Grad party food

[kyle]

We sent out 150 invites to my sons grad party. I know not everyone will come. I have 6 pork butts, 2 -18 pound turkeys and 20 pounds of little smokies, plus all the salads and desserts. Just wondering if I only need to smoke 4 of the butts as long as I have the two turkeys now. I dont want to run out of food, but dont want a ton left over either. Chef , what’s your thought. Anyone else can chime in too. Thanks in advance

[gus4416]

2pounds of food per person I think is what I was told

[processhead]

For meat servings, more like 1/3 lb per person on average.

[kyle]

processhead so with that, 4 butts should be more than enough with the Turkeys and smokies. I can fit the 4 butts and 2 turkeys in my smoker, 6 butts might be tight and I would like to do it in one smoke. Thanks

[processhead]

kyle Looks like you have a lot of chow. Guessing you may need to make plans for the left-overs. What time should I plan on getting there? lol

[kyle]

processhead you are more than welcome to come. June 26 at 3. Wear your blue hat

[twilliams]

kyle i dont want to say what is or isnt enough however for reference i did 100 person wedding ( not sure how many actually showed up) and did 10 pork butts at 80lbs. It filled two big roasters full for keeping warm and they only went through one roaster. I agree with processhead but i was gonna say 1/4 pound per person depending on what other sides you have to go with it.

[processhead]

twilliams Yeah, I think 1/4-1/3 lb per person will cover most occasions.

I think the tendency is to over-estimate consumption based on head count. With kids and ladies who tend to eat little or nothing, it can skew the numbers.

Something you can heat and serve quickly like hot dogs or brats can always be your back up plan.

[kyle]

Thanks guys for your input. I guess not every one eats like me at parties. I guess one thing to consider is having it at 3, people have probably ate already. Especially during grad season

[Deepwoodsbutcher]

I usually say half a pound of meat per person.

[processhead]

kyle said in Grad party food:

Thanks guys for your input. I guess not every one eats like me at parties. I guess one thing to consider is having it at 3, people have probably ate already. Especially during grad season

Good point. If its like around here, folks are making the rounds to several graduation parties on any given day in May/June. Your stop may not be the first one or the last serving food.

[craigrice]

if it was me I would cut back on the amt. and make BBQ out of the pork butts smoke & slice the turkey breast and cut out the prime parts keep some burgers and dogs in reserve for stragglers

[kyle]

craigrice yup, I was going to do half the pork in my homemade bbq sauce, and half leave plain (just smoked) for those that dont like sauce. The turkeys I have done many times. I catch the juice in a pan, cut it with water and pour it over the slices. I think I’m going with only 4 butts, plus the two birds and lil smokeys in bbq sauce and some in teriyaki.

[Rambow]

Buy smaller buns and they can’t put as much meat on ! They aren’t there to get filled up !

[kyle]

Rambow for me, I usually only use one bun, but leave them open face. So smaller buns would work

[craigrice]

kyle bottled chili sauce and BBQ sauce combined is a good and easy prep for little smokies also good on cocktail meatballs

[kyle]

craigrice thanks. I think I might try that

[kyle]

craigrice do you mix 50/50. I know my mom does grape jelly and Chile sauce for sweet and sour.

[Jesser]

kyle what are you doing or making with the little smokies? Thanks

[GWG8541]

kyle I helped my sis figure and do pork butt for he daughters wedding and like twilliams and processhead has mentioned 1/4 per person of finished product will work fine. The hard part was estimating loss for us, but we did OK. Finished pork freezes great. Just remember to have a good time during all of the hosting. If my memory serves me right, we figured about 35% loss on the butts after pulling. It was pretty close.