Okay, may seem like a silly question, but here goes, basically I'm taking my
lasagna recipe and cooking it for 80 people. Now, I know what all and what
amounts go into cooking ONE pan, but of course I don't want to cook/prepare
things ONE pan at a time. So, here's my question....if I brown all the meat
that I would be using for say 10 pans of lasagna, how do I know how much
goes in each pan? I usually put ~1.5lbs of meat to each pan. So if I've
just cooked 15 lbs of meat, how do I then know how much goes in each? This
may be dumb too, 1.5lb raw is not goign to be the same cooked, I would
think, so I couldn't just way it, so any help???

B-Worthey

bworthey wrote:
> Okay, may seem like a silly question, but here goes, basically I'm taking my
> lasagna recipe and cooking it for 80 people. Now, I know what all and what
> amounts go into cooking ONE pan, but of course I don't want to cook/prepare
> things ONE pan at a time. So, here's my question....if I brown all the meat
> that I would be using for say 10 pans of lasagna, how do I know how much
> goes in each pan? I usually put ~1.5lbs of meat to each pan. So if I've
> just cooked 15 lbs of meat, how do I then know how much goes in each? This
> may be dumb too, 1.5lb raw is not goign to be the same cooked, I would
> think, so I couldn't just way it, so any help???

How big are those pans!? That just seems like a LOT of meat per pan to
me...? You could also make them meatless and serve meatballs on the side
to help simplify things.
Otherwise, why not just cook it up and evenly portion it out? you know..
measure how much you have and divide by desired number of pans of lasagna?

"Goomba38" > wrote in message
...
> bworthey wrote:
>> Okay, may seem like a silly question, but here goes, basically I'm taking
>> my lasagna recipe and cooking it for 80 people. Now, I know what all and
>> what amounts go into cooking ONE pan, but of course I don't want to
>> cook/prepare things ONE pan at a time. So, here's my question....if I
>> brown all the meat that I would be using for say 10 pans of lasagna, how
>> do I know how much goes in each pan? I usually put ~1.5lbs of meat to
>> each pan. So if I've just cooked 15 lbs of meat, how do I then know how
>> much goes in each? This may be dumb too, 1.5lb raw is not goign to be
>> the same cooked, I would think, so I couldn't just way it, so any help???
>
> How big are those pans!? That just seems like a LOT of meat per pan to
> me...? You could also make them meatless and serve meatballs on the side
> to help simplify things.
> Otherwise, why not just cook it up and evenly portion it out? you know..
> measure how much you have and divide by desired number of pans of lasagna?

Hmm, I dunno. I usually use about 1 - 1 1/4 lbs. of bulk sweet sausage for
a 9"x13" pan. 1.5 lbs. would be "extra meaty", but I don't think
excessively so.

But, if the OP is seeking precision, weigh the meat after it's cooked and
drained and divide by 10, then weigh each portion. Me, I'd "eyeball" it.

Paco's Tacos wrote:

> Hmm, I dunno. I usually use about 1 - 1 1/4 lbs. of bulk sweet sausage for
> a 9"x13" pan. 1.5 lbs. would be "extra meaty", but I don't think
> excessively so.

If I worked it out per the OP he gets 8 servings per pan, so to me 1.5
pounds of meat for 8 servings seems like a lot.

"Goomba38" > wrote in message
. ..
> Paco's Tacos wrote:
>
>> Hmm, I dunno. I usually use about 1 - 1 1/4 lbs. of bulk sweet sausage
>> for a 9"x13" pan. 1.5 lbs. would be "extra meaty", but I don't think
>> excessively so.
>
> If I worked it out per the OP he gets 8 servings per pan, so to me 1.5
> pounds of meat for 8 servings seems like a lot.

That would be 3 oz. per person. Perhaps a lot, especially since there will
also be cheese in there adding to the protein. I generally don't add meat
to lasagna but if I were going to add it, I'd add a little bit to the sauce.

Julie Bove wrote:

> That would be 3 oz. per person. Perhaps a lot, especially since there will
> also be cheese in there adding to the protein. I generally don't add meat
> to lasagna but if I were going to add it, I'd add a little bit to the sauce.

