Posts Tagged ‘baked potato bar’


Baking Multiple Potatoes

Tuesday, May 7th, 2013

Q. I want to bake 50 medium-sized Idaho potatoes in roaster ovens. The temperature of the roaster goes up to 400 degrees. With 25 baker potatoes jammed into each roaster, how long will they take to bake?

A. It’s hard to calculate how long it will take to roast them without knowing the size of the roaster and how the potatoes will be arranged. If you are able to arrange the potatoes in one layer in the roaster, they should finish baking between an hour and an hour and fifteen or twenty minutes. The potatoes should not be chilled and should instead be stored at room temperature so they don’t have to get warm before they start to bake. Bake them without wrapping them in foil—wrapping them slows down the baking process. Once the internal temperature of the potato reaches 210 degrees F, they’re done baking.

Update: I tested the roaster out with a 10-pound bag of No. 1 spuds. There were 29 in the bag and I cooked them in the roaster for around an hour and 45 minutes. They turned out perfectly!

Ten pounds in the roaster oven.

Ten pounds in the roaster oven.

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Posted in Consumer, Q & A

Baked Potato Bar for 150 People

Tuesday, February 5th, 2013

Q. I will be feeding 150 people a baked potato bar.  I live 3 hours from the event.  Can I pre-cook the potatoes, store them in a cooler (was thinking about using a heating pad to keep it hot)
And transport them to the feeding location?

Also…

  1. How long will baked potatoes last – when the heat is retained?
  2. Should I wrap them in foil individually – before or after cooking?
  3. Or, should I find a location closer to the event that can cook 150 potatoes for me?

A.

  1. Three hours to hold a fully baked potato while traveling without a warming heat cabinet or other source of heat is really pushing it. You could certainly test it with a single potato by putting into a plastic Tupperware container for that long and then checking the final temperature, but I think it is a stretch. In restaurants they can hold the potatoes on a steam table line covered for that long, but the quality of the potato suffers, it will be wet and have a very wrinkled skin. The addition of a heating pad may help the top layer, but not 150 spuds.
  2. If you try, bake the potatoes to 210°F and then using one hand in a hot mitt, grab the potatoes and wrap in individual foil sheets, then place into a warmed cooler. To warm the cooler ahead of time add boiling water and seal the container for 5-6 minutes, then drain off the water and add the potatoes. You could also use an old clean blanket and cover up all the foil wrapped potatoes inside it to gain a little more time.
  3. Can you find a local church near the event or even a school that could let you use their ovens?

For long time periods, I have had better luck doing some sort of boil in the bag set up for mashed potatoes (or even boil water and add the convenient dry mashed potatoes at the last minute), fold in warm oil or dairy and serve in scoops or pipe out of pastry bags and have guests top with different fixings. Potatoes in a sauce can also hold up better for longer periods of time, such as a scalloped or AuGratin.

Just remember the food safety guidelines, hot food hot and cold food cold. In between can be right in the danger zone.

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Posted in Consumer, Foodservice

Kids Menus – Healthful Tips

Monday, September 14th, 2009

The folks over at Good Housekeeping have some strong feelings on what fast food operators should be feeding kids these days.

Look at the salt, fat, and calorie count of what’s served up at many fast food restaurants and it could make you lose your appetite. It’s a special concern for kids’ meals. You’d think a child-sized meal should include child-sized calories, but the Good Housekeeping Research Institute found that fast food restaurants pack way too many calories in their children’s meals. “They really push the fries, the shakes, the sodas,” said Samantha Cassetty, the nutrition director at Good Housekeeping Research Institute. “What you are not getting here is enough produce or any low fat dairy.”

With obesity in children at an all-time high, fast food businesses are revising their menus to include healthier options, and you can too. Fries are always a kid’s favorite. One suggestion that keeps these on the menu but makes them healthier is to cut the potato portion costs but fill out the plate by adding nutritious dipping sauces such as fresh tomato salsa. Another crowd favorite, especially in casual dining situations, is a baked potato skin with smaller quantities of fillings. These become a sharable appetizer or meal when combined with a salad and split among kids or adults. Check out the photo attached (Attach Steve Welsh standard potato skins). These can also be customized to be ethnically compatible with themed restaurants, filled with black beans, corn and shredded pork for Mexican or Pizza toppings (including a veggie version with olives, tomatoes).

Mashed potatoes don’t have to be laden with gravy or butter, these can be spiced up with freshly chopped herbs, blended with mild cheeses (again watch the portioning quantities) and served with a vegetable side dish.

Have you ever seen how popular a baked potato bar is at elementary and middle schools? Kids add all kinds of ingredients, using the potato as a neutral palate to hold the toppings. The size of the potato (and the plate or bowl it is placed in) can help limit the portions. Use a smaller 90 count or even take your regular baked potatoes and slice down the middle. Here is a guide for creating your own version of a baked potato bar (potato bar wall chart inserted link here). The same thing can be done with mashed potatoes, but you can also have flavored oils to drizzle on the top.

If you have a kid’s menu special that includes potatoes send it on to me!

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Posted in Nutrition