first catering gig

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netspyder

Meat Mopper
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★ Lifetime Premier ★
Dec 18, 2022
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Collinsville, IL
so, my sis-in-law reached out and wants me to cook for my bro's birthday bash. am super excited that they think my smoked meats and homemade sausages are good enough for the masses, but also nervous to cook for so many. clearly he has way more friends than i do, as they're expecting 50 people. requested is pulled pork and bratwurst. ... so ... what do y'all think? over estimate and do 25 lbs of pulled pork and 25lbs of brats, or do 25lbs of pork and 10lbs of brats? i'll be mixing and stuffing my own brats - 100% beef brats, and they're legendary (not to brag... but they are really great).
 
The 25 lbs of PP .. Is that finished weight or beginning ?? Will that be cooked the day of or the day before ??

Do the full 25lbs of brats... Use your vacuum sealer on the ones not needed... Hand them to your brother and tell him Happy Birthday ...
 
so, my sis-in-law reached out and wants me to cook for my bro's birthday bash. am super excited that they think my smoked meats and homemade sausages are good enough for the masses, but also nervous to cook for so many. clearly he has way more friends than i do, as they're expecting 50 people. requested is pulled pork and bratwurst. ... so ... what do y'all think? over estimate and do 25 lbs of pulled pork and 25lbs of brats, or do 25lbs of pork and 10lbs of brats? i'll be mixing and stuffing my own brats - 100% beef brats, and they're legendary (not to brag... but they are really great).

I have done a bunch of catering events. The 25 lbs of brats option is a lot of meat for 50 people, but too much is always better than not enough.

A couple thoughts: who is handling sides? Also, there would be some wisdom in making the pulled pork ahead of schedule and reheating it for the event. Other than that, you'll be fine.
 
The 25 lbs of PP .. Is that finished weight or beginning ?? Will that be cooked the day of or the day before ??

Do the full 25lbs of brats... Use your vacuum sealer on the ones not needed... Hand them to your brother and tell him Happy Birthday ...
the pp is the finished weight -- assuming i can find 40lbs of raw boston butt. i'd rather have brats left over than pp... personal preference, but he might prefer the pp leftovers.
 
Vacuum seal the meats days ahead of time. Day of event, heat the meats up sous vide style: use pots of hot water (approximately 160°). Use catering trays with sterno. Cut open the bags’o meat & dump into serving pans.
There are calculators online to estimate how much lbs per person.
One side dish I do / did was hog apple baked beans. Very popular.
 
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Hey Now, Are you allowed to call your sausage legendary and not post the recipe, LOL?
Hope it goes well
no secret. owens bbq mushroom brat seasoning packet and hi temp swiss. all beef... i even cheat and use ground beef from the steer i bought a year ago. add some pork fat (20lbs lean grind and 5lbs back fat). i only call them legendary because i've been told by more than 2 people that they're <expletive deleted> AMAZING (lol). like, it's a little embarrassing when my nephew starts in.

they do tend to cause a grease fire while they're cooking, but hey, any good pit master knows how to deal with a grease fire, am i right?
 
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