Pulled Pork Calculator — How Much Pork Shoulder to Buy
Enter your headcount, cooked pulled pork per person, and a leftovers buffer. The calculator finds the cooked pork needed, then divides by the typical bone-in pork shoulder yield (~50%) to get the raw shoulder to buy. Serving size and yield are kept separate — both are planning estimates you can adjust.
What this calculator determines
It estimates the raw pork shoulder to buy for pulled pork by totaling the cooked pork needed and dividing by an adjustable bone-in shoulder yield.
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Examples
20 people, ⅓ lb each, 50% yield
20 people, 0.33 lb cooked each, 50% yield
Calculation
- Cooked needed = 20 × 0.33 = 6.6 lb
- Raw shoulder = 6.6 ÷ 0.50 = 13.2 lb
≈ 13.2 lb raw pork shoulder
Assumptions & Conventions
- Yield is a variable planning estimate
- The default ~50% yield reflects bone-in Boston butt; actual yield varies with fat, trim, cook time, and doneness, and is user-adjustable.
- Servings per person is a default you can change
- The calculator starts with a default of ⅓ lb cooked per person, which you can change; it is not a universal recommendation.
- No purchase rounding
- The raw shoulder amount is calculated to two decimals, not rounded to a whole-pound purchase size.