beans and rice help please

[stiffyman]

I will be serving 400 at a wedding, I need help figuring how much pinto beans to buy and how much rice to buy, can anyone help please thanks

 

[crockadale]

1/4 to 1/2 pound per person finished product. If you are feeding the Mexican army figure 1 pound per person.

 

[ronp]

Probably 1/4 pound of finished rice or beans. I am assuming these are side dishes.

 

[m1tanker78]

I usually figure approx 1/4# per person dry pinto beans when I make 'em as an appetizer. Keep in mind I make 'em watery, not thick. Sorry I can't help with the rice though. Maybe 1/8# of each dry (unfinished) per person???

Good luck with the wedding,

Tom

 

[stiffyman]

Thanks all, ok to put it in easy terms for me, they are a side dish, looks like I need 100 pounds of beans, is that right?

 

[teacup13]

hey sman...here is a pretty good site...

http://www.ellenskitchen.com/bigpots/index.html

browse the site..it has alot of info that you may be able to use.

 

[m1tanker78]

What is your main course going to consist of? I guess the main "X-Factor" here would be your particular market. Around here, people love spanish rice & beans so much that it's usually served as an appetizer while the BBQ is finishing up on the grill/smoker.

I almost always throw a pot of beans (but not rice) in the smoker when I fire it up. I usually figure about 2# of dry beans per 10 people. That works out to 1/5# per person BUT I always shoot to have leftover beans to stock in the fridge/freezer for later use.

For a tentative 400 guests I think you could get away with 50# of dry pinto beans. I'm imagining one of those styrofoam to-go boxes with the 3 compartments - one large and two small. The max ammt of finished beans that'll fit in the small compartment is 3/4 of a cup. Rice would be about the same - maybe 1/2 cup packed. That works out to approx 1/4 cup dry beans per person. So one cup of dry pinto beans you buy will serve approx 4 people. My fuzzy math is telling me that you'd need 100 cups of uncooked beans -IF- all 400 guests were to eat beans. I estimate that there are 4 cups in a 2# bag so figure 2 cups per pound of uncooked beans. Soooooo..............for 100 cups of uncooked beans you'd need roughly 50# of uncooked beans. Wow, the 50# estimate was just that - an estimate and after doing the math, it worked out LOL.

Now, to quote Austin Powers after doing the math, "Oh no, I've gone cross-eyed!"

I hope that helps you out some,

Tom