AboutChef Todd Mohr Expertise I'd be glad to answer your questions about how basic cooking methods apply equally to cooking for two in your home, or 1000 for an event.
Experience Executive Chef at a large hospital, feeding 3000 people three times daily over 8 different menus. Chef at The National Security Agency in Washington, DC, part of a team feeding 15,000 people twice daily.
Publications I am a featured author at Ezine Articles (ezinearticles.com, ideamarketers.com, articlecity.com, buzzle.com, selfgrowth.net)
Education/Credentials Bachelor of Arts, Long Island University
Associate of Arts, Baltimore International Culinary College
Past/Present Clients My catering company boasts many of the nations largest companies as clients over the past 8 years.
Question I have to feed 700 people generous portions of spaghetti with sauce and salad. How much spaghetti, sauce and bagged-salad should I purchase?
Answer I'd estimate 3 ounces of dry pasta per person, probably about a cup of sauce that weighs about 10 ounces, and 2 ounces of salad per person.
Quick math says to me about 130 pounds of pasta, 44 gallons of sauce, 90 pounds of salad mix.
However, consider whether you're feeding Firemen or children. Firemen may need 10-20% more production.
The important thing is that you start your production with a calculator, not a pot of water. Choose your portion sizes and produce from your mathematical plan, not just "eye-ball".
Also consider your production plan. Are you going to cook all the pasta ahead of time, then shock it in hot water to recover? Or, will you have staff that will be able to batch-cook pasta?
Do you have access to chafing dishes to keep everything warm and safe?
Last suggestion - Spaghetti is very messy, stringy, and wants to stay in the chafing dish. People tend to over-portion spaghetti. You don't care how much they actually eat, but you do care how much they take from the chafing dish and then throw away. I'd suggest making a baked ziti or penne primavera. Penne pasta is harder to scoop from the chafer, thus making people put less on their plates than spaghetti.
