How many pounds to cook? BBQ

[WadePatton]

I'm doing ribs this year. Pork silly-this is the Heart of Pig-Eatin' Dixie.

Pretty sure I cooked 30# shoulder and 10# chicken last time. I understand that ribs are bony and should get more. Where's the Butts/Ribs conversion table in raw meat values?

Anybody here cook for 40-50 head?

Thinkin' 50# is the cross over, but that 40# should do it as 30# was too a plenty last time.

Lots of sides, desserts, crankin' the ice-cream too.

[drewmanchew]

The rule of thumb I was taught was 1/4-1/3lb per person. The theory being some will eat more some will eat less.
hope this helps.

[sonny]

gonna need at least a quarter # of slaw/head

[WadePatton]

the pro/semi-pro smoker meisters told me to count bones not # on ribs. that 3 ribs per carnivore is a good number. tha's my target now.

[caleb]

If you just do a whole pig you should end up with leftovers.

[WadePatton]

34.5 # was the final number. worked out great. might do ribs again. but, yeah-more interested in doing a whole pig.

in a pit yo.

[Illuminaught]

Do it.
Me and some buddies in high school you to host a whole pig party a few times a year... soo much fun (we had an in at a butcher shop).
The problem is if you're left with too much pork after it can get difficult to keep eating it. But that may not be a problem after all.

[WadePatton]

Yeah, this is about quantities not pit cooking.

Shall we start a pit cooking thread?

I hate for the section to get all effed up with stuff in the wrong holes. and hard to find.

yall start it and i'll move these over there--later this eve. (so it took a week)

done--SEE http://www.velocipedesalon.com/forum...tml#post415283

[WadePatton]

Now as to quantity of ribs.

know your ribs as they're cut up different ways. i was doing spare ribs, which methinks is the "whole" shebang.

2-bones per was plenty.

and i learnt plenty as i over-did the rub, but then the crowd went wild and Mom was pleased-and bragged on 'em later from the freezer.

Main lessons learned was to consider the thickness of the carcass a bit more carefully WRT rub quantity/blend and timing. Stated another way: butts sweat off most of the rub (which can't over-penetrate), ribs don't (and can).

I employed a brief freshwater soak to each rack after cooking (refreshing the water each time), employed a sweeter than my normal sauce (see old wine-makers' rule) and got away with it*.

*which is how you know you know something about things...when you're pretty good at solving "issues" (fixing mistakes). and in that vein:

So now i'm damned to do ribs again until i get it right. HELLOFITALL was that i decided to go ribs to reduce time "in the saddle" and the desert air we were having, but the wx moderated to near normal that single day...rather pleasant at 95 then.

cheerios