Help with quantaties

[Jim Babek]

Ive agreed to cook for a fire chiefs dinner. There will be 30 fire department chiefs attending. The menu is pulled pork sandwiches, cole slaw and corn bread.

Ive got the amount of corn bread and am figuring 3 heads of cabbage for the slaw, does that sound right?

What would everyone say is the proper number of butts or pounds?

They are known for eating more than average.

thanks for your help

 

[K Kruger]

I'd do 4 typically sized (7-8 pound) butts. That should be plenty.

Weigh the cabbage. 1 pound servers about 4.

 

[S Mitchell]

Jim, I usually plan on 1 pound of uncooked pork butt per person. I have seen many complicated formulas accounting for loss of weight during cooking, portion size, gravitational pull, and global warming. They always seem to come back to being very close to what I do. You may want to slide one extra butt on there though if you are cooking for that many fire chiefs!

 

[TravisH]

Average serving size is 1/4 ~ 1/3 lb. You lose about half the butt weight during the cook.

So, for 30 ppl, at 1/3 lb each, you'll need 10 lbs cooked which is 20 lbs uncooked.

Another way is 10oz uncooked per person. 30 * 10 = 300 oz / 16 = 18.75 lb.

S Mitchell's 1 lb per will yield 1/2 lb servings which would be "above average".

So for your "above average" eaters, 4 8lb butts should be plenty.

 

[Gunar]

Amount of ounces per person x's amount of people divide by 16.

5 ounces per person times 30 divide by 16 = 9.375 lbs. Simple formula. Been using it for 30 yrs. Average serving is 4 ounces of meat 1 ounce of fat per person. Of course you can give them whatever you want for example 7 ounces per person. Hope that helps

 

[Noe]

Jim better to have more than not enough, i would cook min of 35lbs of pork butt, people tend to eat more at a party gl.

Mitchell can u explain in detail about the gravitational pull and global warming affecting the amount lol. That was gd bud.

 

[S Mitchell]

I should add a couple things. I try to cook so that there is some left over

and the gravitational pull I speak of is usually from my belly!