Cook Talk

Buying Meat v.s. Making it
Karrie
08/04/08 		Hello Ellen
I'm going to have approx 60 people at our house for my son's birthday (yes its a big family) :) Most are teen/adults. I called to see how much it would be per lb to order from a local meat shop and its 7.99 a lb for hot roast beef and 6.99 a lb for shredded pork. I was thinking of doing the shredded pork myself but wouldn't that be a ton of work for myself? I was thinking of doing 8 lbs of beef and 8 lbs of pork. Is that enough for 60 people or should i do 10 lbs of each? I have a great recipe for the pork but i'm debating on doing this myself for such a large amt. What do you think? easier to make or buy?
ellen
08/04/08 		Pulled pork is VERY EASY at home in large amounts. You use a crock pot recipe and an electric roaster, setting/pre-warming the roaster at 200 for low or 300 for high, then sauce it and refrigerate up to 3 days.

If you don't have a roaster, you can do it in the oven in a large roaster, but yu must cover very tightly with foil.

You will like it even better if you rub the raw pork with a spice rub and refrigerate overnight before cooking. See the Jerk ribs recipe on the BBQ page for a rub recipe.

It is not nearly enough meat if those are the only two meats, especially with teens coming. I would allow 1 pound cooked ready to eat beef for each 3 to at most 4 people (15-20 pounds cooked) PLUS 1 pound cooked pork for each 4 people (15 pounds cooked, that is about 18-20 pounds trimmed raw boneless) for 60.

Karrie
08/04/08 		Should I use pork shoulder or butt? Also I don't want it to be plain instead of bbq sauce. I want the sauce on the side. I also have a vinegar sauce that people can put on. Its a great recipe. I have a huge electric roaster, so maybe I could make one batch 2 nights before and then the other batch one night before and then just reheat it the following day? I just think shredding the pork (pulling away the fat) is so putsy but if it saves me on money so be it :)
ellen
08/04/08 		I like shoulder, but both are excellent for this dish, and two roasters is perfect for the amount. Day of, you can keep half hot covered in the oven and serve in the roaster.
Karrie
08/25/08 		I had 15 lbs of pork and 9 lbs of beef and I still have a ton of meat left over! I don't know why most of the meat didn't go? I had almost 60 people here. What should I do next time? I'd hate to run out of meat but this time I had so much left over. How much should I reduce it by next time? Most of the salads and appetizers and the fruit went. I made a TON of fruit and I barely have any left.
ellen
08/25/08 		Wow, that is a very unusual result. Did you have plenty of rolls? Was it very hot? this pushes people away from hot foods. Yes the large amount of fruit probably cut down on the amount of meat eaten, but with over 50 people there and 24 pounds ready to eat meat, I would not expect over 5 pounds to be left. At least the meats freeze.
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