A common conundrum when planning a cookout or barbeque is determining how much food to make. Cooking in quantity presents certain unique challenges.
You need to plan ahead and purchase the right amount of ingredients. Sometimes it can be hard to visualize large quantities of food. When you're cooking a family dinner, you usually have a good estimation of how much your family will eat and can plan properly. When you're cooking for a large group , like people, you have to make an educated guess. You don't want to run out, but at the same time, you don't want to have too much food leftover. Determining the side dish quantity is pretty simple. Use these recommendations for potato salad, coleslaw, or other similar sides.
It is safe to assume that most people will consume about 5 to 6 ounces by volume per person of a side dish. Find your favorite recipe and use a cooking conversion tool to help make some calculations. A conversion chart may also be helpful in determining how to scale up recipes. Cooking meats are a somewhat different matter, especially when you're serving more than one type, like burgers and hot dogs. Some people may only want one burger, while others may want a burger and a hot dog.
Still, others may want two hot dogs, and so on. It's impossible to predict all the inevitable combinations, so you'll have to estimate based on the crowd size. If you are making hamburger patties, you should allow for 4 ounces per hamburger and based on catering guidelines two hamburgers per guest totaling 8 ounces per guest. If a small child eats only 1 hamburger but a hungry adult eats 3 hamburgers, it will still equal 4 hamburgers between 2 guests.
If you are having a backyard hamburger BBQ, be sure to check out our Backyard BBQ Calculator for a full list of suggestions of all the foods you may need for your guests. It all depends on the youngster. You might end up with leftovers of your sides, based on how much food you have for your cookout.
Some party guests may only want meat, or they may only take one side. Those amounts will also change depending on how much extra you add to your sides.
Think about how much food will be homemade and how much will be store-bought. Buying store-bought salads may be a bit easier, since everything is already measured out. You can get bulk containers or mix and match sides to get the right amount. Picking up premade sides and desserts will also make your prep time more manageable, and you can get a wider array of options. When you pick up your sides and desserts, be sure to grab some snacks and finger food, like:. Not all BBQ parties are just a couple of hours long.
Some end up being morning-until-night feasts. The length of your event will definitely factor into how much food you need to buy. If your party goes for most of the day, snacks give your guests a boost before mealtime. Try not to put out too much, or your partygoers may fill up on finger food before the main event. Build an array of pairings for your food so everyone can have what they like. With the proper planning and the perfect BBQ food quantity, every guest will leave happy — and full.
A great party starts with a prepared host. Food is one of the essential parts of a cookout, so do your best to make sure everything goes right. Remember to check or think about the following factors. Have enough space inside for everyone or give them party tents and other coverage. Your budget: Find a BBQ food calculator or break out a pen and paper for some party math. Determine a budget before you buy any food and decide what meats and sides are within that budget.
Prep time: If you can prepare anything in advance, do it. Marinate meat overnight, mix up your sauces that morning and cut up vegetables or fruit the day before. Cooking time: Think about how long everything will take to cook and plan accordingly. Cooking space: Consider the size of your grill and other cooking surfaces as you buy food for your party. Preparing some food beforehand will free up more space, so balance everything to help yourself the day of your party.
Serving space: Make sure you have enough tables to serve all your delicious food. Keep side dishes and drinks that need to be cool in a fridge or on ice, and use buffet-style chafing dishes for hot meals. Make sure you have enough tables and chairs for eating time or just hanging out and relaxing.
Have extras in case any of your guests want to jump in and help. Grab Your Grill Gear.
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