Cooking fajitas for many

[Horn69]

We're having huge (for us) party of 50-60 people in a couple of weeks. The primary "entree" being served is fajitas.

Our objective is to cook them ahead of time so that we don't have to be preparing food once the party starts. The trick is keeping mass amounts of food nice and warm during the serving time.

We're going to be cooking the steak and chicken on the gas grill along with the veggies.

There are big electric skillets that look like they would do the trick - but pretty pricey, i.e., $300. Maybe large crock pot could be used and transfer fajitas out of it onto platter as evening goes on.

Really looking for good ideas from all you seasoned grillers and cooks out there. Lay it on me!

Hook'em!!!

 

[THEU]

Horn69,
Having had no parties quite that large, but several in the 20-30 range, and having cooked for a fair number of them... I highly recommend paying caterers. If you have a good Mexican food restaurant near, they can probably provide the food for only slightly more than you can can cook it yourself, and it is a heck of a lot easier.

 

[Horn69]

Thanks THEU. That sounds like sage advice. We're going to explore that. Seems like we'll still need something to keep them hot or warm...found a electric buffet server at Sur La Table that looks like it might fit the need. Might have to go on the party circuit if I had this dude.

 

[THEU]

That thing is fantastic looking.

A caterer should already have chaffing dishes with sterno or some other such for keeping the meat warm. They might also have the insulated plastic dishes, they are like coolers, but keep heat in as well. They can cook and bring it in right when you need to serve as well.
I love to cook, but there is a point where too many people just make it a total pain.

 

[BigWill]

call a party rental store. You can rent that stuff fairly cheaply.

 

[TJ=NPOY]

For my grandmother's 90th birthday last weekend, we had a group of 22 people(obviously you just order fajitas for your group number) and my mom had fajitas catered from a local mexican restaurant. They brought it over in metal pans/dishes and set them up like a buffet line. Queso, beans, rice, tortillas, salsa you name it, we had it.

Point is, if you go the catering route, they will have equipment to keep your food warm.

 

[GHoward]

YOu could probably get those big aluminum (or tin?) baking dishes. The kind you might cook a turkey in, or bake a big thing of lasagna. Some might even have the foil top, or just use some thick aluminum foil. Then get some of those Sterno candles. That's what most caterers use to keep dishes hot, but not cook them. The hard part would be trying to put the dishes on a rack to elevate them above the Sterno.

 

[Luke Duke]

Just go to Sam's and buy a chafing dish.

 

[wannawinit]

Just this past weekend we did fajitas beef and chicken for 150 people. We had 3 grills going so it helped out. We cooked beef first and had aluminum pans ready with foil over almost all of it with a small opening at one end. As fajitas came off grill they were thrown on cutting board and sliced with electric knife and dumped right into aluminum pan. When pan was full small opening was sealed up tight and pan taken inside. Everything worked well.

 

[cbs]

I have a cheapo chafing dish option.

I start by by vaccuum packing several bags of ice cubes (I use a Foodsaver --- if you don't have one, you should get one anyway. I got my from Costco for about $100 and use it whenever we smoke any large pieces of meat). I then put the bags of water in a pot and boil the water. Then I put the food and the bags of boiling water in an ice chest, where they all stay unbelievably warm until eating time. Then, when you're done, you can throw the bags of water in the freezer and reuse them again at a later date.

Last week, I took ribs and some queso to a friends shindig. We dug the food out about two hours after packing, and the queso container was still too hot to comfortably hold..

In your situation, you could grill the meat, cut it, and put it in a metal pan. Put a couple bags of boiling water in the bottom of the ice chest, put in the pan of meat (covered) and then put a couple more bags of boiling water on top of the meat. It should stay warm for at least 2 hours this way. I might also put some towels on the top of the whole thing if there is a lot of space left in your ice chest.

The key is that the foodsaver bags are strong enough to boil. Don't try this with ziploc.

 

[horn section]

you could just store the meat in a roaster with the warm setting on or just covered depending on how long you plan on having them sit. I think the electric roasters go for about $40.00 and should be big enough to hold that many fajitas

 

[DLev]

I'm planning on doing fajitas for 40-50 and my plan was just to have a big aluminum tray and put the sliced meat from each batch in the tray. When done, but the meat in the oven on very low heat just to keep warm. I'm also planning on slicing before putting the meat in, but I wouldn't say "immediately," I plan on letting the juices redistribute for 4 minutes or so before slicing.

 

[DallasCowpoke]

Find a party or restaurant supply Co in your area that rents Cambro equip.

One like the pictured, should run you around $20-$35 per day, and will easily hold "at service temp", the quantity you're looking for for 4-6 hours.

Good luck.