Keeping food warm

[Mo Smoke]

What’s up fellas. Cooked some ribs, Cornish hen, potato salad and baked beans for my wife’s work crew this past thurs. Had a good cook too. First time doing a lunch catering for folks other than family. It forced me to look at keeping meat warm while everything finished cooking. Obviously there’s the oven, a cooler, or even the grill, but the problem is not wanting to dry the meat out, and not changing the texture. My birds had nice crispy skin at on point. But putting them in a pan covered with foil ruins that. Gotta keep meat warm tho. Can’t chance someone getting sick. So what do u guys do?


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[Dirtytires]

It's tough to keep everything warm and serve at the same time, especially for big events. The first thing I recommend is getting various size stainless catering pans. They have lids, are stackable and easy to set in the oven to keep warm. I got tired of borrowing crock pots and roaster pans and all the cords that goes with them. Once you get groups over 30, crock pots get pretty small and useless.

The main thing I strive for is to make sure all the sides are finished early as it is easier to keep baked beans or corn warm than it is to manage 15 racks of ribs.

[Mo Smoke]

Yeah sides are more flexible. Baked beans will hold heat, and they aren’t likely to spoil before you serve them. Potato salad is served cold so no big prob there. But what do you do with the metal steam pans? What about chicken ? Do you wrap it up in the steam pans or something? I want to cook for at least 30 at my job soon but I’m realizing it’s a lot more involved than I thought. How do u do it?


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[towtruck]

I don't cook for large crowds but will do smaller groups of 6-10 people at work and what works for me is timing everything to be cooked. Beef or pork can be wrapped and let rest while the chicken is finished off to be served right off the cooker. It just takes practice knowing when things will be done right. If my trip-tip or prime rib is going to sit a while I make sure to cook it rare so the resting does not over cook it.

[Dirtytires]

The joy of the catering pans is you just put the food in it and put the lid on till ready to serve. On-site facilities, travel time and conditions all help determine what else you need. I cannot easily pull my pit to the event so have to transport all the food hot and ready to serve. My goal is to pull food from the pit, get it in catering pans, delivered, and served as quickly as possible.

My last event was pulled pork sandwiches and beans (with buns, portion bags of chips and cookies). I was able to get it delivered and served without warmers but you may need to get a few stereo pan warmer stands (they are pretty cheap for basic wire stands). Food was eaten within an hour of being pulled from heat so I was in and out pretty quickly and carried only food and extra serving spoons.

Plan your menu accordingly to how much time you have. I did a on-site event once where I cooked ribs, and Dutch oven beans for over 100 men. I took the pit, stand burners, RV and half my kitchen. Turned out great but it was an immense time commitment and really not worth it. The next time the group wanted ribs, I cooked at home and transported food and it was sooooo much easier.

For transportation, I like to use a big cooler or a heavy cardboard box for my hot items. Pack any extra space with heavy quilted moving blankets and thinks will stay pretty hot. Don't set out your food till just ready to eat.

The biggest thing is planning. Plan your menu so it is manageable. Plan your set-up so you have everything you will need. Plan your timing so food gets to event at right temp.

[Mo Smoke]

Thanks for the tips. Sounds like I’m on the right track since I did most of those things on my cook for the school group. So I guess there’s no such secret way to keeping the skin crispy huh. Unless folks are standing there when it comes off the grill .


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[JKalchik]

FWIW, I picked up a half a dozen disposable chafing sets (https://www.restaurantstore.com.) These have a wire rack, a tin of gelled alcohol fuel, a deep disposable tinfoil pan for water, and a standard depth tinfoil pan for food. With the same order, I also picked up a flat of fuel tins, a stack of deep pans, a stack of standard pans, and disposable lids to match the pans. At least for short terms, and for service, for our backyard bashes, these work pretty well, and I haven't bent any of the frames yet.

Good discussion to have..... I'm pulling my smoker back to the farm where I grew up in July. As it turns out..... I'm probably going to be smoking for not one, but two events. High school class reunion 1 year behind mine has asked me to smoke for them (my little sister has a BIG mount ) and I've volunteered to smoke for my family clan gathering (hasn't happened in decades.) About time to start making firm plans.