You don't need to panic if you find yourself on a situation you need to cook for a crowd. Choosing the appropriate equipment and adapting well the preparation you will find out it's not that huge challenge or mysterious science to cook for a lot of people. All you need is to prepare yourself, leave everything you need organized and be safe.

Food and Hygiene Safety

Cooking for a crowd involves hazards you absolutely need to be aware of. Make sure you have the appropriate knowledge of the right cooking and storing temperatures. Wrong temperatures are the biggest cause of food contamination since bacteria grows incredibly fast when you don't prepare it right. For more details go to www.cajuns-recipes.com .
You are probably wondering what you can do to have the food properly cooked and don't risk your guests health. It's not difficult. By monitoring the temperature of your dishes you can avoid them to reach dangerous temperature zones. When possible, we also recommend dividing the dishes in small portions for storage. It will allow the food to easily cool avoiding creating bacteria friendly environment.

Portions - Rule of Ten

To avoid either hungry guests or waste of food you need to estimate quantities.

To figure out how much you will have to enlarge your recipe, the catering industry uses the Rule of Ten. It says that for ten adults you will need:

Meat - four pounds Potatoes for salad - three pounds Dry pasta for salad - one pound Peeled pre-cooked prawns - two to three pounds Shellfish - two pounds Soup to be served as appetizer - half gallon Soup to be served as main course - one gallon Salad - two pounds of leaves Salad dressing - three cups Cocktails - twenty per hour Punch - a gallon

If you know the guests enjoy cocktails a lot, make sure you have the proper amount of ice (ten pounds) and a good assortment of soft drinks. Watch the liquors as well! You will need a 750 ml bottle for each 16 cocktails.

Cooking Provisions

You may find it hard to encounter pans, pots and dishware to cook for a crowd. Disposable foil pans are an option, but you need to be aware that they can be quite fragile when holding hot or heavy food. For more details go to www.apples-recipes.com .To avoid getting into trouble your best shot is to rent professional equipment that will give you the peace of mind of having the proper tools what will certainly help you to concentrate exclusively on the food.

Make a dish list

When serving, make sure you have a list of everything you prepared. Score out what you have already served, and you will avoid to have by the end of the dinner not served dishes remaining inside your fridge.

Organization is the key for cutting out "worries" from your menu when you are cooking for a crowd. Following those simple tips, I'm sure you will be very proud of yourself when the party is over.