I personally dislike "meat sauces" and when I add meat to lasagna I
follow my grandmother's example and make very tiny meatballs (ground
beef,parsley, garlic, parm.cheese, spices/herbs, browned) and scatter
them across the cheese layer as I go. Not a lot of meat by any stretch.
Or perhaps I'll use sliced, cooked sweet and hot Italian sausage. Again
not much as it is a rich enough dish that I don't want the meat to
predominate the flavors.

Goomba38 > wrote in
:

> Paco's Tacos wrote:
>
>> Hmm, I dunno. I usually use about 1 - 1 1/4 lbs. of bulk sweet
>> sausage for a 9"x13" pan. 1.5 lbs. would be "extra meaty", but I
>> don't think excessively so.
>
> If I worked it out per the OP he gets 8 servings per pan, so to me 1.5
> pounds of meat for 8 servings seems like a lot.
>

so use a scale and measure by weight.

--

The house of the burning beet-Alan

It'll be a sunny day in August, when the Moon will shine that night-
Elbonian Folklore

"Paco's Tacos" > wrote in message
news2lgi.5003$bj5.277@trndny07...
>
>> Hmm, I dunno. I usually use about 1 - 1 1/4 lbs. of bulk sweet sausage
>> for
> a 9"x13" pan. 1.5 lbs. would be "extra meaty", but I don't think
> excessively so.
>
> But, if the OP is seeking precision, weigh the meat after it's cooked and
> drained and divide by 10, then weigh each portion. Me, I'd "eyeball" it.

Ah, so weigh all the meat, and then just divide by the number of pans I need
(10) in this case, that makes senese. So, I also gotta try and figure out
how much onion and bell pepper to add to the mix as well, but I'll probably
eye-ball that too. I would probably eye-ball it, except I have specific
amounts of stuff coming, and time constraint to deal with, and I'm spending
someone elses money on this, so, trying to be as precise as possible with
it.

Thanks!

B-Worthey

bworthey wrote:
> "Paco's Tacos" > wrote in message
> news2lgi.5003$bj5.277@trndny07...
>>
>>> Hmm, I dunno. I usually use about 1 - 1 1/4 lbs. of bulk sweet
>>> sausage for
>> a 9"x13" pan. 1.5 lbs. would be "extra meaty", but I don't think
>> excessively so.
>>
>> But, if the OP is seeking precision, weigh the meat after it's
>> cooked and drained and divide by 10, then weigh each portion. Me,
>> I'd "eyeball" it.
>
> Ah, so weigh all the meat, and then just divide by the number of pans
> I need (10) in this case, that makes senese. So, I also gotta try
> and figure out how much onion and bell pepper to add to the mix as
> well, but I'll probably eye-ball that too. I would probably eye-ball
> it, except I have specific amounts of stuff coming, and time
> constraint to deal with, and I'm spending someone elses money on
> this, so, trying to be as precise as possible with it.
>
> Thanks!
>
> B-Worthey

I don't know if I'd use bell peppers in lasagna, but maybe that's just me.
I find that bell peppers tend to overpower the delicate flavors of a sauce.
Roasted red peppers I could see instead of green bells. What does anyone
else think?

kili

kilikini wrote:

> I don't know if I'd use bell peppers in lasagna, but maybe that's just me.
> I find that bell peppers tend to overpower the delicate flavors of a sauce.
> Roasted red peppers I could see instead of green bells. What does anyone
> else think?
>
I agree that bell peppers would ruin lasagna for me. Roasted reds might
be included in the sauce but that would be it.

While Sheldon's lasagna looked wonderful, it just included more meat
than I like in lasagna. I like to bite pieces of meatball or sausage on
the occasional bite but not have so much that they predominate the
flavor and I miss the lovely cheese or sauces.

On Wed, 27 Jun 2007 11:46:33 -0400, "kilikini"
> wrote:

>I don't know if I'd use bell peppers in lasagna, but maybe that's just me.
>I find that bell peppers tend to overpower the delicate flavors of a sauce.
>Roasted red peppers I could see instead of green bells. What does anyone
>else think?
>
I'm fairly sacrilegious when it comes to tomato sauce. I use a can of
stewed tomatoes (Italian style). I add extra garlic, onion and
oregano.... but it has a little extra oomph, to me. I like it and I
think that little touch of green pepper may be what I like.

--
See return address to reply by email

"kilikini" > wrote in message
...

