potato salad help

[joyceann6]

hello all. my oldest son is graduation from h.s. and i have no idea
how many lbs. of potatoes to use for 200 guests. I certainly dont
want to be short. any suggestions?

[Z~BESTUS]

JOYCEANN6:
Good evening to you. Joyce, The reason that this question is difficult to answer is "That AMOUNT also depends on the quality of that dish. If it isn't very good 1 1/2 oz per MAYBE a lot.....on the other hand if it is very good quality 4 oz per person may not be enough.
Now then Joyce, I sometimes make myself 2 to 2 1/4 pounds of NY German deli potato salad. I eat 4, oz for 1 rather large Kaiser roll with cold cuts. To be safe remember Joyce, you must allow between 15 to 22.5% of waste due to the peeling & brown spots you sometimes get in the potatoes. Also there are those who will eat twice as much & those who may just taste some. I would allow 7, oz per then add 1.5, oz for waste. Soooo, 200 people X approx. 8.5 oz= 1700, oz, divided by 16 that = 110, pounds of new potatoes either red rose or white rose or a combonation of both. Joyce do not forget approx. 8 to 9 pounds of chopped onions, & 4 1/2 to 5, quarts of mayo.
Good luck & enjoy the rest of the day young lady.

Z~BESTUS.

[greyeaglem]

Hi Joyce. I don't have a table right with me to look this up, but I think 110 lbs of potatos would be an excessive amount. Most people will eat about 4 oz. of potato salad. Some will eat more, some won't have any. If you have a crowd that loves potato salad, then you may want to increase you amounts some. You will want approx. 50-60 lbs. finished product. I don't know if you intend to use eggs or not, but one dozen large eggs weighs about 1 1/2 lbs. If you use 50 lbs. of potatos and lose 20% to peels and trimmings, you would have 40 lbs. left. Add 18 eggs for another two pounds, 1-2 pounds onion (depending on your taste) and probably about two gallons of mayonnaise which weigh roughly 7 lbs. each. this will give you a total weight of about 57 lbs. which should be what you need plus. I hope this helps you. Good luck with the graduation!