Pulled pork is an affordable, easy-to-make dish that makes a great crowd-pleaser. But how much pork should you cook to serve a large group? This is a tricky question to answer. While it isn’t as simple as counting burgers and hot dogs, there are formulas to help take the guesswork out of cooking pulled pork for a crowd.
Pork Butt Nutrition Facts:
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Pork butt is a fatty cut of meat that contains many nutrients. It is an excellent choice for a variety of meals, including pulled pork and carnitas recipes.
Although pork butt has many nutritional benefits, it is still high in calories. For instance, a 3-ounce serving of cooked pork butt has 198 calories.
It is a good idea to keep track of your daily calorie intake. If you are trying to lose weight, it may be more beneficial to choose a lean cut of meat instead.
As with any type of meat, pork butt can have adverse effects on your health if you overeat. This is especially true if you are eating a diet high in saturated fats.
If you are looking for a healthier alternative to pork butt, try a low calorie, low fat recipe such as a grilled chicken breast. This will also help you reach your dietary goals without sacrificing any of the nutrients that pork butt contains.
What is Pork Butt?
Pork butt, or Boston butt as it is sometimes referred to, is a sub-primal cut of meat that comes from the front shoulder of a pig. This cut is relatively tough and fatty and requires low and slow cooking methods such as smoking, roasting, or braising to make tender and juicy.
Butt is a popular cut of pork for making pulled pork as it is inexpensive and has a high fat content which helps to keep the meat tender and juicy. It is also commonly used to make sausages as it has a great meat-to-fat ratio.
As with all meats, it can be seasoned to taste. Adding spices such as garlic powder or onion powder can help to enhance the flavor of the pork butt.
The hogs from which this meat is sourced are pasture raised and free of hormones or antibiotics. They spend time in the woods where they can roam and root, resulting in a meat that is more deeply flavorful and pink in color than you may be used to.
How Much Pork Butt Per Person?
If you’re serving pulled pork at your next party or gathering, it’s important to know how much you need. This will help you avoid waste or filling your freezer with too many leftovers.
There are a few easy calculations that can be done to determine how much shredded pork you need for your meal. This can be especially helpful if you are planning a large event or special occasion.
For example, if you are having a family reunion and you know that all the adults will be eating sandwiches, plan on serving about 1/3 of a pound of meat per person.
However, this can vary depending on the type of event you are hosting and how hungry your guests are. For instance, if you’re planning a lunch or dinner party and you know that everyone will be eating smaller portions, it makes more sense to buy more meat.
Another consideration is whether you are serving the meat on a sandwich or in buns, like pulled pork sliders. If you are serving the meat in buns, you will need to calculate the filling portion accordingly.
How To Cook Pork Butt?
Pork butt is a large piece of meat that needs to be cooked low and slow for a tender, juicy result. Whether you’re using it to make pulled pork or other similar dishes, you’ll need to cook it at a low temperature for hours.
The fat content in pork butt gives it more flavor than other cuts of meat, and long, slow cooking on low heat brings out all the juices. This makes for a tender, succulent cut of meat that’s perfect for all sorts of recipes!
You’ll want to use a meat thermometer when cooking pork butt. This will help you to ensure that it’s cooked all the way through and not left overly fatty.
You can also use a meat injector to help get a brining or braising liquid deep inside the meat. This will add even more flavor and tenderness to your final dish.
Serving Instructions for Pork Butt:
Pork butt, also known as pork shoulder or Boston butt, is a tough and flavorful cut of meat. Its overlapping muscle groups are bound together with tight connective tissue, which makes it a great choice for long slow cooking.
Its rich fat content helps fill out the finished dish with flavor, too. Its large amounts of collagen break down into gelatin over the course of slow cooking, making it incredibly tender.
You can use a large pork butt to make pulled pork sandwiches for a crowd. A 9-lb pork butt will make about 30 sandwiches, which is enough for 15 people.
Besides sandwiches, pork butt is also delicious served in other dishes. You can use it in soups, green bean casseroles, cornbread, and coleslaw.
If you’re hosting a barbecue or tailgating party, pulled pork is the perfect addition to your menu. It’s easy to cook, feeds a lot of people, and is super tasty.
To serve pulled pork, slather the presentation side with mustard or hot sauce and slather the non-presentation side with your favorite rub. Then, flip the pork butt over so the fat side is facing up.
How to Store Leftover Pork Butt?
There are a lot of ways to store leftover pork butt, but the main goal is to make sure it stays as fresh as possible. If you’re not able to store it properly, it could end up drying out and not taste the way you want it to.
In most cases, you’ll want to freeze your pulled pork before reheating it. This is because a frozen piece of meat is more likely to retain its moisture than a warm one.
However, if you don’t have the time to wait for your pork to thaw out in the fridge or freezer, you can microwave it to reheat it. The only caveat is that you’ll have to thaw it slowly on the defrost setting for a few minutes before using it.
If you plan to store your leftover pork butt in the freezer, double-wrap it to seal in as much air as possible and keep it as fresh as possible. This method also helps prevent your freezer from smelling like a meat locker.
How to Reheat Pork Butt?
When you have leftovers of pork butt, you may want to reheat it so you can enjoy it again. However, reheating pork can be a bit tricky because it can become a breeding ground for bacteria that cause foodborne illnesses.
The best way to reheat pork is to cook it low and slow so that the fat melts and the juices are released and spread around to create a moist and flavorful cut of meat. Reheating pork this way takes a bit longer but it’s worth the extra effort to make a tasty, delicious piece of meat that you’ll love.
You can also reheat pork butt by using the sous vide method. This is a great way to quickly warm up whole pieces of pork butt and break down some of the fat that might be left over from the original cooking process. Set the machine to a temperature of 150deg and place your pork butt in the pan. Then leave it in the oven until it reaches the desired serving temperature of 165deg.
Conclusion:
If you’re planning on serving pork butt at a barbecue party or other gathering, you may want to know how much pork butt per person you should serve. This is important because it will help you ensure that you have enough pork butt for everyone to enjoy.
Pork butt is a relatively low-cost cut of meat that typically costs $1-2 per pound, making it a popular choice for barbecues and other gatherings. However, you should be aware that the amount of meat you need per person may vary depending on the type of event you’re hosting and the menu you’re planning to serve.
A three-ounce serving of pork butt contains 198 calories, 92 of which come from the 23 grams of protein it contains. This protein helps your body build and repair cells, muscle and skin, as well as maintain energy levels and keep you feeling fuller longer.