> I don't know if I'd use bell peppers in lasagna, but maybe that's just me.
> I find that bell peppers tend to overpower the delicate flavors of a
> sauce.
> Roasted red peppers I could see instead of green bells. What does anyone
> else think?

I always put red, orange and/or yellow bells in my sauce. I don't roast
them. I just chop them up and then use an immersion blender.

On Jun 26, 11:44?pm, "Paco's Tacos" > wrote:
> "Goomba38" > wrote in message
>
> ...
>
>
>
>
>
> > bworthey wrote:
> >> Okay, may seem like a silly question, but here goes, basically I'm taking
> >> my lasagna recipe and cooking it for 80 people. Now, I know what all and
> >> what amounts go into cooking ONE pan, but of course I don't want to
> >> cook/prepare things ONE pan at a time. So, here's my question....if I
> >> brown all the meat that I would be using for say 10 pans of lasagna, how
> >> do I know how much goes in each pan? I usually put ~1.5lbs of meat to
> >> each pan. So if I've just cooked 15 lbs of meat, how do I then know how
> >> much goes in each? This may be dumb too, 1.5lb raw is not goign to be
> >> the same cooked, I would think, so I couldn't just way it, so any help???
>
> > How big are those pans!? That just seems like a LOT of meat per pan to
> > me...? You could also make them meatless and serve meatballs on the side
> > to help simplify things.
> > Otherwise, why not just cook it up and evenly portion it out? you know..
> > measure how much you have and divide by desired number of pans of lasagna?
>
> Hmm, I dunno. I usually use about 1 - 1 1/4 lbs. of bulk sweet sausage for
> a 9"x13" pan. 1.5 lbs. would be "extra meaty", but I don't think
> excessively so.
>
> But, if the OP is seeking precision, weigh the meat after it's cooked and
> drained and divide by 10, then weigh each portion. Me, I'd "eyeball" it.

Eyeballing is the best way. I hardly measure anything... when I make
lasagna the only thing I measure is the noodles, and not really
measure, I just always use three 1 lb boxes as a benchmark for the
other ingredients to fill my large Farberware pan (17" X 13"). I
usually use a 50-50 mixture of ground beef with bulk pork sausage,
usually just whatever amount I have on hand (but is always quite
generous, like a pound and a half to each pound of noodles), then lots
of riccotta and mozz, and parm... and whatever amount of sauce I deem
necessary. I stop filling the pan just at the point I feel is safe so
it doesn't run over.

Still uncooked.... believe it or not it didn't run over...

http://i15.tinypic.com/4mi553s.jpg
http://i15.tinypic.com/52yzc3p.jpg

Sheldon

Sheldon wrote:
> On Jun 26, 11:44?pm, "Paco's Tacos" > wrote:
>
> Eyeballing is the best way. I hardly measure anything... when I make
> lasagna the only thing I measure is the noodles, and not really
> measure, I just always use three 1 lb boxes as a benchmark for the
> other ingredients to fill my large Farberware pan (17" X 13"). I
> usually use a 50-50 mixture of ground beef with bulk pork sausage,
> usually just whatever amount I have on hand (but is always quite
> generous, like a pound and a half to each pound of noodles), then lots
> of riccotta and mozz, and parm... and whatever amount of sauce I deem
> necessary. I stop filling the pan just at the point I feel is safe so
> it doesn't run over.
>
> Still uncooked.... believe it or not it didn't run over...
>
> http://i15.tinypic.com/4mi553s.jpg
> http://i15.tinypic.com/52yzc3p.jpg
>
> Sheldon

Wow, that looks like a run-over disaster! I'm surprised it didn't. You
must have really drained out your cheese or used a thick, chunky sauce -
ahem. Looks delicious, Sheldon.

kili

On Jun 27, 11:55?am, "kilikini" > wrote:
> Sheldon wrote:
> > On Jun 26, 11:44?pm, "Paco's Tacos" > wrote:
>
> > Eyeballing is the best way. I hardly measure anything... when I make
> > lasagna the only thing I measure is the noodles, and not really
> > measure, I just always use three 1 lb boxes as a benchmark for the
> > other ingredients to fill my large Farberware pan (17" X 13"). I
> > usually use a 50-50 mixture of ground beef with bulk pork sausage,
> > usually just whatever amount I have on hand (but is always quite
> > generous, like a pound and a half to each pound of noodles), then lots
> > of riccotta and mozz, and parm... and whatever amount of sauce I deem
> > necessary. I stop filling the pan just at the point I feel is safe so
> > it doesn't run over.
>
> > Still uncooked.... believe it or not it didn't run over...
>
> >http://i15.tinypic.com/4mi553s.jpg
> >http://i15.tinypic.com/52yzc3p.jpg
>
> > Sheldon
>
> Wow, that looks like a run-over disaster! I'm surprised it didn't. You
> must have really drained out your cheese or used a thick, chunky sauce -
> ahem.

