Catering (for free) for a volunteer EMS/Fire Dept squad


 
J

Jeremiah Sullivan

TVWBB Member
I love cooking for people, it truly makes me happy. I enjoy the process from start to finish, far more then enjoying the results afterwards (but they're excellent as well). A co-worker of mine asked me how I felt about catering for an event he is having with his EMS squad. The entire prospect is incredibly exciting, and I would love to have this opportunity.

The main issue is that this is a new experience for me. There should be approximately ~50 people in attendance. I have plenty of experience cooking for 25-30 people, but this was in a "family and friends" setting. The main area of where this throws me off is that now I have to budget for how much food to make and how much it will cost, as opposed to just making sure there is more than enough and sending everyone home with bbq bags.

Preliminary conversation has led me to believe that I will be doing less time intensive foods such as ribs, chicken, and sausages.

What do you experienced caterers have for suggestions in terms of cost per person (only looking to break even, don't want any profits from this) and portions in order to ensure that I have enough food.

I figured we could make sure there's at least 1/2 of food per person, and to be sure we can get extra chicken as that's probably the cheapest of the three just to prevent running out of food.

I would like to have the ribs be the main attraction and have enough so that each person can have at least 3 each.

I will be cooking on site, I've already secured transportation. I have enough knives, cutting boards, temperature monitors, and food containers. What other items would be advisable to acquire? All of my cooks in the past have been out of my home base, or very close by.

Any general advise in this area would be greatly appreciated. Thanks !
 
Sounds like a fun gig, Jeremiah.

I don't budget first, i.e., I don't have an amount that I try to squeeze the food costs into. I figure out what I'm going to serve (or want to serve), cost that out, and then there I'll have the food cost budget. Disposables are additional. I assume regular retail prices for the item costs to be safe.

Do you have: <UL TYPE=SQUARE><LI>storage for the food for after purchase/pre-cook day?

<LI>to be responsible for all the sides as well?

<LI>enough equipment and time to cook all at once or will any of the hot foods be cooked and held hot or cooked and reheated?

<LI>storage for prepared cold foods?

<LI>equipment to keep the hot food hot and the cold food cold?

<LI>to be responsible for drinks and/or disposables?

<LI>any idea of how much of each item you want to do? Three ribs/person, you said, but how much chicken? sausage? sides? Planning purchasing chicken pieces or whole one? If pieces, which?[/list]
 
hot/cold/cooked/cleanup/etc Storage: Yep!

Sides/Beverages: No, these are being donated by members/local business

equipment/cook time: I'm good on this one, getting there nice and early to start the ribs (~4-6 hours needed) planning on 2.5 hours for the chicken and sausage, I would like to time it all to be ready at the time, but we'll have heated food racks in case

Unsure:

Items: I would like a nice balance of sausage, chicken and ribs, with enough sausage and chicken so that no one will be left hungry, and enough ribs so that everyone should have 2-3 pieces if they wanted. What are your recommendations in terms of amounts given these conditions?
 
I do kielbasa like this so, were it me, I'd smoke/cook ahead of time that way then look to reheat/finish the day of, either by gently reheating or by splitting and direct grilling just till nice caramelization occurs.

Quantities. It is far easier and more controllable if you or another volunteer actually fixes the plates rather than setting it up for self-service. In the latter scenario more food is often needed. I'm going to assume the former.

I'd plan for 60 people.

For the ribs: Obviously the slabs can be cut into individual ribs except, usually, the narrow ends of the slabs which are best cut as 2-rib portions. Condidering what you're cooking plus the sides and typical plate size, I'd figure 3.5 servings/slab so I'd need just overe 17 slabs, viz. 18.

For the chicken: For ease of cooking and continuity I'd go with leg/thigh quarters. I'd crack the joints in each quarter prior to cooking then, prior to serving, I'd split half the quarters into separate legs and thighs. Doing this will allow one serving to be either a whole leg quarter (for the big eaters) or a leg or a thigh (for the lighter eaters and kids). Thinking of it this way, I'd cook 40-44 leg quarters, split half of them, and this would leave me with 60-66 servings.

For the sausage: I'd figure 4-inch portions per person preliminarily (20 feet of sausage) but, like the chicken, I'd plan to split half of those portions in half lengthwise for serving the lighter eaters/kids. This would make 14 feet yield 63 servings.

Does this make sense?
 
Kevin:

Thanks, it makes a hell of a lot of sense and the advice about self-portioning is spot on and something I would have totally overlooked. I'll bring that up and ask them what they want to do (since they're paying for the food).

This is exactly what I needed, a good reference for a starting point to calculate costs.
 
Good.

Budget-wise, like I said, I cost-out at current retail but then I look to where I might be able to buy in bulk (like restaurant meat suppliers) to get better prices. In your case you might be able to look to area retailers/wholesalers--those within the FD's district--and see if you can get better prices (like at cost). I have found that in these situations (benefit events) it's important to be very specific in what you want, else you end up with a scenario where a retailer generously offers to donate the chicken, say, and then the day before, when you go to pick it up, it turns out to be a case or two of whole chickens (maybe frozen!) andyour plans for prep and cooking and serving have to be totally re-worked. Not fun.
 
Just got back from the butcher I normally order from, I gave him a list of items needed. He said he'll give me wholesale cost, I'll price that against Costco or wherever else I can acquire what I need.

Thanks again for the advice, it's hard to find discussions forums of this quality on the net these days.
 
Jeremiah; since you are already cooking for groups of 25-30 this should be an easy step up. You know what you are currently preparing, just double it. An assistant or helper might be a nice addition as well. Have fun with this cook!
 
Thanks Bob! Very exciting, can't wait!!

Problem with doubling my current amount is that I always overcook big time, the worst thing I could fathom would be running out of food. As a result, there are plenty of leftovers therefore making double what I normally do probably too much.

On a side note I found a local supplier of Wicked Good Charcoal and all sorts of cooking woods!! (no more spending double cost on shipping)
 
Just another take on what meat is best to serve.

Just because something cooks in a shorter time, doesn't mean that it takes less total effort.

When I have a lot of people to feed, I usually opt for pork butts and do pulled and/or chopped pork. With a WSM, it is nearly set and forget over night. Pulling it once done is very fast. The meat is relatively inexpensive and easy to find. It hold for hours very easily as a bonus. The least effort and best cost ratio of any meat in my opinion.

I do three or four styles of sauce which is also easy to do and caters to differing tastes.

For 1/4 lb of pork per sammie, I cook 1/2 lb of butt. You can cook six 8 lb butts using both racks. That means you can smoke 16 servings per butt or pretty close to 100 sammies per WSM while sleeping over night like a baby.

Pork is a very forgiving meat to cook too.

Good luck with the event. Sounds like fun.
 
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