Is this enough food for a barbecue?

[Theresip]

I’m having a barbecue for 24 people on Saturday. I haven’t hosted for this many before so can I check with those if you who are more experienced whether this is the right amount of food?

On the barbecue:

24 burgers
24 hot dogs

Prepared in advance and served cold:

50 buns
A large gammon joint
15 barbecue chicken drumsticks
15 plain drumsticks
A potato salad with lemon and garlic
Homemade coleslaw
A Caesar salad
Another type of vegan salad

Then for people arriving I’ll have a cheeseboard, crisps, dips, and sweets out.

Is it enough? Should I add a pasta salad?

I think it’s not enough especially when alcohol is involved , I always do jacket potatoes , chicken , hot dogs , skewers , burgers , sausages , corn on the cob , steak , nothing worse than being known as a stingy host , you at least need to double on burgers and sausages

I’m another who doesn’t like processed burgers and hot dogs and I don’t eat chicken on the bone.

Your proposed amendments sound good.

The only extra thing here is steak and I’m doing gammon or pulled pork instead?

For real , I’ve never ever had gammon at a bbq , it keeps coming back to well I like it , if your hosting you think of the guests not yourself

A tip when doing vegetable skewers - put only one type of vegetable on each skewer, and then people can take off however much they want. It stops half the veg going to waste (because a lot of people won't like everything on a mixed skewer) and also means you can cook each one for the right amount of time.

I've started doing a few of each of the following:

• mushrooms
• red onions
• cherry tomatoes
• peppers

I think mayo based pasta salads are a bit 90s, aren't they? I do all sorts of pasta salads without any mayo in sight.

That said... I'm now hankering for some tuna, sweetcorn and kidney bean pasta (in mayo, of course) and I'll pick out the kidney beans 🤣

Portobello mushrooms on the bbq are also a good and easy idea.

I don’t like burgers or sausages and yet I’m making them? I am allowed something I like.

And I’ve also said I’ll probably swap it for pulled pork, which I also don’t like. The anger extremely mundane threads cause some posters is worrying. Hope you feel better soon.

This thread has made me reminisce a bit about how BBQs have changed since the 80's/90's.
Many happy afternoons spent eating sausages that are burnt on the outside and not cooked on the inside, along with mayo heavy potato salad and maybe a trifle for pudding.

Your very condescending, most people have told you it’s not enough but you do you and embarrass yourself I would never ration guests ever

I don’t know why your so het up.

Neither me nor you can buy all of the food in England. There does have to be a stopping point.

Some people (men) will have two of each. Then you have to factor in the people (me) who like to nab a Luke warm sausage on the way back from the loo once the official food has stopped being served. The thing is you WANT to have some leftovers - it’s a sign there wasn’t enough if it all goes. I went to a bbq recently where all of the desserts gone annihilated which is a tell tale sign people had too much room!

I definitely want left overs, but I want to avoid having my freezer packed with burgers, sausages and kebabs which stay there till they’re put in the bin. I always massively over-cater and there ends up being so much left.

I had a barbecue for five on Friday and I bought eight burgers, eight hotdogs, a pack of coconut and mango chicken, the buns, halloumi, a caprese salad, coleslaw, and potato salad. I had three burgers, two hot dogs, two chickens, and most of the potato salad, coleslaw, caprese and halloumi left over. I’d bought two medium coleslaws, two tubs of potato salad, two blocks of halloumi and six tomatoes sized salad. It is such a waste.

It’s nowhere near enough food. Plus it’s not all going to be ready at once and people graze at a BBQ. Blokes will help themselves to several sausages whilst waiting for the burgers to be ready, a couple of chicken drumsticks and then pile on the coleslaw, potato salad.

You’ll have non red meat eaters taking 2 or 3 chicken pieces each, they aren't exactly filling.

I’d do way more meat than you have planned, 24 people eat a lot, especially when drinking - 72 different flavours of quality sausages (not hot dogs filled with crap and no protein). 48 burgers - pork and apple, lamb and mint, beef, 48 chicken drumsticks. Don’t bother with gammon or hot dogs, both weird at a bbq and don’t be the person who runs out of food halfway through the guests being fed.

This is standard in hospitality for bbq per person - approx 400g raw meat per person, some will eat more, some less.

• Burgers: 1 thick burger (150g to 200g) or 2 thin burgers (75g each)
• Sausages: 1 large quality gourmet sausage (100g) or 2 standard sausages (60g to 75g each)
• Chicken Drumsticks: 1 large drumstick (100g) or 2 standard drumsticks (60g to 75g each)

Neither have I but I like sliced gammon and would happily eat it at a BBQ if it was there!

Oh god that sort of potato salad is absolutely vile and I love mayo generally - bonus points if it is inexplicably full of (badly) diced raw onion and chives! I made one recently with feta, crème fraiche and asparagus and it went down very well but I do think in general we can do a bit better than a potato salad these days!

Does your potato salad have mayo type dressing on it as well as lemon and garlic or just the lemon and garlic? I wouldn't want a mayo-based potato salad as well as coleslaw, too much mayo! And then to add caesar salad is another creamy dressing. I'd just do a green salad, new potatoes, coleslaw, and let people add their own salad dressings/condiments.

I’m just not sure how you would cook it on a bbq? Maybe some gammon steaks but a whole gammon would be burnt on the outside raw in the middle surely?

I don’t think she’s planning to cook it on the BBQ.

I think it's probably because of what comes across as repeated incredulity that people won't eat as much as X, when there have been numerous comments and anecdotes about people eating X.

That's not to say your guests will, I hasten to add. They may be far more reserved. But you asked if the amounts you were planning to serve were enough and quite a few people have said, in simple terms, no.

I appreciate you have said throughout the thread about mixing things up a bit and adding more in, but not everyone will have followed all 7 pages of comments and may only have seen more recent posts (which may include you questioning whether people will really eat that much).

I think if you are really concerned about over-catering the BBQ and not having enough space on the BBQ itself, perhaps get some frozen pizzas and garlic bread which you can whack in the oven, later on, if people get the munchies and all the meat / stodge has gone.

But why don’t you eat it? It doesn’t have to go in the bin? Sausage sarnie the next day? Nothing better than a bowl of mixed salads leftover from a Barbie for lunch - makes me feel like I’m at the Morrisons deli 🤣

Have you had 20 barbecues or attended 20?

Then it’s even more baffling!

No, just olive oil, garlic, lemon zest and juice. It does the vegan this way too.

I've never understood potato salad. Cold potatoes are rank!