ask me about feeding 1000-1500, oh vey![p]Chris

drbbq · September 2005

Car Wash Mike,[p]Yeah sure, everyone is. I somehow moved across the aisle from the Dizzy Pigs, to space #910.
See you there.[p]Ray

Smokin' Todd · September 2005

drbbq,
...am I invited??
Heeeeeee! lol!
ST

Ryan · September 2005

Spring Chicken wrote:

Jake,
While everyone else is thinking "pounds" I'm thinking "golden opportunity" to say, "Hey boss, I need two Big Green Eggs to cook that much."[p]Spring "Opportunity Seeking a Place to Knock" Chicken
Spring Texas USA

I like the way you think bro...

Ryan

wdan · September 2005

Jake,
Haven't fed anywhere close to 300, but JSlot who used to be one of our regular sages here, and who had I think, quite a bit of catering experience once offered the following rules of thunb that have worked well for me:
1.) Figure 50% net yield (uncooked weight vs actual yield of cooked, pulled meat after fat is removed).
2.) 1/3 pound cooked meat per person if PP is main course.
3.) 1/4 pound cooked meat per person if other meats are offered.[p]This guy's word has been good as gold for me and has never let me down. If I done my 'rithmetic right for 300 people you'll need 200 lbs of raw shoulder if it's the only meat being served (I think drbbq recommended the same). If'n you got burgers, dawgs, sausages and such, the pig portion could go down to "as little as" 150 lbs....aieeeeeh! Do you know how many pigs is gonna be walkin' on their hind legs on accounta you? PETA ain't gonna be your friend anytime soon, but if you invite me I got an Uncle Guido in Chicago who could come visit at the same time and "occupy" your PETA friends. I also know a guy who appeared on Ed Sullivan once who knows how to teach pigs to walk on they hind feets. He works summers up here at the Tommy Bartlet Thrill Show at Wisconsin Dells.

Smoked Signals · September 2005

Jake,
All I can say is that I am sick and tired of pulling butts when I do 6 in a weekend. I can't imagine 25 (8 lbr's) ... better recruit some serious help. WalMart or Sams club is going to be happy with that order. [p]Lets see ...
400 buns ... check
pickle bucket ... check
25 pork butts - big ones ... check
6 bags of charcoal and drip pans ... check
ingredients for rubbing 25 butts ... check
gloves, bags, extra trash can on trash day... check
frig space for all the butts waiting and all the butts cooked ... check[p]boss loves the food and says can we do it again next game??? ... priceless job security[p]

RhumAndJerk · September 2005

Jake,
For this many people, you should actually consider going whole hog. You could cook two or three good sized hogs with much less work and still get the same results. You end up with trays of pulled pork just the same. Again, I refer back to Jslot as one of the resident experts in this area. He helped me do my first one. [p]Let me know if want more information,
RhumAndJerk

Must feed @ 300 people

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