Typical weight loss?

[qstick777]

Just wondering if anybody has weighed their final product to see what you end up with?

I just finished smoking two (almost) 5 pound butts. I think they were 4.74 and 4.96 pounds - too lazy to dig the wrappers out of the trash!

After pulling out the bone and other unusable stuff (and a little snacking), I'm left with just about 3 1/2 lbs of pulled pork. Given that I started with over 9 lbs of meat, that's a pretty big difference! Is that normal?

Last time I had left overs, I packaged them in 4 oz packages and found that was enough for 2 good sized sandwiches, so I figure a normal sandwich would be about 1.5 oz of meat. Using that number, I should have enough for 37 sandwiches!

I hate to run out, and extras will never be thrown away, but still would like to be able to more accurately predict how much to buy for the next time.

 

[homebrew & bbq]

The yield you got seems a little on the light side.

I usually figure 40%-50% of the raw weight for butts, but it all depends on the particular butt and how much fat and bone is in it.

As far as how many folks it will serve, I'm getting ready for 100 people at a wedding anniversary celebration and I'm only figuring about 3 people per pound of pulled pork. It's a buffet, serve yourself sort of set up so I have no control over who much folks take. Of course, I usually tend to cook about 50% more food than I need, but I'd rather have leftovers to deal with than have folks go away hungry.

 

[richtee]

Normal in MY neck of the woods is near a Q-pound..or 4 Oz. a sandwich. And around 30-40% weight from cooking is normal, and another 15-20% fat and bone.

 

[qstick777]

Richtee- Those are my kind of sandwiches!

I was just going from a controllable sandwich that didn't have a lot of fall out. Can't be too messy when eating at your desk at work!

When I measured out the 4 oz serving, I really thought it looked like enough for about 1 sandwich.......and it was......1 big, messy sandwich!

Homebrew & BBQ- Maybe I just don't know enough people that REALLY like BBQ! At least not as much as I do!

3 people per pound doesn't seem too bad, and 50% more sounds like a good number.

I guess it's sort of like hot dogs. You figure around 2 per person - some will only eat 1, others 2, 3, or maybe even 4. Better to have too much than not enough!

 

[ronp]

3 sandwiches per pound is a good number. Of course it depends on the bread, roll your using. I use Kaiser rolls and they can only hold so much. Probably 3 - 4ounces.

 

[richtee]

Well, will folks be building their own? If so..they'll usually try to keep somewhat neat if it's a desk thing I'd think. But then again...LOL! Remember you can keep some in reserve in a cooler...HOT... and if you need some..cool..if not it freezes REMARKABLY well!

 

[qstick777]

I always allow people to serve themselves!

Took a pic with 4oz of meat next to a bun, and a pic of 2oz sandwich with slaw.

Just finished the 2oz sandwich, and I'll admit it was clean, but I could use another!

Well, guess I'll have to wait on the pics - having issues getting them resized properly.

Still, somewhere between 2 and 4 has to be right amount. I'm just not sure how to make 4 oz fit on the bun!

 

[homebrew & bbq]

Are the folks you're serving only going to have one sandwich? I can see that happening in some settings if they're going back to their own offices or desks.

Usually when I've fed a group, they are free to come back and get another sandwich and many do so the 3 people per pound takes that into consideration... roughly a sandwich and a half per person.

For 100 people, I'm figuring on having 35 to 40 pounds of pulled pork available and hoping for leftovers.

 

[qstick777]

Here's the pics of the 2 oz and 4 oz:


Okay, so about 3 people per pound. Just so we're all on the same page, that's pre-smoked weight, right?

So, I'll just use 3 oz as a good size for sandwich, that's 9 oz of finished meat per pound of raw meat. That's about 56% yield.

My yield was a little light, but I'll attribute that to the extended smoke time - some of the edges were too dried out to serve.

 

[richtee]

"Normal in MY neck of the woods is near a Q-pound..or 4 Oz. a sandwich. And around 30-40% weight from cooking is normal, and another 15-20% fat and bone."

We're on the same page :{) Nice lookin' meat BTW!