[Sca-cooks] Roast piggy portions

[Siegfried Heydrich]

    You have to allow for the fact that skin, bones, head, and the like will
not be consumed (unless you're feeding mongols), so you're going to lose
close to half of the gross weight right off the bat. And if you don't have
someone who's experienced at carving a carcass, you're going to lose even
more. A pound per person isn't that far out of line . . .

    Sieggy

----- Original Message -----

> Yet another question for all you wise heads out there...
>
> When serving a roast piggy as part of a feast, how do you estimate the
size
> of the uncooked beast you're going to need?  We're looking at 175 people
> including the head table, menu to include three other meat dishes plus a
> fair number of veggies and starches.  I was hoping to contract it out to
> some professionals, but it's looking to be an expensive prospect.  The
> caterers have told me to estimate a pound per person, but with all the
other
> meats on the menu, I think that may be a bit generous.
>
> If I have to, I can rent a cooker and do the thing myself, but that
involves
> appointing someone to watch the thing all day, and running the risk that
it
> won't cook in time.
>
> Any ideas?
>
> Vicente