keeping it hot
Jona Thiessen
11/15/06 		This Sunday I will serve a sit-down dinner of pork tenderloin, baked rice, green beans and salad to 160 at my church. My main concern is serving the food hot. Quality is lost when food gets cold. I will have about 20 servers that day.... any tips on keeping the kitchen putting out plates at a consistent pace. Also, if I make the rice (long grain rice baked with sauteed veggies in chicken broth) the day ahead, will it become to dry when I re-heat it the next day? What temp is best for reheating?
ellen
11/15/06 		You are a woman after my own heart. If you keep the food in roasters or crockpots while serving that will help, but also:
Put the salads, drinks, bread and desserts on the tables at the places before everyone sits down
Heat the plates (in the oven or on the dry cycle of the dishwasher)
Arrange three or four plating lines with one person for each food- 3 persons. If it takes 30 seconds to plate a meal and each line has to do 40, serving takes 20 minutes, If they have to do 60, it takes 30 minutes, which is really too long for a sit down dinner. When they finish serving, half can go to coffee service and the rest to bussing and cleanup.