How much turkey per person?

rdstoll · Nov 18, 2014

Hey Folks -

Will be having 25 people over for Thanksgiving and am planning on smoking whole turkeys. I've seen rules of thumb on here from searching around that suggest 1lb of whole turkey per person. But I've seen other sources on the 'net and with a BBQ Catering Planner spreadsheet I downloaded from somewhere a while ago that are pointing to something closer to 38 pounds of whole turkey weight, which after bones and other waste would come to 1lb of COOKED bird for each person.

Just wondering what y'all think about this. Obviously I don't want to be short turkey so I might just bite the bullet and do three whole birds at ~12-14lb each just to cover the bases but just wanted to see what the experts think here.

AlwaysSmokey · Nov 18, 2014

3 birds would be plenty, 2 would probably be enough. Remeber there is usually ham and a ton of sides too !! Last year I did 2 for roughly the same amount of people. There was enough. This year I am doing 3 so people can take some home for sammies and leftover plates. ( oh, the birds are usually 12-14 #)

Ron_L · Nov 18, 2014

I've always gone with 1 lb per person. Most folks will eat 1/4 to 1/3 lb of meat, so the 1 lb per person takes into account the bones.

landarc · Nov 18, 2014

I would do two-14 pound birds. I consider 14-15 pounds optimal for turkeys.

A warning consideration...it has been my experience that turkeys do not scale in a liner fashion. While a 12 pound turkey is 85% the size of a 14 pound bird, the yield in often more like 75% of what a 14 pound bird yields.

Hoss · Nov 18, 2014

I bought 2 store brand 14 pound birds to smoke last week.Package said allow 1.5 pounds per person.My bunch only likes the white meat.That is why I bought 2.Cheaper to buy and cook whole birds than breast only.Wings,legs thighs get used for other dishes later on.When I can disguise it.:wink:.I agree with the others.2 14 pounders should be more than enough unless 10 or 12 of that 25 guests are teenage boys/ young men,then figure 1 turkey for each of them and 1 for everyone else!!! :shocked:

Twisted Belly · Nov 18, 2014

This site is pretty helpful

http://www.eatturkey.com/foodsrv/manual/purch6

I like cooking a small whole bird for presentation and then making up the rest with just breast meat. There's no waste LB in bones and it's easy to serve

How much turkey per person?

rdstoll

is one Smokin' Farker

AlwaysSmokey

is Blowin Smoke!

Ron_L

Administrator

landarc

somebody shut me the fark up.

Hoss

Quintessential Chatty Farker

Twisted Belly

Knows what a fatty is.

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