Am I planning for too much meat?

[flyinion]

Kinda new to trying to figure out how much meat I need for a large group.  Hoping I can get a few tips here.  There will be plenty of side dishes.  So first, the person count......

4-5 men at least 2 are big eaters

4 women

2 small children

I was thinking 2 3lb or so tri-tips and for some reason 4 3-4lb St. Louis cut rib racks.  I'm thinking that might be a bit much though and maybe 2 racks of ribs or even one rack?.  I'm not worried about having a little bit of leftovers that can be sent home, but I don't want to end up with double.  I definitely want two tri-tips as the ribs will be my first attempt at them so if they bomb I can't have them having been the star of the show.

 

[cliffcarter]

That sound s good to me, you will probably have leftovers, but then I like leftovers, especially ribs.

 

[daveomak]

I always cook thinking of left overs.... If you have room, put more on the grate...  between NASCAR, football and baseball, it won't go to waste...    Dave

 

[jarjarchef]

Sounds good. I too plan on leftovers. It makes life easier for meals later in the week or even if frozen for much later dates. When I do smokes we usually have a late lunch or early dinner, so we need snacks for later and the leftovers are good for that.

Have zipper bags and other plastic containers available for people to take food home in the case you have more left than you feel comfortable with.

The best is when you take some to work and heat it up and all the people that come out. :drool

 

[chef jimmyj]

You will have leftovers but not excessive. 4-5 Racks of ribs with sides would feed that group so the Tri-Tip is too the good and will offer a nice compliment to the Ribs...JJ

 

[timleo]

I see you have three options listed, but the typical response is 'looks good'...not so much help, eh?

I agree with your first option and Jimmy,  four racks of ribs plus two 3-lb tri-tips..that doesn't sound like too much for 10 people.  Add several sides and no one walks out hungry.  Sounds awesome.

 

[scarbelly]

You  could easily get away with 2 racks of ribs but if you have the $$ and the room why not cook some extra to have for lunches or dinner down the road. 

 

[flyinion]

Thanks guys.  I did some more searching last night and some sites are recommending 3-4 ribs per people, and another said 1lb of spare ribs feeds 1.5 people lol.  With that last number the two racks of ribs alone would be enough and then I'm having 6lbs of tri-tip on top.  I'm thinking I will probably end up with 2 racks plus the tri-tip.  The two kids are very small and don't eat much.

 

[flyinion]

Ok so everything worked out well I think (will find out after on Sunday lol).  I ended up at Costco to buy as per the suggestions in my other thread and ended up with a 5lb package of two tri-tips (was hoping to find 6lb but the 5 was the biggest) and a 9lb packer bag of 3 St. Louis cut racks.  I think it will be perfect.