Baked potato bar for graduation

[AustinTink]

How about a nacho/ taco bar instead. Super easy! Pulled pork nachos with all the trimmings are delicious!

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

I love baked potato bars. I do them for my kids for dinner at least once a month. I also have done them for football tailgates. Never tried it for 200 though.

 

[jen73]

Another vote for not cutting them open before serving. And YUM, baked potato bar sounds delicious. My twin teen boys could eat them everyday. I buy the big bag at Costco $8 for 20 lbs) and we do all sorts of toppings including:

Chili, diced ham, pulled pork, bbq brisket cut up, pot roast w/ gravy and all the usual toppings.

Might be dinner tomorrow!

 

[wenrob]

Buy one of those packs of single sheet foil wraps, oil and salt your potatoes, cut in half then wrap in foil, pre bake at home and use the churches ovens to heat them up.

eta: I would do baked potato bar for dinners but two out of three of my kids don't like baked potatoes. (weirdos) I would make sure you had some kind of other "vessel" for toppings. Not everyone likes potatoes. Maybe salad greens, soft tortillas, tortilla chips etc.

 

[wenrob]

I would not cut them.

I did this for a summer BBQ. It did not get over with my group. Only one person ate one...the vegetarian.
i did have lots of other food...hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, chili, various salads and stuff.

At the end of the night, my father said "who wants a baked potato at a bbq!" LOL

How funny. We fan cut bakers, put butter, onions, salt & pepper and garlic powder in between the cuts, wrap them up and toss them on the grill. They're always a huge hit.

 

[robinb]

We do this once a year for our marching band. We buy the potatoes from a grocery store who bakes them for us. They come in foil. We keep them in coolers. With the exception of one kid (my own!) it is a hit with the kids.

My DD's summer swim team does a potato party every year for at least 100 people. They also buy the potatoes from someplace that already bakes them for them and everyone brings toppings. Chili is a big hit!

 

[manning]

Don't cut them. Just use a mallet

 

[Disney_traveler]

Who has 200 people at a graduation party? That's bigger than a lot of weddings

I had 400 at my high school graduation party and roughly the same amount at my college graduation party

 

[Kitty 34]

I like the idea of a baked potato bar. Hopefully it all works out for you.

 

[sets14]

Just an FYI from a food safety perspective. Foil wrapped baked potatoes can actually increase the risk of food pathogens- aka food poisoning. Be very careful with cooking and keeping at temp for the time needed

https://www.statefoodsafety.com/Res...ources/article/is-my-baked-potato-safe-to-eat

 

[jdb in AZ]

Just an FYI from a food safety perspective. Foil wrapped baked potatoes can actually increase the risk of food pathogens- aka food poisoning. Be very careful with cooking and keeping at temp for the time needed

https://www.statefoodsafety.com/Res...ources/article/is-my-baked-potato-safe-to-eat

That article says not to leave baked potatoes sitting out for more than four hours. I would imagine most parties finish eating long before then.

 

[sets14]

That article says not to leave baked potatoes sitting out for more than four hours. I would imagine most parties finish eating long before then.

Yes but many suggested OP pre bake then reheat which could put her into the danger zone. I don't think it's likely to be a problem but there is a reason potatoes are specifically covered in food safety courses. Especially when wrapped in foil. A little knowledge doesn't hurt.

 

[bjscheel]

Okay, I will definitely not bother cutting them for people, thanks for the input! I will keep knives next to them. There will be tables and chairs so people won't have to have them in their laps. I would like to bake them onsite and I think the church ovens will be fine. We've been having Lenten suppers there for the last month and everything seems okay. I'll try to be careful keeping them hot I am a little nervous about the whole thing but anything we choose will be work and worry. Everybody fixes a hot food around here. I will have butter, sour cream, cheese, broccoli, ham, chili, maybe a couple other things but don't plan to go overboard on choices.

I'll just have to figure out how many to bake. This is a joint party between DD and her BFF. My sister said she cooked for 100 for her son's reception, so I figured that plus some, since it involves two sets of family/friends (but the teachers & teen friends will be the same for both). So maybe not 200 people but probably more than 100. Not everyone will take a potato- it's 2-5 pm so not over a meal hour, and they may have other receptions to eat at that day. Some will just have fruit or dessert.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Cooking 200+ potatoes would be a nightmare. In fact cooking for 200 does not sound like fun at all, lol.

Good Luck.

We used large coolers to keep potatoes HOT before as an FYI.

 

[snoopy5386]

This thread is reminding me of the company holiday party where they served pick and peel shrimp but there were no tables or chairs! It was a stand and mingle deal but with food you needed two hands to eat. Folks were sitting or squatting on the floor to peel their shrimp.

 

[jdb in AZ]

Yes but many suggested OP pre bake then reheat which could put her into the danger zone. I don't think it's likely to be a problem but there is a reason potatoes are specifically covered in food safety courses. Especially when wrapped in foil. A little knowledge doesn't hurt.

DH and I coordinated a dinner for 150 people and the well-intentioned food chairman didn't see the need to refrigerate the baked ham for several hours before reheating it for the dinner -- she planned to just leave it on the counter. Um, no.

 

[sk!mom]

Okay, I will definitely not bother cutting them for people, thanks for the input! I will keep knives next to them. There will be tables and chairs so people won't have to have them in their laps. I would like to bake them onsite and I think the church ovens will be fine. We've been having Lenten suppers there for the last month and everything seems okay. I'll try to be careful keeping them hot I am a little nervous about the whole thing but anything we choose will be work and worry. Everybody fixes a hot food around here. I will have butter, sour cream, cheese, broccoli, ham, chili, maybe a couple other things but don't plan to go overboard on choices.

I'll just have to figure out how many to bake. This is a joint party between DD and her BFF. My sister said she cooked for 100 for her son's reception, so I figured that plus some, since it involves two sets of family/friends (but the teachers & teen friends will be the same for both). So maybe not 200 people but probably more than 100. Not everyone will take a potato- it's 2-5 pm so not over a meal hour, and they may have other receptions to eat at that day. Some will just have fruit or dessert.

Honestly, cooking and keeping warm 200 potatoes seems like a huge hassle. It also seems like it will potentially be a lot of waste given the time of the party. I can't imagine many people wanting something as heavy as a baked potato in the middle of the afternoon and even more so if many are going from reception to reception. I get that it seems like an economical option since potatoes are so cheap but I would go with snacks. Make ahead snacks as much as possible- cookie trays, brownies, fruit trays, chocolate dipped strawberries, chips and dips, finger sandwiches, cheese trays. If you want something hot- queso in crockpots.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Second the foil wraps from SAMS. I use it at home.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Who has 200 people at a graduation party? That's bigger than a lot of weddings

People with big families and a lot of friends. When you easily have 5 aunts/uncles on each side, who each have 2-3 children and then some of them have kids. I have 16 first cousins who are all younger than me and are very close to my kids. They are technically their second cousins but they are more like my nieces and nephews and my kids first cousins. It gets big fast, especially since we are a tight knit family.

 

[Minnesota!]

It sounds super tasty! I know you are trying to minimize, I would just add...maybe have a big lettuce salad on the side, too. With a few dressing choices (Italian, Ranch, French). the two go hand-in-hand