BBQ Catering for 125...open for comments

dan -- Might want to move this thread to the Pro section. Those guys & gals do this for a living. They will be glad to assist.

I was going to post in the Pro section, but I'm not a Professional....how do I move this thread??

thanks

dan

Maybe Smokin will jump in and do it for ya. He knows everything!

Great!! thanks for moving my post.....

dan

Pros section is for Pro related questions. Catering is certainly one of those.

I'll jump in later when I have a moment.

Russ

dan,
sounds like a fun cook!!!!
don't really know where to start but here goes;
sausage and peppers-- do you have a feel for how many people will want these as that is going to affect your quantity. but the nice thing is you have an oven. what you might want to consider is rotational cooking on these. a starting place would be thinking that 30% of the total will want this item. start off by cooking and holding one half that total and when you cooked product gets down to say 50% fire off the remainder. if you have access to 4" hotel pans you might consider placing your cut peppers and onions in the bottom of the pan and sausage on top. take commercial film and cover the top of the pan and then heavy gauge foil to cover that. what you have in essence is a steamer at that point. in a 350f convection oven it would take around 30-45 mins min to cook. by doing the rotational method it would allow you to save product that isn't required.
pulled pork---the roll idea is great as it will limit your serving size all by it's self and you won't look cheap. standard restaurant serving size is 4 ounces for lunch and since you will have 36 cooked pounds that would yield 144 servings. what you might want to consider is test out different size rolls to see which size gives the best appearence based off of that serving size. the oven reheat is a good idea just be sure to really seal up your pan when reheating.
baked beans--- you should get 20 servings from one #10 can. as they come 6 to the case a case will yield around 120 servings. this can vary depending on what you add to your beans of course.
coleslaw--- oh man that is a tricky one. time to break out the chef's book of formulas and yields. be right back.
ok now this one gets a little complicated
1 lb as purchased weight yields 12 ounces ready to use weight. standard serving size is 1 cup and that weighs about 2.5 ounces so 1 pound as purchased will yeild a little over 5 servings per pound of cabbage. so your as purchased weight would be in the area of 30 pounds but that is off the top of my head. myself i would consider what is called slaw mix. it comes in two 10 pound bags to the case. that would give you a yield of about 128 servings to the case with the added benefit of no prep work and trust me cutting and cleaning that much cabbage isn't a lot of fun.
green beans--- glad i got the book out. one bushel of fresh green beans yields 160 one half cup servings.
pan sizes--- ok a 2" hotel pan 12.75 x 20.75" x 2" deep will hold 56 4 fl oz. servings. a 4" hotel will hold 120 servings.
hope it helps some
sure sounds like a fun cook
jack
ps. let us know how it goes

dan, sounds like a fun job ahead of you.
jack did all the work and left very little for the rest of us..heehee!
great job jack!

i will add only a little.......
when reheating the pulled pork, do not cover! vey important to leave wrapping off the meat when it is warming, or you will steam away all that hard earned smoke flavor(sorry, jack), and heat the pork last, so it wont have to sit hot too long.
the meatballs, sounds fantastic.. how about a big pan of egg noodles beside it, and maybe some sourcream....hhmmmm
you have ample supply of meats. about 15 pounds of sausages will give you a total of 60 pounds, which is like a half pound of meat per person. thats probably a bit on the heavy side. i think the pork will yield more like 30-32 pounds. cattlemans also makes a mustard base but i havent tried it. 4 0z sauce per pound, so figure a gallon total. i dont think many in your area will go for the mustard base.

is you menu set in stone? i was just wondering cause you call it bbq catering, but there are alot of non traditional bbq items on the menu, and only three bbq related ....just curious..
like you already have baked beans, great choice, but why add stir fry beans too? my humble opnion, i would pick some other veggie, like maybe a steamed medly(but not with the veggie tray), or sweet potatoes, or glazed carrots, corn on the cobb...
the veggie and fruit tray sounds great!
so does the dessert. you can make a really cheap couple of trays of brownies from sams...buy the hershey's mix....yeild like 50 brownies in a box!
also they have the cinn apple crisps..quick and easy and cheap//
the coleslaw sounds mouth watering!
dont forget to add the meatballs to your oven space list......
if you heat some of this stuff before hand, you can keep it warm with the little fuel cells from sams, and use the wire racks for the pans...
pulled pork is traditionally served with the absolute cheapest buns available. always taste better that way. no potato or seed or any thing fancy....
ok, enough from me.....

