HELP!!!! Need to make pulled pork sandwiches for 50 teens. We are cooking the meat

C

cheezz

Well-known member
for lunch sandwiches, and have a limited budget. So we need to figure how many pounds pork butt/shoulder to roast?? I'm seeing suggestions that say allow 1/2 lb MINIMUM of pre-cooked roast per person. Is that right?? We would need 25 lb of pork?

Also a good Bulls-Eye smoky/tangy/sweet type of BBQ sauce recipe??

Thanks all smileys/smile.gif

 
butt vs shoulder

The cut that comes from the upper part of the shoulder (butt or Boston butt) contains only a piece of the scapula and has more usable meat per pound. The cut that comes from the lower part of the shoulder (picnic roast) contains the shoulder joint and has less usable meat per pound. The meat from the picnic also has a less desirable texture, in my opinion. If you are buying boneless roasts the amount of meat per pound would be about the same for the 2 cuts.

I just made a 6.4 lb butt and had 5 very generous entree sized portions. I think I could have easily gotten 14 -16 sandwiches. That's a little higher ratio than you have seen recommended elsewhere. Consider cooking it covered - see my post above. It was not only more juicy but the yield may have been a little higher as well.

I like the vinegar BBQ sauce recipe I use but it is not smokey and it is a little spicy as well as tangy.

 
I have used both and noticed little difference in yield.

Ours have very little bone in either end, but I think on reflection, I agree with you about the picnic--not quite as good,BUT if on sale, I'll take it!! LOL
Have gotten 14# double package at Costco, cooked it and gotten enough for 40 people often.
I would never cook BBQ covered--people LOVE that crusty part mixed in with the BBQ--I chop that with a cleaver--and actually for large amounts I chop it all--pulling is just too hard on my wrists for a huge amount.
Having leftovers of BBQ isn't a problem so if you did cook 1/2#/person, you will have some I think, even feeding teens. Even at $1.50/lb. (what it is here now), BBQ is a bargain per person finished.
You might look up Lexington slaw for a different slaw to offer (along with the mayo based). It is tangy and delicious. It has a finer texture chop to the cabbage--almost ground. I can get it by shredding the cabbage and then giving it a whiz with the metal blade in the FP.
And as you know, your yield of sandwiches will be MUCH more if someone is serving/spooning out the BBQ, rather than what folks will put on their plates. When catered, the servers do the serving. Just a thought. And many, including me, serve themselves an open face BBQ "sandwich" rather than a pickup kind, so a larger basic serving.

 
It was not pretty the day I debated a butcher on WHY a "butt" was a "shoulder"?

I wanted to buy a 'butt roast" to make my FI'sL sausage per his recipe instructions. The butcher pointed me toward a "shoulder roast."

Up until that point, my entire culinary usage of the term "butt" had to do with the back-end of a body. A butt was a butt.

The butcher kindly explained to me SEVERAL TIMES that "butt" in this case was an anatomical term for the connection to the shoulder.

Mar: "But it's a BUTT!"

 
--and I betcha he wanted to make an anatomical connection . . .

with his foot to his butt! smileys/smile.gif

Marilyn, yer killin' me! LOL!

 
Geez, I just typed a long response and lost the whole thing. I hate that!

I catered the xmas party at the antique mall for 100 people. I calculated how much raw pork I would have to buy and it was astronomical. The woman in the deli where I shop said she tasted some at Sam's Club that was pretty good. I ended up going that route. I doctored it up a little bit and it was loved by all. It was so much easier and cheaper for me to do it this way. Charley is spot on about you being the server as opposed to letting people serve themselves, especially teen-aged boys. I served mine with potato salad and cole slaw. I did not enjoy that meal at all, and I had a leftover package of the pork to take home. I think it might still be in my freezer. Good luck!

http://www.samsclub.com/sams/byron-s-fully-cooked-pork-bbq-64-oz/160692.ip?navAction=

 
Yes, good idea. And we can get bonless cushion meat (pork) that is good for . . .

roasting/bbq-ing and such. And though boneless, it is relatively cheap, with not alot of waste.

 
I have done pulled pork many times for large groups.The price

per person has most often been $1/person--for the complete meal. Pretty amazing!! That price is most often when pork is on sale for $0.99/lb., but this meal is one of the most economical I can serve/auction for charity and gets the most attention. just FYI. ;o)
I think a workable amount of pork per person to start the calculation is 1/3#. I am always careful to err on the side of having too much, of course.

 
Side note, I'm reading Ted Allen's latest cookbook. He suggest using a potato masher

to break up the meat instead of shredding. Especially with 30 pounds of meat, I'd certainly give that a try. If it's cooked till it's falling apart, I bet it would work!

 
This will be enough

If you do not make a sauce from scratch I suggest taking something like Sweet Baby Ray's and diluting it with vinegar by about equal parts.

1 bottle ketchup (28 or 32 oz.)
1 ketchup bottle of cider vinegar
6 oz. yellow mustard
6 oz. worcestershire sauce
1/2C brown sugar
up to 1TBS hot smoked paprika
2-3 TBS coarse black pepper
Simmer for 45 minutes.

 
I don't understand the "10 cups" question. If you have

50 cups you have an adequate amount for your 50 servings. To measure BBQ I usually take my tongs and grab a "serving size" amount.
I unfortunately do not have the last measure I did of doing that "serving" and then weighing X number of servings for a weight amount. Sorry.
IMO, a cup of BBQ/pulled pork is probably 1.5 servings on a bun--and not a skimpy serving

 
I am going to suggest that you make the sandwiches and

have them out on a tray (or sheet pan) for pick up. You will also want to be sure to get a normal size bun (just your supermarket hamburger roll)--not oversized. I think you will have plenty and more if you do this, and some can have a second.

 
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