Bone-in vs Boneless Yeild

[cjonsmoke]

Boneless vs Bone-in yield
I'm interested in the difference in yield of Boneless vs Bone-in butts for pulled pork.
IOW, If I have to feed X number of people, do I figure 3/4 lb raw boneless butt per person vs 1 lb per per person for bone-in?
TIA

[bbqLuv]

The bone does not weigh that much to make much of a difference. Just my opinion.
The amount of pork butt needed to feed a number of people depends on the size of the pork butt, the serving size, and how much your guests eat. A general rule of thumb is a 5-pound pork butt will feed up to 8-10 guests.

Load up the feast with side dishes to go with PBR (Pork Butt Roast) you should be doing just fine.

[jfmorris]

bbqLuv is right. I’ve smoked many hundreds of butts, mostly bone in, and the bone in the average 8 pound butt probably weighs about 4 to 6 ounces. I much prefer smoking bone in butts. With the boneless ones I feel I need to tie them I to hold things together. With bone in, the bone pulls cleanly out once it’s done, with no wasted meat. So a bone in 8 pound butt would be equivalent to maybe a 7.75 pound boneless.

I am conservative, and plan for 40-50% loss in weight. Plan on a half pound finished pork per person or 1 pound raw pork, and you’ll be fine. If you serve as sandwiches, plan on 1/4 pound per sandwich.

EDIT:

A *LOT* depends on who you are feeding. If it's a mixed group, with kids, women-folk, older folk who don't eat as much, they are not eating a half pound of pork per person. If you got a bunch of 20-something guys there... they will eat more!

I took Korean pulled pork from an 8 pound butt to a potluck with about 15 people in attendance recently, all 50+ folk, coed, and even with other food there, my crock pot of pulled pork was wiped out. I've done 2 butts for a similar get together with 25 folks, and had leftovers. You just never know. I tend to offer buns and BBQ sauce and slaw for sandwiches, but a lot of folk skip the bun and just pile the meat on their plate.