Great feedback guys!!! Thanks!
We were going to pick up a gallon of Cattleman's @ Sam's Club, found a recipe to doctor it up in the Forums best Sauces!

I also want to try Jack's (Prisionchef) mustard sauce he posted recently. You're probably right though, I don't no how people in the Balt/Wash. area will take to it, but the ingrediants sounds like it would be great!!

As far as the Stir Fry green beans, We thought we needed a green? or vegetable of some sort...

The sausage will be precooked at home and the onions and peppers will be cooked/carmelized on site and added together for serving.

We are doing this event in Old Town Alexandria Virgina for a place called the "Little Theater". We do this every year, but this is the first year for a BBQ type. We have two ovens in two kitchens, plus we'll bring my 110k btu Camp Chef stove and a Smokin Tex for warming and reheating.

This is all volunteer, we get paid nothing except for the purchase of food and items. We also serve all you can drink, everything but beer....mostly hard drinks and wine....

I think tickets for the Theater is about 10 bucks to see a live play, that includes all you can eat and drink...not bad!!!

Jack thanks for the cole slaw input, I was wondering on the amounts.

I was planning on smoking 4 hotel pans of beans the day before and also make the KFC (Copy Kat) cole slaw. I have two food processors and my wife likes chopping things up, so she always makes tons of this stuff!!

I'll keep you all posted and this time I'll try to take more pictures of the finished product and post them either here on on my Web Site.

This will be an easy job, the hardest was for a friend who's son came home from Iraq. We threw a BBQ for 150 people, 100 ears of corn, 100 pieces of baked chicken, slabs and slabs of ribs, smoked kielbasa, 100 hamburgers and sides out the ying-yang. Only myself and brother inlaw were cooking, three HUGE stainless steel grills, my Camp Chef stove for the Low-Country Boil and a turkey fryer for a vegetable stir fry.....That was a big hit and by far the hardest ever!!!

dan

dan,
i gotta hand it to you you can do more with less than most chefs i know!!!!!!!!!
glad i could be of help
and by the way i am running a hard copy of your above post. it should be great fun when guys i work with start whining to make them read it
jack

Dan,
Go after fruit garnish, it goes great with bbq and the other items you have listed. Maybe go with a melon.I don't think you need anymore beans, as Coffeebluff suggested.
I don't know what people in Maryland like for sauce. But I think you should offer what you like best along with the standard sauces. Let them know that you especially made it. It might be just the thing that makes them like your product the best. Maybe when you offer sauces you're not sure of how the customer would like,say something like, "This is a new sauce. I'd like to know how it tastes to you. I'd like to know if it's a good item to enter into a sauce competition. Your input is so valuable."

I like Jack's mustard sauce best on pork that doesn't have a lot of fancy rub on it. I like the meat taste. It doesn't have to fight the meat.

You did a big job with this. I'd simplify the menu if you can.

Good job,
Peggy

PS I think pulled pork is best on just plain old white bread slices.

Just wondering how you came up with your formula for the pork amount. I don't know that i have ever lost 50% of my raw weight in cooking Butts, i have found 30% to be a closer number....good luck sounds like fun...

Cousin Belly, I didn't use any formula for the so-called Seinfield Shrinkage factor for the pork, I would have to agree, mayybe more like 30-40% loss after smoking. We almost got burned once doing this event, but we always cook more food than necessary and pulled through. People like bringing friends, so if the Little Theater sells 100 tickets, we cook for 125. There are some old people that have lost loved ones over the years and we usually LOAD THEM UP with left overs to take home to eat since a lot of them (older men) don't cook.

I think they expect it knowing we are the ones doing the catering.....they look forward to it and give us many thanks!!!! A very appreciative older crowd.

thats enough pay for us.....

This menu isn't set in stone, there may be some changes before April 21st.....

thanks everyone.......

dan

God Bless

Baltimore,
For some reason, we usually come about 50 percent loss. Sometimes it's better, not as much loss, but we do better figuring at the 50 loss. If you come out better, that's just dandy! Bag up the extra, freeze immediately. Approach people at work to see if they'd like a lb of pork. It's worked well enough for me. Ladies like an easy to prepare dinner. As long as you do this in a safe manner, check with your state inspector, you should be ok. And if you don't have this option, bag whatever is left for a family fun day! You can also make great Brunswick Stew!
Peggy

Thanks for the ideas Peggy, unfortunately what we don't give away, we just toss in the garbage....I know, it's sad. I remember tossing 3/4 of a large salmon in the trash....no one wanted it?

Safe food handling is always paramont!!! We never take chances....when in doubt...throw it out.

dan )