Those Farberware pans have a higher rim than how it looks in the
picture. I know from experience that if I fill just to where the rim
begins it won't boil over. I don't do anything special to the cheese,
I use it straight from the container, I cook the the sauce to just an
average thickness, but I do drain most of the fat from browning the
meat. A little secret to keep lasagna (or any baked pasta dish) from
running over is to cook the pasta only about half way, it will absorb
the extra liquid. It's also much easier to handle very al dente
lasagna noodles. My lasagna comes out moist but firm, it's easy to
slice into square portions... I detest runny falling apart lasagna...
if you need to serve it with a spoon it is NOT lasagna. Then it's
SLopPy WoPPy! <G>

Ahahahahahahahaha. . . .

Sheldon

"Goomba38" > wrote in message
...
> How big are those pans!? That just seems like a LOT of meat per pan to
> me...? You could also make them meatless and serve meatballs on the side
> to help simplify things.
> Otherwise, why not just cook it up and evenly portion it out? you know..
> measure how much you have and divide by desired number of pans of lasagna?

9X13 pans....too late in the game to be changing anything here though. I've
seen recipes on the net that used more meat than that, so I dont' know.
Like I said it's up to 1.5 lb, but nothing under 1 lb.

B-Worthey

"bworthey" > wrote in message
...
> Okay, may seem like a silly question, but here goes, basically I'm taking
> my lasagna recipe and cooking it for 80 people. Now, I know what all and
> what amounts go into cooking ONE pan, but of course I don't want to
> cook/prepare things ONE pan at a time. So, here's my question....if I
> brown all the meat that I would be using for say 10 pans of lasagna, how
> do I know how much goes in each pan? I usually put ~1.5lbs of meat to
> each pan. So if I've just cooked 15 lbs of meat, how do I then know how
> much goes in each? This may be dumb too, 1.5lb raw is not goign to be the
> same cooked, I would think, so I couldn't just way it, so any help???

You could start by cooking 1.5 lb. of meat then weighing or measuring it to
see how much it is after cooking it. Since I'm sure you can't possibly cook
all that meat up at once.

"Julie Bove" > wrote in message
news:gxlgi.5006$bj5.2913@trndny07...
>

> You could start by cooking 1.5 lb. of meat then weighing or measuring it
> to see how much it is after cooking it. Since I'm sure you can't possibly
> cook all that meat up at once.

This seemed like one of the easiest solutions, but I"m hoping not one of the
more time consuming, but is probably the one I will do.

Thanks,

B-Worthey

"bworthey" wrote:
> "Julie Bove" wrote:
>
> > You could start by cooking 1.5 lb. of meat then weighing or measuring it
> > to see how much it is after cooking it. Since I'm sure you can't possibly
> > cook all that meat up at once.

Wtf not... pots are available in all sizes, and no law says you can't
brown meat in as many pans at the same time as you have burners.

> This seemed like one of the easiest solutions, but I"m hoping not one of the
> more time consuming, but is probably the one I will do.

>From the size pot used to brown the meat it should be easy to
interpolate the volume of cooked meat (ie. an 8 qt pot half full = 4
qts... this is cooking, not pharmacy, precision is not very
important... not every portion will contain the same amount of meat
anyway), then divide by how many pans of lasagna and convert to cups,
use a measuing cup or there are ladles that are made in various volume
increments; 2 oz, 4 oz, 8 oz, 16 oz, etc. If you're too stingy to buy
ladles save up a set of variously sized empty tin cans. I would
strongly suggest you obtain a couple three larger/deeper lasagna
pans... it's really quite stupid to prepare so many small pans of
lasagna. If you don't want to invest in large pans there are large
aluminum disposable pans that cost very little... double them up for
strength. When I'm going to be carrying a caserole somewhere I cook
in a disposable aluminum pan placed into a regular roasting pan to
facilitate handling, then I have no dirty pan to bring home and no
clean up.

