SC - Portion sizes-meat

[Shari Burnham]

Thank you Ras!  Exactly the info I was looking for! :) I don't feel so bad about
portion sizing now!
Lady Elisabeth

LrdRas at aol.com wrote:

> In a message dated 10/12/98 2:26:33 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> pndarvis at execpc.com writes:
>
> << Being vegetarian,
>  when I cook feasts and handle meat, I just kind of look at the meat and say
>  "that's about 6 servings". >>
>
> As do most experienced cooks. :-)
>
> OTH, less experienced cooks or those that usually cook for 1 to 3 people may
> have a difficult time judging portion sizes for a large group.  If the cook
> has doubts about how much meat to buy for a feast, there are a couple of ways
> to figure out the amount of meat needed.
>
> Buying individual portions is one option.  This eliminates any guess work and
> meat portions are accurate for the x number of people.  This way is also the
> most expensive.  In some cases the price per portion can be two to four times
> higher than preparing your own portions.  If feast economy is a concern, this
> type of portion control is not an option most kitchen stewards have.
>
> There is a less expensive way to achieve similar results and have bones for
> broth and fat for frying as an added bonus.
>
> A typical trimmed bomeless portion of mammal flesh is currently defined by the
> USDA as 3 oz. !00 guests are attending the event. 100 x 3=300.  So we need 18
> 3/4 pounds of boneless meat.  You're couscous recipe calls for beef broth and
> meat with the bone in and a thin layer of fat is less expensive.  We'll bring
> the pound figure up to 20 pounds to account for the fat and add 1 ounce per
> pound for the bone which leaves us with the figure of 27 pounds.  The final
> figure allows for shrinkage wish is about 4 ounces per pound.  In our case it
> is about 5 lbs. which gives us the figure of 32 pounds.  I then round up to
> the next 5.  This gives us a final total of 35 pounds for 100 people.
>
> Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are certainly convenient but the fact is
> that the highest nobility would have insisted on the necks, tails and wings of
> any birds.  The breast would have went to diners of less status.  They are
> also very expensive with the breast of a single chicken often costing not much
> less than a whole bird.  I always use whole chickens which I purchase packed
> in crushed ice.  I use the necks, wing tips, gizzards, hearts and skin flaps
> around the tail and neck for broth.  The livers and cut up cooked gizzards and
> hearts, as well as the meat from the cooked necks plus someday old bread are
> used for my signature dish-'Garbage.'  For portioning purposes count on one
> bird for 4 to six people dependent on the recipe.  Chicken leg quarters are
> often available locally for as little as 39 cents a pound.  These have the
> backbone attached.  Remove it and use it for broth.
>
> Ras
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