How would I cook for 500, or 1000, people?

You would most likely have to rent or borrow some outdoor style restaurant quality cooking stoves and pots. I don’t think you could adequately make enough on a camp stove with your own pots, however, maybe someone you know has some really big pots, and if you had more than one camp stove, you could use several large (but not industrial size) pots.

However, as I’m looking around on the web, I came across This Picture of a firefighter’s chili cookoff. It looks like the big portable turkey roasting pan my mom uses at Thanksgiving. Maybe that could work. I think you’d have to do most of the cooking at home, ahead of time, then tote the beans in big tupperware containers to the venue, then simply heat it up in the roasting pan, or on big pots over multiple camp stoves, just make sure the stoves are big enough to accommodate big pots.

Have they ever had any chili cook offs in your town? If so, maybe you could contact the people who participated to see what types of equipment they used and where they got the stuff.

Well, of course not a camp stove! We’d come up with a large smoker(s) or some sort of grill. We know of people who have them, who would let us borrow one or two. And I figure I’d use those large aluminum, rectangular pans they have at Walmart.

It’s not the equipment so much as the ingredients. How do I translate my recipe into feeding so many people, when I don’t measure anything?

Glad you saw this @Kardamom. You’re the number 1 person I wanted to answer!

Two things: It might help if you had people RSVP or reply to a FB group page or something, so you would have some kind of idea as to how many (approximately) you were to expect.

Also, you would probably need a permit for a large gathering in a public place. Check with your town. Also, find out if there are any local laws about serving food to the public.

I would suggest making your recipe ahead of time, like this week or very soon. Even though you don’t have actual amounts written down, pay attention to the approximate amounts you are adding, and turn them into real written down amounts. I did this for a recipe that I was making up on the fly once, for a Jelly who was entering a contest. Don’t just dump the ingredients into your pot, scoop up the ingredients, one by one, and give them an actual measurement, like a cup or a Tablespoon, or whatever seems to be the closest measurement.

Then, use a Recipe Conversion Measurement Calculator like this one to help you figure out how much you will actually need.

Make sure you have a plan for any leftovers too. You don’t want to waste food. So have some type of coolers and tupperware available, and a plan on what to do with the food, after the event.

@jca It wouldn’t be MY function. It would be an already established function, which they just started this year. From the details “I thought maybe, to get started, I could provide the free beans at the pavilion next year and advertise for the following year.” I was thinking that we could start a baked beans competition for 2018, alongside the barbecue competition. Or…start pushing the idea to the folks who put it on, for next year, 2017.

@Kardamom…I have another year. I imagine I’ll be making them a few more times before next year….that’s a good plan. Well, duh. Then I can just multiply. Arrgh!

Use at least a 60 to 80 quart pot. 500 people eating 4 ounces of a food item is 2000 ounces or about 62 quarts of food. A “commissary kitchen” which is certified to serve food to the general public would be required in many states. Beans straight out of the can are not my idea of a side dish. Go with your recipes and family favorities.

You also can’t assume everyone who comes by will partake.

You’ll have to figure out a serving size – ½ cup per serving? – to math out the required yield.

I’d recommend having the recipe on hand during service, too. It seems everyone is allergic to something these days, and if there’s any flavor in your dish at all it’s likely to offend someone’s delicate sensibilities.

I took me a minute to figure out what you were saying @Seek! Yeah, so they can see the ingredients.

Thanks @Tropical_Willie. I’ll go do some research. Also, I’m sure the producers of the event have been “certified,” and would let me know of any requirements I need to meet.

It would be “no fun” to show up to scoop out bowls of food and have the health department go “NO ! ”

Goddamn it people. Read.

Neighborhood festivals often get a “pass” from food service requirements.

Surely, the people running the festival this year could give you an idea of the numbers that attend. As for increasing the recipe you have to the proper amount that’s a case of simple multiplication once you have the proper equipment to cook for a crowd.

^^^ Right. But I have to figure out my base, first.

^ See first sentence. There’s always going to be some guesswork involved though.

