BBQ Calculator

How are portions computed?

The estimate starts from per-person consumption: an adult eats around 400g of meat and a kid, 200g. On top of that, count 80g of bread per person, 1kg of charcoal per person, 600ml of soda per person, 1L of beer per drinker and 500ml of water per person.

The longer the event, the more you'll need, so add 20% in those cases. If your group is known for eating and drinking a lot, leave an extra buffer.

It's an estimate, so adjust it to your guests' profile.

The complete guide to planning a Brazilian churrasco

A Brazilian churrasco is a social ritual, not just meat over fire. It can stretch six or eight hours, with friends and family circling the grill, beers in hand, while the churrasqueiro reads the embers like a captain reads the wind. The part that trips up most hosts is the math. Buy too little and the party ends early. Buy too much and you are staring at ten kilos of leftover meat on Sunday night. What follows pulls together the practical rules that butchers like Ramalho Carnes and event planners across Brazil actually use, so you can shop with confidence whether you are feeding 6 people or 60.

How much meat per person? The 400 / 300 / 200 rule

Brazilian butcheries lean on the 400 / 300 / 200 rule more than any other, and it is always measured in raw, boneless meat:

• Adult men: 400 g, going up to 500–600 g for big eaters or events past five hours.
• Adult women: 300 g, though plenty of references push this to 350 g when the sides are light.
• Children up to 11 years: 150–200 g. The little ones often eat closer to 100 g and reach for sausage or chicken anyway.
• Bone-in cuts (ribs, fogo de chão): add roughly 20% to cover bone and trim loss.
• Long events (6+ hours) or few sides: add 15–25% on top of the totals above.

Here is a quick sanity check. A kilogram of well-trimmed picanha comes off the grill at about 700–750 g, because beef sheds 25–30% of its weight as fat renders and water evaporates. Always order by raw weight, never by what ends up on the plate, and you will be fine.

Brazilian cuts: what to buy and how much

A good churrasco runs three to five cuts so guests can graze through the afternoon. Most people split it 60% beef, 25% pork or chicken, 15% sausages.

• Picanha — the queen of the Brazilian grill. A triangular cut from the top sirloin cap, capped with a thick lid of fat. Buy 150–200 g per adult. Coarse salt and nothing else, fat-side down first, pulled at medium-rare (internal temperature around 55–58 °C).
• Fraldinha — a flank-adjacent cut with long fibers and a punchy beef flavor. The value is hard to beat (around R$30–45/kg in 2026). Buy 150 g per adult. Grill it hot and fast, then slice against the grain.
• Alcatra — top sirloin. Lean, tender, versatile. Buy 150 g per adult. Works beautifully as thick steaks (3–4 cm) or on skewers.
• Costela (beef rib) — this one rewards patience. Give it 4 to 8 hours over indirect, low heat (around 110–130 °C) until it hits 90–95 °C internally and the fat melts away. Buy 400–500 g per person to account for the bone.
• Linguiça (sausage) — 100–150 g per person, so one to two links. It hits the grill first as an appetizer while guests trickle in.
• Coração de frango, asinhas, sobrecoxa — chicken hearts and wings disappear fast and keep the budget in check. 100 g per person.

Sides: garlic bread, farofa, vinagrete and friends

Sides do two jobs: they cut the richness of grilled meat, and they keep people happy between rounds. Per adult, plan roughly:

• Pão de alho (garlic bread): 1 to 2 pieces per adult, half that for kids.
• Farofa: 50–80 g per person.
• Vinagrete: 60–80 g per person, since the acidity cuts through the fat.
• Salad / rice / mayonnaise: 200 g of total sides per adult is a safe ceiling.
• Queijo coalho: 1 skewer per adult if you serve it.

Beverages: beer, soda, water, juice

Drinks are where a lot of hosts misjudge things. For a four-hour gathering in warm weather:

• Beer: roughly 600 ml per drinker per hour, or 5 cans across a two-hour event. A four-hour party with 10 drinkers lands around 24 liters.
• Soda and juice: 1.5 liters per non-drinker adult, 750 ml per child.
• Water: at least 500 ml per person, and that is non-negotiable in summer.
• Ice: 1 kg per drinker if you are chilling drinks in coolers.

Charcoal and fire management

A reliable ratio is 5 kg of charcoal for every 6 kg of meat, or about 1 kg of charcoal per hour of active grilling. For a 4-hour churrasco with 6 kg of meat, 4–5 kg of decent charcoal is plenty. Light it 30–45 minutes before the first meat goes on. What you want is grey, glowing embers, not flames. Set up two zones. Keep direct heat for picanha, sausage and chicken, and an area of indirect heat (coals pushed to one side) for ribs, large roasts and resting.

Common mistakes — and how to avoid them

• Cold meat on the grill: pull it from the fridge 30 minutes before grilling, because cold beef seizes up and bleeds.
• Salting too early: coarse salt goes on thick cuts 10–15 minutes before grilling, and on thin ones right before. Salt hours ahead and you draw out the moisture.
• Flipping too often: let one side crust before you turn it. One or two flips, no more.
• Weak embers: if the coals are grey-white but cool, the fire is dying. Add charcoal before a critical cut, not during it.
• Slicing with the grain: always cut picanha and fraldinha across the muscle fibers, or the meat eats tough.
• Skipping the rest: give thick cuts 5 minutes off the grill before slicing so the juices redistribute.

Cooking temperatures (internal)

• Rare (mal passada): 50–52 °C, deep red center.
• Medium-rare (ao ponto para mal): 55–57 °C, the sweet spot for picanha.
• Medium (ao ponto): 60–63 °C, pink center, the Brazilian default.
• Well done (bem passada): 70 °C+, grey throughout and less juicy.
• Chicken: 74 °C minimum at the thickest point, every time.
• Pork: 63–65 °C, where a touch of pink is fine in modern, inspected pork.

FAQ

Is 400 g of meat per adult really enough? It is, as long as the sides are generous and the event runs up to five hours. For longer parties, marathon eaters, or thin sides, plan 500–600 g.

Should I marinate the beef? Premium cuts like picanha or alcatra ask for nothing beyond coarse salt. Save the marinades for tougher cuts (skirt, flank trimmings) and for chicken.

How many calories in churrasco? Figure roughly 250 kcal per 100 g of grilled picanha, 200 kcal for fraldinha, 290 kcal for pork sausage. A typical 400 g plate with sides lands somewhere between 1,200 and 1,500 kcal.

Can I prep meat the day before? You can. Trim it, portion it, and refrigerate it covered. Just hold the salt until the day you grill.

What if it rains? A covered grill area earns its keep here. Caught off-guard, you can finish cuts in the oven at 180 °C. It is not the dream, but it saves the party.