Catering- Prime Rib Question

PigBoy said:

Had a call from the local Lions Club if I was interested in catering an event for them. 200-400 people in March or April. They haven't set date yet. Want price for a.) Prime Rib
b.) Steak
c.) Chicken Breast and Ham

This isn't a pricing question, but what is the shrink on rib roast? How thick is the slice? Right now at Sam's Club $6.00/lb. averaging about 19 lbs. per roast. How many servings per roast? Got a lot of questions. Think I'll pass on the steak, don't really want to grill 200-400 steaks and then try to hold them, would like to smoke as roast and then slice. Help PLEASE!

Click to expand...

If you go bone-in rib roast, you satisfy 1 and 2 off the top. You'll also have the option of doing dinosaur ribs if you want. The shrinkage will depend on the marbling, so an actual "prime" should see less yield, but a juicier, more tender cut. Choice or Select won't have as much marbling, but may be a more tempermental smoke to produce comperable tenderness...

Steak

What about a whole strip loin or a whole ribeye? Smoke 'em.

PigBoy said:

Had a call from the local Lions Club if I was interested in catering an event for them. 200-400 people in March or April. They haven't set date yet. Want price for a.) Prime Rib
b.) Steak
c.) Chicken Breast and Ham

This isn't a pricing question, but what is the shrink on rib roast? How thick is the slice? Right now at Sam's Club $6.00/lb. averaging about 19 lbs. per roast. How many servings per roast? Got a lot of questions. Think I'll pass on the steak, don't really want to grill 200-400 steaks and then try to hold them, would like to smoke as roast and then slice. Help PLEASE!

Click to expand...

Back in the day, I used to cook 16-18 lb rib roasts. "109" is the cut you want; it's completely trimmed, fat coat cut off and retied, oven-ready. There's seven bones in a roast, and you cut "bone-in, bone-out", so you'll get 14 servings per roast. If you cut the ribs off after cooking, you can probably stretch it to 16 cuts per roast. I used to give about an 11 oz serving.

I cooked the meat with the ribs on at about 275 degrees for about 4.5 to 5 hours, then let them rest. Ideal for a smoker, but if you want the smoke to get into the meat, I'd start with the fat cap flipped back.

I'm at work, and don't have figures on yield handy, but I could probably find them if you think they'd help you. I never really worked from per pound yield on prime rib, though.

If you're going to be buying between 5 and 10 cases of prime rib, you might want to see what price you can get from a meat wholesaler in your area.

Roasting strips is a good suggestion. It would give you more control over your portion. They're smaller, so they cook faster, and while the price per pound is generally higher, there's less waste. It's also got the advantage of being something different.

Why would he cook whole strips when the customer asked for prime rib?

I'd figure 15-16 guests per 18-19lb boneless roast. You may have a little left over but I wouldn't try to be exact and run the risk of coming up short.

I use a similar (costco, lip on) boneless roasts all the time, avg 19-20lb.

Docs right on..

I easily feed 14 with that roast with a nice fat slice .. putting in some portion control to 12oz slices, 16 per roast is easy.

drbbq said:

Why would he cook whole strips when the customer asked for prime rib?

Click to expand...

It would probably be ill-advised to do so without the prior approval of the customer.

On the other hand, and speaking only from my own experience, I have found that flexibility and a little salesmanship have often gotten me a job that I otherwise would not have been able to handle. In this case, the customer made three suggestions - rib, steak and chicken - which I would take as a hint that he's not set in stone and might be open to other suggestions. If, for reasons of time, space or whatever, prime rib would be difficult to do, I would try to sell him on the roast strip since it is smaller, cooks faster and has the selling point of being a "combination" of two of the original choices. Plus it's something different. That's why I considered Diva's original suggestion an interesting one.

Also - though it may not be of any help to pigboy - the suggestion gives me the chance to think differently about something and opens the door to further discussion on similar topics and my learning something. And I like talking about food.

Never smoled prime rib but do roast it and always figure 1 rib per 2 people...

"Why would he cook whole strips when the customer asked for prime rib?"


Had a call from the local Lions Club if I was interested in catering an event for them. 200-400 people in March or April. They haven't set date yet. Want price for
a.) Prime Rib
b.) Steak
c.) Chicken Breast and Ham

I see these "how much should I charge" questions posted here and at other forums quite often. I think the answer should be, how much is your time worth to you?