"Sheldon" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> "bworthey" wrote:
>> "Julie Bove" wrote:
>>
>> > You could start by cooking 1.5 lb. of meat then weighing or measuring
>> > it
>> > to see how much it is after cooking it. Since I'm sure you can't
>> > possibly
>> > cook all that meat up at once.
>
> Wtf not... pots are available in all sizes, and no law says you can't
> brown meat in as many pans at the same time as you have burners.

I suppose so if you have that many pans. But I don't. Then again, I
wouldn't have enough pans to cook that much lasagna either.
>
<snip>

bworthey wrote:
>
> Okay, may seem like a silly question, but here goes, basically I'm taking my
> lasagna recipe and cooking it for 80 people. Now, I know what all and what
> amounts go into cooking ONE pan, but of course I don't want to cook/prepare
> things ONE pan at a time. So, here's my question....if I brown all the meat
> that I would be using for say 10 pans of lasagna, how do I know how much
> goes in each pan? I usually put ~1.5lbs of meat to each pan. So if I've
> just cooked 15 lbs of meat, how do I then know how much goes in each? This
> may be dumb too, 1.5lb raw is not goign to be the same cooked, I would
> think, so I couldn't just way it, so any help???


Cook up the meat and transfer it from one container to another with a
measuring cup and count the number of cups of meat you get. Divide by 10.
If you get 30 cups of meat that means 3 cups per pan.

You could also consider buying and cooking extra meat and cooking it up.
Anything left over can be frozen and used another time.

bworthey wrote:
> Okay, may seem like a silly question, but here goes, basically I'm taking my
> lasagna recipe and cooking it for 80 people. Now, I know what all and what
> amounts go into cooking ONE pan, but of course I don't want to cook/prepare
> things ONE pan at a time. So, here's my question....if I brown all the meat
> that I would be using for say 10 pans of lasagna, how do I know how much
> goes in each pan? I usually put ~1.5lbs of meat to each pan. So if I've
> just cooked 15 lbs of meat, how do I then know how much goes in each? This
> may be dumb too, 1.5lb raw is not goign to be the same cooked, I would
> think, so I couldn't just way it, so any help???
>
> B-Worthey
>
>
Here is a link http://tinyurl.com/27fql3 to a basic, well-tried recipe
for 100 servings of lasagna. You might get some idea of proportions from
this. This comes from the Armed Forces Recipe Service.

"Whirled Peas" > wrote in message news:bnwgi.27205
>>
>>
> Here is a link http://tinyurl.com/27fql3 to a basic, well-tried recipe for
> 100 servings of lasagna. You might get some idea of proportions from this.
> This comes from the Armed Forces Recipe Service.

What size pan are they doing that in though? I have some at my church that
appear to be around a 18x12, they are not quite 2 9X13 pans, so it might be
an 11X17, not sure. Any idea?

B-Worthey

bworthey wrote:
> "Whirled Peas" > wrote in message news:bnwgi.27205
>>>
>> Here is a link http://tinyurl.com/27fql3 to a basic, well-tried recipe for
>> 100 servings of lasagna. You might get some idea of proportions from this.
>> This comes from the Armed Forces Recipe Service.
>
> What size pan are they doing that in though? I have some at my church that
> appear to be around a 18x12, they are not quite 2 9X13 pans, so it might be
> an 11X17, not sure. Any idea?
>
> B-Worthey
>
>
Interesting question. The recipe says that, after baking, the lasagna is
cut into 20 pieces (4 x 5). No further serving instructions. My *guess*
is that the lasagna is then taken to a standard steam table and served
directly from the baking pan. A full-size steam table pan is 12" x 20",
2 1/2" (or 4" or 6") deep. This would make each individual serving to be
3" x 4" generous portions. 20 servings from a 1/2 size pan would make
each 3" x 2", which seems small to me.

I used to make lasagna for my large family always in a 1/2 size (12" x
10") steam table pan. I would get at least 12, maybe 15 satisfying
portions out of it. Of course, small children don't have large appetites
like young, highly active adults.