[rmwag]

Hello all...

I am very new to the catering business (2 small jobs so far) and trying to make it a full time job...
Wondering if anyone can tell me how much chicken or beef would be included in a half tray of food? For example, many menus have chicken Marsala on the menu and was wondering how many pounds of chicken should be purchased for half a tray? Same for beef?

Thanks...cheers...

 

[bughut]

Hi Rmwag,
Good luck with the new business.
You need to be more specific with portion control. needs to be worked out per head, not per vague tray.

 

[rmwag]

thanks for the quick response...from what I have seen from other catering menu's a half tray will feed 5 - 7 people and a full tray 8 - 12 people...

 

[shroomgirl]

well a portion of protein can be 5-8 oz normally....depends on what goes with it....so I'd multiply that times the amount of people....
40 oz for 1/2 tray
80 oz for full.....

shooting in the dark here as we don't price product out that way.

 

[psycho chef]

Half tray in my book is for 6 people. for chicken marsala figure 8 oz per head after trimming, pounding or whatever, so start with a little more than 3 lbs. Or just decide your portion size, think about how much waste or shrinkage will occur then multiply by 6.

 

[fstfrdy]

I have found over the years that a butcher can be my best friend and a great source of info. If you are starting out get to know a butcher and they can be great help with meat portions. :smoking:

 

[bluepinkstink]

what if you just want to fill a full tray with one dish for a friends party, how would you know what to buy to fill it and dont know the amount of people eating it
 

 

[smork]

what is all this tray talk?   how many people do you wanna serve?   thats what you make.   if you buy a tray of something then you weigh it and divide it out to see how many people you wanna say it will serve.   when you buy stuff everything is bought by the oz/ltr.   just apply a weight of each item you want to serve/customer and just make it as simple as the fourth grade math that it takes to multiply and divide each item by.   

 

[just jim]

what is all this tray talk? how many people do you wanna serve? thats what you make. if you buy a tray of something then you weigh it and divide it out to see how many people you wanna say it will serve. when you buy stuff everything is bought by the oz/ltr. just apply a weight of each item you want to serve/customer and just make it as simple as the fourth grade math that it takes to multiply and divide each item by.

Trays vary in size.

Unless you've already determined that a tray feeds a dozen, 2 dozen, etc., there is no way for anyone else to tell you how much a half tray feeds.

 

[bluepinkstink]

yea i was talking like normal trays for catering that you do hot trays with the sternos under, im guessing a full tray could maybe feed 12 , i know how to price everything i just dont know the amount of the each food to fill each tray to price that out , and i really dont want to go and buy stuff make a tray of each just to figure that out, i looked through my school book and cant find anything to figure out the amount of food to fill the volume? of tray?
 

 

[bluepinkstink]

I'm new to this and been looking all over the internet for the right advice to help me price a small menu for full and half trays for friends and family in the area

 

[shroomgirl]

bluepinkstink.....it may be best to post your question in the student forum, this is the pro catering forum. 

 

[sergeantpepper]

Are we talking about hotel pans here? If so, six per "half tray" is too much of any type of food.

 

[petemccracken]

Steam (hotel) pan capacities
			Depth
			1"	2.5"	4"	6"
	Length	Width	Capacity in Quarts
Full Size	20.75	12.75	4.2	10.4	16.6	24.9
Two-Thirds	13.88	12.75		6.7	10.8	16.2
One-Half	10.38	12.75		5.2	8.3	12.5
One-Half (long)	20.5	6.38		5.2	8.3	12.5
One-Third	6.88	12.75		3.4	5.4	8.1
One-Quarter	6.38	10.38		2.6	4.2	6.2
One-Sixth	6.88	6.25		1.6	2.6	3.9
One-Ninth	6.88	4.25		1	1.7
			Capacity in Ounces
Full Size	20.75	12.75	134	332	531	796
Two-Thirds	13.88	12.75		214	345	518
One-Half	10.38	12.75		166	265	400
One-Half (long)	20.5	6.38		166	265	400
One-Third	6.88	12.75		108	172	259
One-Quarter	6.38	10.38		83	134	198
One-Sixth	6.88	6.25		51	83	124
One-Ninth	6.88	4.25		32	54	0
			Capacity in 1 cup servings
Full Size	20.75	12.75	16	41	66	99
Two-Thirds	13.88	12.75		26	43	64
One-Half	10.38	12.75		20	33	50
One-Half (long)	20.5	6.38		20	33	50
One-Third	6.88	12.75		13	21	32
One-Quarter	6.38	10.38		10	16	24
One-Sixth	6.88	6.25		6	10	15
One-Ninth	6.88	4.25		4	6	0
			Capacity in 4oz (1/2 cup) servings
Full Size	20.75	12.75	32	82	132	198
Two-Thirds	13.88	12.75		52	86	128
One-Half	10.38	12.75		40	66	100
One-Half (long)	20.5	6.38		40	66	100
One-Third	6.88	12.75		26	42	64
One-Quarter	6.38	10.38		20	32	48
One-Sixth	6.88	6.25		12	20	30
One-Ninth	6.88	4.25		8	12	0

 

[chefbuba]

Now the OP's head is really going to spin!

 

[shroomgirl]

you guys are having tooo much fun......

 

[sergeantpepper]

Pete, that's a real serious answer for such a quarter-baked question. . .

 

[meezenplaz]

Actually I appreciate you posting the chart. Havent seen all that data on one sheet,

wudda taken some time to dig it up.

Appreciated.