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Grad Party Cook

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    Grad Party Cook

    Hi I am going to be cooking for my daughter's Grad Party. Will be about 70 people - mixed adults, kids, and seniors.

    Was Thinking of the following:
    Pulled Pork 25-30 lbs
    Ribs not sure how many racks??
    Burgers
    Dogs

    Sides:
    Baked Beans
    Coleslaw
    Salad

    Purchase:
    Chicken Broccoli Ziti

    Drinks
    Adult Beverages
    Water
    Chips


    So I will be serving pulled pork, burgers, and dogs. How many racks of ribs should I do? Is the pork number right?

    Thanks!

    #2
    For the slaw I have a recommendation.. use Meathead recipe for the creamy slaw but instead of sweet relish use dill pickles!!;. It is amazing!!!

    Comment


      #3
      I usually figure a 10% loss from cooking boneless pork butt. Then I figure 1/3 pound per sandwich .You should be able to make about 80 sandwiches with 30 pounds pre cook, 26 pounds cooked. For ribs i figure 2-3 bones per serving, about 5 servings per slab. If you want everyone to have some you'll need about 15 racks of baby backs. You could also go with 10-12 spares as there is more meat on them. I'm just one idea though. I'm sure others will chime in. Good luck!

      Comment


        #4
        Thank you that helps very much.

        Comment


          #5
          not to contradict anyone but i usually get ~50% loss from cooking bone in pork butts after trimming and cooking and discarding any parts of the meat that aren't desired (rubber band parts or large chunks of fat nobody wants). i usually figure 1/2+ lb per person uncooked (which comes out to about 1/4lb cooked) which means a 10lb butt will feed ~20 people, rounding down to 17-18 if you feel like being conservative (and depending on how many young men will be eating).

          Comment


            #6
            I'm a little confused, you are offering burgers and pulled pork? How are you looking to serve the PP? As an alternate to burgers on a bun, or as a side dish to the burgers?

            The 1/2 lb per person precooked weight has served me well for pulled pork, but that is when it is the main dish. If people are going to plop some down like it was potato salad, 1/4 lb precooked per person sounds about right to me.

            2-3 ribs per person also sounds good if you have sides, but again, for me personally, if I have a burger, I'm not going to also eat ribs, that sounds like too much. Now if you have a ton of food people may load up their plates, but I imagine you'll have a good amount of waste. Personally I would cut out the ribs, cook some extra pulled pork, and make some extra hamburgers in case a few people are still hungry - it is much easier to throw on some extra burgers at the end. But I understand wanting to go big for a graduation party.

            Congratulations to your daughter, and to you and your spouse for getting her this far!

            Comment


            • Old Glory
              Old Glory commented
              Editing a comment
              Thank you PBCDad!

            #7
            Yes the pulled pork is going to be served as sandwiches. People can self serve. Pork, roll, slaw, and BBQ sauce.
            Will be served along with burgers and dogs.
            If you think that's enough I can cut out ribs
            Alternative selection to BBQ will be Chicken Broccoli Ziti

            My plan is to have pulled pork in trays holding at temp until noon. At 11:00 I will start the charcoal grill. Let it get hot then start cooking burgers and Dogs. Serve them in aluminum trays - self service. All on a buffet line.

            Sides:
            Salad
            BBQ Beans
            Chips
            Fruit Salad
            Ice Cream Truck Coming for desserts

            Beer & Wine
            Sodas & Water

            I figure 35 - 40 lbs pork
            50 burgers
            50 hotdogs
            2 trays pasta

            Party is Sunday. Going to cook pork Saturday. Pop in fridge overnight then heat in oven Sunday morning. Will cook burgers onsite.

            Comment


              #8
              For 70 people ribs seems like overkill given all of your other food choices. I cooked for my son's grad party last summer. We had a nacho bar, pulled pork sandwiches and strategically-placed munchies. That was it. I cooked 7 pounds of ground taco meat (which wasn't nearly enough) and 50 pounds of pork butt (that was the weight before it was cooked), which was more than enough. We had 135 people at the party. The party officially ended at 8 PM, but that's when I put out coney dogs (knowing the party would go later than that).

              Having cooked for sizeable crowds quite a bit over the years, I've found that people tend to way-overestimate how much food to have. What I find that when I plan a menu with others, people tend to think about each food item individually - how many burgers would feed 70 people? Then, from that they come up with a burger count. Then, how many hot dogs would feed 70 people? Etc. You need to look at the menu as a whole when coming up with quantities. Granted, you don't want to run out of anything, but you also probably don't want a ton of leftovers either.

              Just my 2 cents.

              Comment


              • Old Glory
                Old Glory commented
                Editing a comment
                Thank you. So looking at my amounts above assuming Pulled Pork is the focus are my numbers good? I would hate to run out of anything. I figure I could freeze uncooked burgers and dogs.

              #9
              Old Glory I think your number for the pulled pork is fine. Since you are cooking the burgers and dogs during the party you can cook to meat demand and, like you said, freeze any unused meat. Most grad parties of been to people wander in and out during the day and if people are attending more than 1 party in a day don't expect those people to have real deep stomachs at your party. I'd recommend 30 pounds untrimmed for the pork butt, to be safe. After trimming a bit (if you plan on trimming) you'll probably be at 25 pounds of uncooked meat.

              Comment


                #10
                Also factor in if there is gonna be teenage kids they will prob eat a lot. 1/2 lb per person sounds right. Don’t think many will want burgers when bbq is around. But I would use it as a back up if the bbq runs low.
                Another thing I have done is placement of food. Example don’t put brisket at the beginning of the food line when you have more pork than brisket. Put your pork first and people tend to fill the plate with pork. Then place your coleslaw. By the time they get to the brisket, there is not much room on the plate to fit a whole bunch of brisket so they take a little bit. I call it portion control.
                It works really well when the protein is covered and you have limited quantities

                Comment


                  #11
                  Do you really want to be grilling burgers and dogs during your daughter's party? I would want a menu that wasn't quite so hands on during the event. It's going to be a hectic day just being the host without also being a chef. Maybe ribs and pulled pork are enough?

                  Comment


                  • JeffJ
                    JeffJ commented
                    Editing a comment
                    I attended a grad party last summer where the hosts had asked a friend to work the grill on their behalf. I cooked hot dogs (for coney dogs) at my son's grad party but it was after the party "officially" ended.

                  #12
                  I was thinking I would only be behind the grill for about and hour. Cook the burgers and put them in a tray for self service

                  Comment

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