Cooking for my sisters wedding in february and trying to figure out how much meat to buy. Going to cook beef shoulder clod and pork butt. We will cut up into cubes and serve. Not sure how much it will reduce upon cooking. Also serving green beans and new potatoes. 350 people are invited. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

Not sure on the veggies, but I would go with a 1/2# of meat for each person.Some of the others here may have a better idea.

Thats the way I figure it and maybe add a little

My experience with brisket and pork butts have pretty well worked out to 1/2 pound per male and 1/3 pound per female unless the crowd is young...then increase the males to 3/4 pounds and the females to 1/2 pound...this is cooked weight...briskets and butts will usually yield 1/2 their uncooked weight...(15 pound brisket equals 7.5 to 8 pounds of trimmed meat)...just my experience...good luck and have fun...

rick

^^^ x2 ... 1/3 to 1/2 lbs of "cooked" meat per person ... uncooked 2/3 to 1 lb per person. Also, if 350 are invited, likely only 50-60% will attend, but hopefully you can get a better feel if there is an RSVP included with the invitation on a better head count.

I had a friend cater brisket, pork roast & sausage for my son's wedding with about 400 invited, RSVP had ~280 expected, so we planned on 300 to be on the safe side. We ended up with ~225 attend and a bunch of meat left over (which freeezes just fine)

oh yeah, we hit Sam's club for Bush's baked beans, chips & salsa and HEB for potato salad ... much easier than trying to prepare side dishes along with the meat and also relatively inexpensive ... just a thought for you to consider.

I would suggest buying the large cans of green beans...season with bacon bits, garlic powder and yellow onions...these cook really well in the big electric roasters (I drain the beans and use low sodium chicken broth as the liquid)...new potatoes cook up really well by steaming or boiling in a crawfish style cooker. Large pot on a propane burner...after cooking drain put in pans and spray with a little olive oil and lightly season...if tightly sealed with aluminum foil they will stay hot a good while...

rick

3/4lb raw meat per person before trimming.

Here's how I do it. I figure one pound of raw meat per adult or teenage kid and don't count anybody younger. That seems to work out with sides and have a little left which I like because after cooking all day and night I don't want to for a few days.