Cooking for a crowd
Cold Sesame Noodles with Cucumber and Carrot for 24
These are estimates. They come from rules of thumb, not a recipe we tested at this size. Go by the recipe's own doneness cues and a thermometer, and taste as you go.
The plan
Make it 6 times over: about 24 servings.
The recipe serves 4. How it cooks: one big pot.
Pans, pots and the oven
- About 9 ½ quarts in all (one batch is about 1 ½).
- One 16-quart stockpot holds it at no more than 3/4 full, or split it between 3 Dutch ovens (5½ quarts).
Timing
- Prep: about 1 hour 11 minutes of hands-on work (the recipe's 15 minutes, times 6, a little faster once you're set up).
- Coming to a boil or simmer: about 24 minutes longer than the recipe (roughly 3 minutes for every extra quart on one burner).
- Simmering: about the same time once it's simmering. Stir and scrape the bottom more often; a big pot scorches more easily, so lower the heat a notch.
Ingredients for about 24
Every amount × 6.
- Noodles
- 4 ½ lb lo mein noodles or spaghetti, dried; check the label for egg-free
- Sauce
- 1 ½ cups tahini or peanut butter
- 1 ⅛ cups soy sauce
- ¾ cup rice vinegar
- ⅜ cup toasted sesame oil, divided
- ⅜ cup maple syrup
- ⅜ cup fresh ginger, finely grated
- 6 cloves garlic, finely grated
- 2 tbsp chili garlic sauce (optional)
- 1 ⅛ cups warm water
- Toppings
- 6 medium cucumber, cut into thin matchsticks
- 6 medium carrot, shredded
- 18 green onions, thinly sliced
- ⅜ cup sesame seeds, toasted
Rounded to kitchen measures. Eggs are rounded up to whole eggs.
Keeping a big batch safe
- Keep hot food at 140°F or hotter and cold food at 40°F or colder; nothing sits out more than 2 hours (1 hour above 90°F). (USDA FSIS: "Danger Zone" (40°F to 140°F))
- Split big batches into shallow containers so they cool quickly. Hot food can go straight into the fridge. (USDA FSIS: Leftovers and Food Safety)
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How we work it out
- How it cooks decides how it grows. Baked dishes and casseroles are made as separate batches of the recipe as written, one pan's worth at a time. Soups, stews and chili go in one bigger pot, or several. Slow cooker and pressure cooker recipes get one batch per cooker or per round. Roasts become more roasts, not a bigger one. Skillet, griddle, grill and fried recipes cook in rounds.
- Pans and the oven. We assume a home oven with two racks, two baking dishes or cake pans per rack, or one sheet pan per rack. More pans than that means another round in the oven.
- Pots. The volume comes from the weight of the ingredients (about a liter for each kilogram; dry pasta, rice and grains count 2½ times, since they soak up water), in a pot no more than 3/4 full.
- What we don't simply multiply. Salt: add 3/4, taste, then the rest. Cayenne, chiles and hot sauce: start with 2/3. Ground spices and dried herbs: start with 3/4 once it's 3 batches or more. Bay leaves and other whole spices: about half the extra. Baking soda, baking powder and yeast: batch by batch. Frying oil and the water for boiling: by the pot, not the recipe. A big pot of soup or stew: hold back a tenth of the liquid.
- Timing. Each extra batch adds about 3/4 of the recipe's prep time. A big pot takes about 3 more minutes per extra quart to come to a simmer on one burner. Meat browns in batches no bigger than the recipe's. A full oven bakes a little slower: swap and turn the pans halfway, and allow 5 to 10 minutes more.
These are our rules of thumb, not tests of each recipe at each size. The recipe's own doneness cues and a thermometer come first.