First off, I would say that unless you have a low opinion of what you do or you need money real real bad, make an honest profit. You have to decide how much money you need to make in a day and also how much money your hired help will work for, then you need to add up the cost of the food and put the two together to decide what it will cost you. What it boils down to is, if you aren't gonna make money on the deal, don't do it.

Never cook for someone in hopes of procurring additional catering business from them, cheapskates are cheapskates and they will always go with the low price. This is true in any industry.

Catering a meal of that size will actually take several days of prep and cooking. I would say that my time is worth no less than $500 (I would actually shoot for $1000 because I have a very high opinion of what I do) a day. So after you figure out what the job will cost you, add on your profit. If you try to price it per person, you will always end up with a math problem. If it gets down to negotiation, let the guy/organization know what the job will cost you and how much you plan on making on the job. Hopefully he will understand to cost of a quality product.

Also, remember that a half day is a full day. Prep and clean-up always take longer than you think. Plus after a job of this size you will be dragging. I haven't done a job of this size, but I have been whipped on much smaller jobs. My price will still be the same per day regardless of the size of the crowd. Just like when I go to work, my boss (Uncle Sam)doesn't say "today your work will be easier so I am gonna cut you back a few less dollars per hour today." I doubt that yours does either.

All that said, The Lions club are notoriously cheap and they always want donations. Good luck on making what you are worth. Therefore, regardless of what you serve them, your profit should remain the same, their savings should be based on what you cook for them.

LMAJ said:

Never smoked prime rib but do roast it and always figure 1 rib per 2 people...

Click to expand...

Smoked rib roast is a thing of beauty. I haven't done prime quality, but Choice is readily available in my area (Costco or Peoria Packing). Don't know that I'd bother with Select, as Choice from the above is cheaper than Select at the local markets.

tony76248 said:

...Never cook for someone in hopes of procurring additional catering business from them, cheapskates are cheapskates and they will always go with the low price. This is true in any industry...

Click to expand...

Truer words have never been spoken...

I know you didn't ask about price, but when you figure it, keep in mind that the price of beef is going through the roof with no signs of stopping until well into next year sometime. Give them a quote with the understanding that it may need to be raised by then due to the price of beef. On the other hand, chicken is dropping like a rock along with pork, but the price of chicken may jump by then. There are all kinds of stuff going on right now both here and across the globe affecting these prices. I would find it hard to price an event that far into the future at this time. Good luck and keep us informed.

PigBoy said:

I am doing this for profit, let me state this up front. We've been catering for over a year now, catered 7 weddings in a row this last summer and only have one weekend in June, 2008 open at this point. I'm sorry I wasn't more specific with my question. Servings per roast is all I really needed. I can figure my margins from there. I can't see them having prime rib, but I need to be prepared if that's what they choose. I fully expect them to take the chicken and ham route. I don't like how much should I charge questions either. I posted the price I found just to see if there is a better raw cost available. Again, thanks for everyone's input.

Click to expand...

Randy,

What weekend is open in June? I may have it booked for you. Tim and Janet's daughter is getting married. Now that I'm employed, I may not be able to do it.

Yes, this is a hijack, but it's amongst Plowboys.

PigBoy said:

I am doing this for profit, let me state this up front. We've been catering for over a year now, catered 7 weddings in a row this last summer and only have one weekend in June, 2008 open at this point. I'm sorry I wasn't more specific with my question. Servings per roast is all I really needed. I can figure my margins from there. I can't see them having prime rib, but I need to be prepared if that's what they choose. I fully expect them to take the chicken and ham route. I don't like how much should I charge questions either. I posted the price I found just to see if there is a better raw cost available. Again, thanks for everyone's input.

Click to expand...

Randy Call me 605-770-3422

Diva said:

"Why would he cook whole strips when the customer asked for prime rib?"


Had a call from the local Lions Club if I was interested in catering an event for them. 200-400 people in March or April. They haven't set date yet. Want price for
a.) Prime Rib
b.) Steak
c.) Chicken Breast and Ham

Click to expand...

Well I guess it could be considered an 18 inch thick steak, but it would be kind of ridiculous to serve each guest that much meat.