Expert: Enrique Torres - 5/22/2008

Question
I'm having a wedding this July, and we are doing most of the catering
ourselves. My friend is giving us half a cow (ironically) for our wedding and
we were going to use that to prepare prime rib for everyone. We are having
around 200 guests, and are serving other main courses. I was curious if there
was an easy way to start preparing the prime ribs ahead of time (day before)
to make it easier the day of the wedding.  We have access to a restaurant style
kitchen, so I was also wondering how many prime ribs would be enough. My
mom if frantic about whether we can pull this off or not, so I was wondering
if this at all was possible. Thank you

Answer
Mackenzie:
First of all, your mother is a very wise person.
Let me ask you the following:
1. Have you ever done some thing like this before? or do you have some practical help from somebody who has cooked ribs under this specifications?
2. The main topic is to cook a half cow, for that reason is quite important to know if cooking machinery is appropriate to cook as good  as you want.
On the other hand:
There are some techniques/equipment to prepare ribs before heating and serve, but they are not available to be used in small quantities of meat.
Finally:
For you to know, each person eats about 0,3-0,5 pounds of rib+ other courses.

I hope this information helps you,
Enrique