Cooking Chilli for 20 people

Martynt74

Martynt74

Martynt74

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Hondon de las Nieves, Spain
Hi Guys

We're renting a house for my stag do this weekend and the plan is to cook up a pile of Chilli as people are arriving at different times. I'm only used to cooking for my family of 4 so not really sure the best approach.

I usually use 1 pack of mince for us which includes kids. So i'm assuming i'll need something like 6 packs of mince for everyone. Hows the best way to cook this much as normally i just use a normal sized frying pan but obviously this won't be big enough!
 
Brown your mince in batches to stop it ending up boiled then just stick it all in a big pan and taste your seasoning you can always stick a bit more in.
 
If it's for 20 adults (lads, presumably) rather than a family of four with kids, I would make a lot more than I thought I'd need. A could easily polish off half a batch of chilli (with rice) made with 500g of mince and I'm not a particularly greedy chap. Worst case scenario you end up with a ****load of delicious leftover chilli for the fridge and freezer!
 
Clicky

Easy to double/triple - I've done up for 4x in my mahoosive soup pot and worked fine. Bit of a chore browning all that mince.

Freezes fine so you can't make enough really. Also just do lots of boiled rice to go with it to pad it out.
 
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Marvt74 said:
Hows the best way to cook this much as normally i just use a normal sized frying pan but obviously this won't be big enough!
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For 20 people you are talking catering-size equipment. I've done a a couple of meals for 22 guests (including a chilli) and that required a massive amount of prep and some really big pots and pans!

If you've got a special chilli recipe you always cook and your guests will be expecting, scale everything up and cook in batches or in one massive pot.

I'd be tempted to eschew the usual mince idea and make a chilli with cubes braising steak or similar instead. You can then cook the whole thing in one massive pot and the longer it cooks for the more tender it will become - it could happily sit there and simmer for hours.

Then all you've got to do is leave a selection of bowls, ladles and toppings for your guests to help themselves. And it's a hell of a lot less washing up than cooking a normal chili recipe for 20 people.
 
Have you got a slow cooker? I've done it for 12 in one of those before with steak, it was awesome.

Served with soft tortillas, rice, sour cream and lime wedges. Man I'm hungry.
 
Visit a proper Green grocer and get decent sized vegetables.

For example I went to one the other day and got a "Spanish" onion, its about 4-5 the size of the crap in a supermarket so you get less wastage/more left over when you cut the ends off and peal the skin.

Same goes for Garlic, 99p saw me walking away with a monster sized specimen with each clove big as my thumb
 
I've made chilli for 15 on a camp fire. You are going to need a massive pot. I'd say you're going to need at least 5 litres of chilli, maybe up to 7 depending how hungry they are and what else you give them to eat. Consider doing huge amounts of garlic bread as well as rice, because it's easy and goes down a treat with chilli.
 
I'd go with breads (any you fancy) rather than rice since you are serving it over hours. Rice will get all manky left, plus there is the risk of toxic build up from rice being left at room temp. While I don't think it is too likely it is a risk.

I can't help much really as I've never cooked for more than about 6 people. Brisket makes good chilli but you need to cook it for 8-10 hours really.
 
Also, use passata. You can get it in bigger quantities to tinned tomatoes. Should be able to get a massive carton of this.

Same with tomato puree. Id get that in a tin as you get more and get it out easier than those tubes. Pain.

Like the idea of steak too. If you're cooking for long enough.
 
Jonny69 said:
I've made chilli for 15 on a camp fire. You are going to need a massive pot. I'd say you're going to need at least 5 litres of chilli, maybe up to 7 depending how hungry they are and what else you give them to eat. Consider doing huge amounts of garlic bread as well as rice, because it's easy and goes down a treat with chilli.
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So this, especially garlic bread. So much so, I never do rice. Just a stack of garlic bread. Garlic, butter, slice 95% of the way through a French baguette, spread on garlic butter, wrap in foil and throw in oven for 30ish mins. None of this rubbish herbs or fancy breads.
 
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I would normally agree, but he said in tin foil, so that should save it from burning or getting too dry.

Edit, beaten.
 
Touche douche! :P *reads better* Apologies.

Stale baguettes can also be used in foil as well, just dab with water as well and they will soften up with the steam.
 
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