SC - Serving sizes

[Tara Sersen]

> Generally speaking you can plan on about 1/4 lb. of uncooked meat per
> serving.  However, in the SCA, this seems to be a bit on the shy
> side.  Apparently, as a group we tend to eat a lot of meat.  As one
> fighter in our household is fond of saying, "vegetables are what meat
> eats."
> 
> I have found that, and especially at war, meat goes about 1/3 - 1/2
> lb. per person depending on the nature of the group.  I recently
> served 90 lbs. of meat to 250 people, not quite 1/2 lb. apiece and a
> little more than 1/3 lb. and we didn't have enough.
> 
> Bottom line, how big a meat eating group are you cooking for, and I
> would tend toward at least 1/3 lb. (before cooking) each.

I would argue with the 1/4 pound part, especially mundanely.  While 1/4
pound (4 ounces) is the recommended serving size for most meats, I
seldom see that little served (only at fast food restaurants, and I
don't think that's really meat anyway.)  Go to any restaurant and order
the chicken-whatever, and you're going to get at least 1 whole chicken
breast.  I checked the chicken breasts in my freezer, and they were 2.24
pounds for 4 of 'em.  That was about 9 ounces each.  I cooked one the
other night, and while it seemed a bit large it wasn't nearly twice as
large as "normal".  I cut it in half and doled it out to two servings to
take to work for lunch, and the 1/2 breast portion looked tiny compared
to a normal serving.  So, I think people who consider themselves
carnivores rather than omnivores, and there are many in the SCA, are
accustomed to much larger quantities of meat per meal (especially
dinner) than the FDA suggested serving size.  This is even more
pronounced when someone is eating a "special" meal and expects to eat
lavishly.

I usually figure on 1/4 pound of meat or less per person per course.  If
it were a one course feast, I'd probably make it 1/2 pound per person,
and I'm sure there would be no leftovers.

Magdalena vander Brugghe