How much meat?

[kendoll]

So I am cooking for 16 people next month and was going to do brisket and pulled pork.

The mix is about 50/50 male/female.

What size brisket and butt do you think i should go for?

There will be sides of salad, baked potato dish, dips, etc. too.

Ken

[1buckie]

Ken, I figure pork @ 55% yield........10# would equal 160oz. raw &  88oz. cooked.....divide by 6oz. portion = 14-2/3 people / portions.....6oz. is a large portion, but pork freezes really well.....

brisket would be 45~55 % say, 12# trimmed down a bit to near 10# will get about the same yield

Does that give you a close enough benchmark?

Don't know much about kilograms........

[kendoll]

Ken, I figure pork @ 55% yield........10# would equal 160oz. raw &  88oz. cooked.....divide by 6oz. portion = 14-2/3 people / portions.....6oz. is a large portion, but pork freezes really well.....

brisket would be 45~55 % say, 12# trimmed down a bit to near 10# will get about the same yield

Does that give you a close enough benchmark?

Don't know much about kilograms........

Thanks Buckie!

So a 50% loss from raw to cooked? (I have never actually weighed a peice of meat after i have cooked it  )

I was thinking 4-5kg (so 9-11lbs) of each. Sounds close to what you are suggesting.

Might go for 6kg's of each and just live with it if we have leftovers (tough I know!).

Ken

[pbe gummi bear]

Ken, I think one of each would be fine. A butt around 8-10lbs with bone in would cook well. A full brisket packer is delicious but you can probably also cook a flat and have plenty to serve. A little leftover never hurt anyone If you are gonna be cooking for this long you might as well go all out and load the wsm with meat.

[kendoll]

Thanks gummi.

Yeah I was going to get a trimmed flat, not a whole packer. I might throw on some chicken wings too. Problem is it is at a place she has hired so i need to get my WSM there (along with the associated items) and we are going out to dinner on the firday night. I am actually supposed to be taking part in the festivities so don't want to bother with anything that requires too much fiddling (like doing burnt ends, etc.). I will be getting a full packer again to do burnt ends as I need to give it another go after my last oversauced attempt.

It is the rugby league grand final this (long) weekend so i am hoping to do a tri-tip and some racks of ribs.

Ken

[pbe gummi bear]

Thanks gummi.

Yeah I was going to get a trimmed flat, not a whole packer. I might throw on some chicken wings too. Problem is it is at a place she has hired so i need to get my WSM there (along with the associated items) and we are going out to dinner on the firday night. I am actually supposed to be taking part in the festivities so don't want to bother with anything that requires too much fiddling (like doing burnt ends, etc.). I will be getting a full packer again to do burnt ends as I need to give it another go after my last oversauced attempt.

It is the rugby league grand final this (long) weekend so i am hoping to do a tri-tip and some racks of ribs.

Ken

Cool, this is for lunch or dinner? If crunched for time you could do a high heat brisket or foil and oven the butt to get it passed the stall. It will still taste delicious, I promise. 

[kendoll]

Thanks gummi.

Yeah I was going to get a trimmed flat, not a whole packer. I might throw on some chicken wings too. Problem is it is at a place she has hired so i need to get my WSM there (along with the associated items) and we are going out to dinner on the firday night. I am actually supposed to be taking part in the festivities so don't want to bother with anything that requires too much fiddling (like doing burnt ends, etc.). I will be getting a full packer again to do burnt ends as I need to give it another go after my last oversauced attempt.

It is the rugby league grand final this (long) weekend so i am hoping to do a tri-tip and some racks of ribs.

Ken

Cool, this is for lunch or dinner? If crunched for time you could do a high heat brisket or foil and oven the butt to get it passed the stall. It will still taste delicious, I promise. 

The birthday stuff is for Saturday dinner. I have done a hig(er) heat pork neck before (about 300-325F ish) and it came out a little drier but still really nice - especially as it too about half the time.

What cooking time would you expect for an 10lb butt? 14-15 hours? What about for the trimmed flat of the same size?

Ken