How Much Meat Per Person For Pulled Pork?
How much meat per person for pulled pork? In general, 1/3 pound of pulled pork per person should be enough. However, this is only a rough estimation because there are some other factors that you should take into consideration when planning how much meat you will need.
Pulled pork is a delicious dish made of shredded barbecued pork shoulder (or, in some recipes, a pork butt). When making pulled pork, keep in mind that the cooked pulled pork weighs half as much as the raw pork shoulder. So, for every pound of cooked pulled pork, you will need 2 pounds of raw pork. To learn more about how to calculate the needed amount of pulled pork per person, keep reading this article!
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How Much Meat Per Person For Pulled Pork?
When making pulled pork, you will need at least 2/3 pounds of raw pork shoulder per person. Once you cook and shred the meat, you will have 1/3 pound of meat per person. Of course, this amount may vary depending on several factors.
You won’t need as much meat if there you will be side dishes, salad, and other meats. If you plan to serve pulled pork for lunch, less meat will be enough because lunch portions are usually smaller than dinner portions. Formal events require larger portions than quick meals.
Also, if you know that your guests can eat a lot or a little, plan your portion size accordingly. Children will eat much less than adults, so if you have children among your guests, you will need 1/4 lb of pulled pork per child.
A rule of the thumb is to always prepare a bit more meat than you actually need because that way you will make sure that there is enough pulled pork for everyone even if something unplanned happens: one more person arrives, or your guests simply eat more than you expected. You can always store any leftover pulled pork in the fridge and eat it later.
How Much Meat Per Person For Pulled Pork Sandwiches?
Another way to use smoked pulled pork leftovers is to make pulled pork sandwiches. For each sandwich, you will need 1/3 pound of pulled pork. Then add the veggies, cheese, sauce, french fries, and baked beans. Now you have a great sandwich that will keep you full for hours!
How Many Lbs Per Person For Pulled Pork?
For adults, an average of 1/3 lb of pulled pork should be enough. However, this can vary depending on how much each person can eat (in general, women tend to eat slightly less than men) and whether there are other dishes and other meats. If there are children among your guests, remember that they eat less than the adults, so plan to make 1/4 lb of pulled pork per child.
When serving pulled pork, make sure to serve a bit more than actually needed, just in case someone eats more than you planned or something else happens unexpectedly. It is always better to have some leftover pulled pork than to embarrass yourself by leaving your guests hungry.
How Do You Calculate How Much Pulled Pork Per Person?
Most experts agree that 1/3 lb of pulled pork per person is enough. Keep in mind that it is only a rough estimation and that you need to plan according to your circumstances as described in previous paragraphs.
When buying a raw pork shoulder to make pulled pork, use this formula to calculate how much raw meat you will need:
- (number of your guests) * 1/3 * 2
Always add a bit more meat to your calculation, and store pulled pork leftovers in the fridge if they don’t get eaten.
How Many Does 10lb Of Pulled Pork Feed?
10 lbs of pulled will be enough to feed approximately 30 adult people or 40 children because, on average, an adult can eat 1/3 lb of pulled pork, while a child can eat only 1/4 lb. If you serve pulled pork with other side dishes, such as salads, pasta, mashed potatoes, baked beans, etc., 10 lb of pulled pork might feed even more people.
How Much Meat Do You Need For Pulled Pork?
A cooked pulled pork usually weighs half of the weight of the raw meat that was used in the cooking process. So, if you know that you will need 10 lbs of pulled pork, you will need 20 lbs of raw pork shoulder. For 5 lbs of pulled pork, you will need 10 lbs of raw pork shoulder, etc.
Keep this in mind when buying the meat at the butcher. Pork shoulder comes with skin, so always buy a bit more than you need because once you remove the skin, the remaining meat will weigh slightly less.
How Big Of A Pork Shoulder Do I Need For 8 People?
If you wonder how much raw pork you will need for a certain number of people, 8, for example, remember that an average adult can eat 1/3 lbs of meat. That means that 2 2/3 lbs of cooked pulled pork will be needed to feed those 8 people.
Since cooked pork shoulder meat weighs half as much as the raw pork shoulder, you will need 2 * 2 2/3 lbs of raw pork shoulder to feed 8 people. That means you will need 5 1/3 lbs pork shoulder for 8 people.
Summary
Now you know how much meat per person is for pulled pork. A rule of the thumb says that you will need 1/3 lbs of pulled pork per adult and 1/4 lbs per child. Still, you need to take other factors into consideration when planning how much meat you will need: whether there will be other dishes, is it a formal occasion, and whether you plan to serve pulled pork for lunch or for dinner.