Yes, @janbb. I am aware that the people running the festival can give me an idea of the numbers that could attend, or at least the number that attended this year. That is why I didn’t ask how many people do you all think will be there, because that’s not even worth asking. It would be a stupid question, actually.
Instead I just grabbed some numbers out of the air just to ask the question, which is how to calculate the amounts of food for X number of people.
I’ve gotten many helpful answers. I need to figure out what my base measurements are for the dish first.

Baked beans for 500–1000 people. I think that might end up being an explosive danger. lol
Yes, what @Kardamom said. You could probably find some sort of commercial vat and stove that would hold about 30 gallons of beans. Maybe check with some local mobile BBQ businesses and see what they recommend or if they might have rental equipment.

@Dutchess_III You know, you get so touchy when people answer your questions, it’s a little hard to bother.

@Coloma, as someone pointed out I could actually cook them the day before, and just use a large smoker to rotate pans out of, and fresh pans into, so I’d be pulling fresh and hot pans out, as the day went on. They always taste better the next day, anyway. I wouldn’t have to cook them the day of.
But then, that also calls for a cooling fridge of some kind so the waiting beans could stay at safe temps until it was time to warm them up. (They have bacon in them.)

I guess I just need to talk to the sponsors.

I was thinking of asking a catering place…but I’ll bet when they are asked to cook for a party of 300, they cook for 300 because they get paid by the plate basically. They aren’t looking to actually cut it as close to the actual amount that will get eaten as they can.

I didn’t ask how to figure the number of people who might attend, @janbb, so you actually didn’t answer the question, but you assumed you did. That annoys me.

You need to start making small batches of beans with measured ingredients and marking them down. Instead of a “hand full” for instance, add ½ to ¾ cup. You’ll get more right each time until you have a recipe that can be duplicated.
Than x it out for a batch big enough to give each of this year’s (+ 10%) attendees, say, 2–3 oz.

For the actual event, you’d need to partner with a restaurant. You’ll need commercial ovens, steam table pans, and a way to transport the pans to the site (and to keep them warm if the event is more than a couple hours).
Cooking the beans onsite is unrealistic, and cooking them at home and transporting them in less than commercial grade equipment is even less so.

Once you have a recipe that can be duplicated, take some beans around to some local restaurants and try to “wow” them. Look at the program/website for this year’s event to see if which restaurants are already involved.
Your only other real option that I can think of is a local school that will let you use the kitchen facilities.

I’ve cooked buffet at a busy Holiday Inn restaurant and it know what I’m talking about. Say a foil roasting pan serves 25 and you’re going to need beans for 2,000. That’s 80 roasting pans.

I guess I just don’t really understand how your mind works; we must be too different. Sorry.

@ibstubro ya boy. It’s going to be a year long project, putting it all together, working all the details out. I’ll keep looking around. I need to start with making some baked beans for some summer event, coming up soon, I’m sure, and measuring, rather than throwing stuff in….start there, then do the math.
For a long time I’ve actually thought about running my baked beans past some local restaurants who advertise “baked beans” on their menu. I know a few owners. Maybe I’ll look into that….

My question, was not complicated, @janbb. I asked how one cooks for 500 or 1000 people, or X number of people. I’ve gotten lots of good answers to consider.
You wanted to segue into how I would know how many people would be there. The answer to finding that out is a no-brainer, which is why I didn’t ask that question.

“Then I’m wondering how many people would I need to cook for? Hundreds? How in the world could I do that? ”

And I’m out.

You latched on to one, small sentence, an obscure section of the details, toward the end, @janbb, made it into something bigger than it was, other than just musing on my part, and apparently, in your mind, replaced the main question with that.

All I would have to do to get an idea of how many to cook for is to call the people who put the function on this year.

@Dutchess_III: Maybe it was the “Goddamn it people. Read.” comment. Unnecessarily harsh.

It is frustrating to have people offer suggestions that weren’t asked for, especially suggestions that are no brainers, because they didn’t bother to read the details. It happens way too often with some people.

