Pulled Chicken Questions

[Tmorrison80]

I am doing a lunch for about 15 people and they asked for pulled pork and pulled chicken sandwiches. I'm doing 1 Boston butt for the pork, but not sure how much chicken to do. If I figure 1/2 pound per person would that be 7-8 pounds of chicken? Or do I need to get closer to 10-11 pounds to factor the bones weight too?

Another question is when should I pull it? I have to transport it about an hour to the luncheon. My thoughts were to pull it there and transport it wrapped in a warmed cooler.

Thanks for any help in advance.

[tbob4]

I don’t pull anything until I get there and am about ready to serve. Pulled meat cools quickly.

[Dewesq55]

General rule of thumb for stuff like pulled pork or chicken is 1/3 lb (or 5 ozs) per person of cooked product. So ½ lb might be a bit of overkill. Whatever per person amount you settle on should be net yield minus skin and bones. I'm not sure of the cooking loss factor for chicken. On a recent pulled pork I did, the loss factor was a bit greater than 50% for a bone in butt (loss was from raw trimming, evaporation/fat render during the cook, additional fast veins removal before pulling and the bone.) My 10.65 lb butt yielded ~ 5 lbs of pulled pork ready to eat.

[tbob4]

Like the new photo.

[Nuke em]

1 whole roaster chicken that I sell pulled feeds around 12-13 people. The average weight of the chickens are around 7-8 lbs. but I do put a lot of meat on my big buns

[Huskee]

1/2lb raw weight per person is a darn good rule of thumb. Are you buying say thighs for the pulled chicken? I'd stick with 7-8lbs, if even that much. Yeah the bones' weight might be half of that, but if you have a butt too you don't need that much chicken methinks. I'd say you'll want 7-8 lbs total (pork & chicken combined) raw weight for 15 people. With buns and sides that'll be plenty. I just made 7lbs pulled pork and it fed 12 people with leftovers- a couple were small kids but a couple were big eaters. If you're serving the high school football team maybe a full 1lb per person.

As far as pulling it, I prefer to pull mine before transporting. This works for me since I have large metal bowls with plastic lids that seal on them. I pull the meat in these bowls and pack it in and seal it. They hold heat & moisture pretty well. If it's a larger amount we'll put it in our instant pot or crock pot after pulling to keep warm and transport. Then I don't have much work to do or mess to make when I get there.

[Joey877]

I agree with Huskee - no matter how efficient you are, if you don't have a way to keep the pulled meat warm, it is not going to be warm by the time you are done pulling it. I have always had a lot of luck doing all the "work" ahead of time, and then keeping things warm through whatever method is most convenient. Just add some fat (butter or even purge) to the warming pans.