Help with Food Amount for 30 Adults

[tadowdaddy]

Never smoked for a big crowd before. I have my daughter's Baptism coming up, and am going to do pulled chicken and ribs. We'll have about 30 adults at the dinner afterward. I was thinking 3 5-7 lb chickens and 10 racks of baby back ribs. Will smoke them the day before and reheat at 200 in the oven before we head to dinner. Anyone have any suggestions as to how much food I should cook. Is this enough, or is this too much? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[crusty ol salt]

here is a great excel spread sheet in this tread from davidmcg

http://www.smoked-meat.com/forum/sho...el+spreadsheet

good luck

[tadowdaddy]

here is a great excel spread sheet in this tread from davidmcg

http://www.smoked-meat.com/forum/sho...el+spreadsheet

good luck

Thanks!

[curious aardvark]

first off - what sides are you going to have ?

Second - it never hurts to cook extra. bbq never goes to waste and it saves cooking anything the next day
also bear in mind that chickens don't yield up that much meat.
So 4-5 chickens. And 15 racks of ribs would be more what I would aim at.

I've done a few cooks for 30 or so - I generally go for 4 mains and 2-3 sides plus garlic bread. Pulled pork is always good for preparing ahead as well.


Sausages are always a good addition as well :-)

[WALLE]

Good question!
Like others have asked/commented - if you have a few good sides, your meat consumption will go way down.

If I had to do it, I would up the chickens to 5 or 6, and go with your 10 racks of ribs. I would not pull the birds, I would spatchcock and make 8 pieces outta one bird - Leg, Thigh, bottom breast, top breast with wing (x2 = 8). That would give your guests a lot to choose from, and not have them grab a whole breast and toss it because they can't eat it along with the 1/2 dozen ribs they also can't eat! They can always grab more pieces.

Don't know what size your BB's are, but the three three rack packs from Sam's are what I use. My rib love'n mongrels (5 of us) have a hard time putting away more than a rack/rack and a half at a time - that's with maybe a salad and bread.

One thing you can do to be safe, is toss in a shoulder and PP. If they clean ya out - tell them to get their glutton assess outta your house!

[tadowdaddy]

Thanks for all the feedback. My wife's family loves side dishes, so everyone wants to bring one. So, mac and cheese, cheesy potatoes, baked beans, napa salad, corn bread... it'll all be there. A lot of her family are picky eaters, which is why i was gonna pull the birds for sandwiches. I will probably do 5 birds and 10 racks of ribs and will let you all know how it goes! Thanks for all the advice!