@Dutchess_III: Yes, but in @janbb‘s defense, she did point out that you asked “Then I’m wondering how many people would I need to cook for? Hundreds? How in the world could I do that?” and she did answer it, although maybe not the answer you were looking for. Also, even though other answers were not the answer you were looking for, is it not all helpful information? Should you not be grateful people took the time to read your question and respond to it without a sharp retort?

@Dutchess_III, I was going to respond with an answer to at least one of your questions until I read through and realized I didn’t know what you were asking. I, too, assumed that you wanted to know either how to find out how many were likely to eat the beans, and/or maybe an algorithm for determining how best and most efficiently to implement that.
Your details are long and rambly. Is your Q perhaps “Why can’t we have a baked bean contest alongside of this in the future?” in which case I would respond that talking to the organizers would need to be contacted.
But I’m guessing that that’s not your question, either.

Maybe you’ll get more helpful responses if you eliminate paragraph after paragraph of unnecessary anecdote.

Well, she also pointed out that I needed to get licenses and etc. etc. to do what I was thinking, which tells me she just read the question and not the details. The details specified I was looking at participating in an established program.

As far as answering how many people, that was an obscure sentence in the details, I was just musing, and the answer is so obvious I don’t know why she felt the need to point out the “solution.”

Figuring out how to cook for that many is the problem.

I guess I need to break it down by starting with certain X amount of ounces of beans, and figure out how much of the extra stuff I add to that amount, and use that as my base, then get an idea of how many people, on average, ate them.

I’d hire you & pay your air fare if your salary demands aren’t too high

Just jumping back in to point out there were two different “shes” that you’re objecting to in that answer. First you are complaining about one “she” who didn’t read the details and then you are complaining that “me-she” responded to an obscure detail!

Well, the details specify that you are wondering how to start an event (the baked bean contest) or is that not it? I really am curious, @Dutchess_III, because your main Q (bold and red at the top) is apparently not your question.
Is it this one? “Why can’t we have a baked bean contest along side of this in the future?”
Or these? “Then I’m wondering how many people would I need to cook for? Hundreds? How in the world could I do that?”
This one? “How could I translate that to hundreds of servings?”
Or the one that appears above them all? ”How would I cook for 500, or 1000, people?”
I honestly can’t tell what you want here. Discussions of equipment that might need to be purchased or rented? The logistics of cooking on-site for large groups? Cost analyses (overall or by serving)? Who provides extraneous items (little cups and spoons, napkins, etc)? Prep techniques? Insurance issues? Health department concerns?

I was wondering how to contribute to an event, @canidmajor, not to start my own separate event. I think that’s pretty clear, unless one chooses to misunderstand, which is possible. Especially here.

Everyone else on the thread was able to answer my questions without any confusion, so it’s good. I think I have all the info I need for now, and a lot to think about, but thanks.

Yeah, I guess so….....

And my comment still stands. It’s so frustrating having to explain things that are outlined in the details.

The majority of the people on this thread, with the exception of a couple, who you are throwing your lot in with @canidmajor, were able exercise some basic reading comprehension skills, and answer the questions I had.

@Dutchess_III: First of all, it’s in Social so people can really answer any way they want to. As you know from your years on Fluther, many questions in Social devolve into jokes about frizzers and pancakes and all kinds of funny stuff, so the fact that people have stuck to the subject of cooking for the public is pretty good.

Second of all, like I said up above, people have taken the time to read your question and try to help you. Apparently it’s not the help you were looking for, but it’s still help. Like @canidmajor said, your details were rambling and your questions were many. Your harsh retorts and snarkiness are uncalled for, in my opinion.

I guess what is most baffling to me is that you don’t seem remotely contrite or grateful.

I am sorry I confused you @jca.

I have expressed gratitude to everyone who read the questions, and the details, and gave me some good suggestions and a lot of things to think about.

Can we please just clear the air here?

@ibstubro Too many BEANS. ^^^

SMH (shaking my head).