How Much Brisket Per Person? Calculator Included - Barbecue FAQ (2024)

In general, you can expect people to eat:

• Adults: 1/2 lb of cooked brisket.
• Children: 1/4 lb of cooked brisket.

It’s important to keep the aspect of “cooked” weight in mind as a whole brisket will lose roughly 40-50% of its weight when cooked.

If you need a calculator for Raw brisket weight, click here.

If you need a calculator for Cooked brisket weight, click here.

I also have a sample serving size table that you can jump to here.

How Much Brisket Per Person: Raw and Cooked Brisket Weight Explained

A lot of other websites will give calculations that make no sense because they’re giving you the amount of brisket in terms of the cooked weight.

See Also

Your Favorite Food Brands | Kraft HeinzHow to Smoke Beef Brisket | Kingsford®THE SECRET TO A PERFECT, TENDER BRISKETHow Long To Smoke a 15 Pound Brisket

When calculating the amount of brisket you need, it’s always best to think in terms of the raw weight – which is the weight of the uncooked brisket.

This distinction is incredibly important to make because brisket will lose roughly 40-50% of it’s weight when cooked.

Calculator for the Amount of Raw Brisket Needed

If you’re like me, you like to know how folks come up with their calculators and what sort of math is being used to generate values.

Here’s a quick break-down:

Since we know that Brisket will lose roughly 40-50%* of its weight, we can double the amount of raw brisket we’ll need based on the amount of cooked brisket the guests will eat.

*The reason you should opt to use 50% rather than 40% is because it’s a more conservative estimate. The amount of weight loss a brisket will experience is highly variable. It’s always better to over-estimate than underestimate.

So in terms of raw brisket:

• An Adult will consume 1 lb (0.5 * 2 = 1 lb) of raw brisket
• A Child will consume 1/2 lb (0.25 * 2 = 0.5 lb) of raw brisket

The calculator above is based on the following function:

(# of Adults input by user * 1) + (# of Children input by User * 0.5) = Amount of Raw Brisket

Amount of Cooked Brisket Calculator

This calculator assumes a 50% weight loss:

The calculator works based on this function:

(# of Adults input by user * 0.5) + (# of Children input by User * 0.25) = Amount of Cooked Brisket

Brisket Serving Scenarios Table

The following table gives common scenarios for adult-sized servings and is based on the calculators above.

To reiterate: You can expect a near 40-50% weight loss for cooked brisket. The “raw weight” would be the weight you’d look for in your grocery store (a 12 lb brisket will usually result in 2-3 lbs of trim).

The “cooked weight” is the total weight after smoking and what your friends and family will consume.

There’s a number of factors to also consider – which are outlined below. For instance, what type of brisket you’re using, how aggressive you are with trimming, and what else is being offered aside from brisket.

What Part of the Brisket are You Using?

If this is for an event, I’d wager to say that most folks expect to be served brisket flat when they hear that brisket is on the menu.

With that said, if you’re the one preparing the brisket, I’d still opt to serve both the point and the flat rather than serving a trimmed brisket flat (point removed). While the weight loss would be less, a whole brisket just tastes better.

Most folks would be surprised that they actually prefer the point over the flat – which is actually my preference.

As the Pitmaster for this event, you should save some of the burnt ends for yourself and also give them out to a few family and friends who like meat.

Brisket Weight Loss and Trimming

If you’re buying a packers brisket, there is a good chance that you’re going to trim the fat cap, remove silverskin, and even shape the brisket to be more aerodynamic in the cooker.

If you’re someone who does this regularly, you could render the trimmings into beef tallow or use the meat for sausage/hamburgers – you could even freeze them to use later.

If you’re not someone who does this regularly – then it’s essentially wasted money.

However, when buying from a barbecue caterer, you can likely specify that you’re primarily after the flat and see what they say and if they’re willing to oblige.

How to Serve Less Brisket

When having a barbecue, it’s all about being strategic in terms of offering your guests enough food without going broke.

The simplest way to accomplish this is to offer cheap sides and smaller plates.

Some of the best sides for brisket include:

• Macaroni and cheese
• Potato salad
• Baked beans
• Coleslaw
• Pasta salads

In terms of the plate size, people are instinctively going to fill up their plates as much as possible – the saying “Your eyes were bigger than your stomach” applies here.

Meaning, you can simply buy smaller plates and people will feel like they’re eating a lot of food simply because their plates are full.

If you’re catering, place the brisket/meats towards the end, which forces them to look at all the delicious sides before reaching the meat.