Using a Food Scale

Even though it is not technically an appliance, since it doesn't plug in, I store my scale with my appliances so it came to mind. Plus, I use it for a couple of really good institutional size recipes.

When I was in college I cooked for a small Christian camp during the summers. Thankfully, one of my nutritional science classes was Quantity Food preparation. The text was a book called Food For Fifty. I used that book several times each week up there at camp and I still use it today. In addition to tables and charts that help you plan how much to buy to feed 50 people, the book has over 400 recipes that each have 50 portions. I know that sounds like a lot, however now that I'm inspired (again) by Jessica to try once-a-month cooking, I'm thinking that some of these recipes would be perfect, no doubling or tripling. I may cut the recipes in half, but then again, the way Evan has been eating lately, maybe I won't!

The first one is for a very tasty Coffee Cake. I usually pan it out into 4 lasagna type baking pans. The beauty of this recipe is that you can make the batter the night before and bake it the next morning. I have also frozen the batter and thawed the night before baking. It also tastes good if you freeze it after baking. Just thaw and reheat.

Coffee Cake

Topping:
10 oz butter or margarine (2 1/2 sticks)
1lb 4 oz sugar (2 3/4 cup)
3 oz flour (3/4 cup)
1 oz cinnamon (4 Tbsp)
1 1/2 tsp. Salt

*Using a flat beater in a stand mixer mix ingredients on low speed until crumbly. Set aside to be used later as topping.

3 lb 6oz Flour (13 1/3 cups)
2 oz baking powder (4 Tbsp + 2 tsp)
2 lbs sugar (4 1/2 cups)
1 Tbsp + 2 tsp salt

6 eggs, beaten (10 oz)
1 1/4 quart milk (5 cups)

1 lb 10 oz butter melted and cooled (6 1/2 sticks)

1. Combine dry ingredients in very big bowl.
2. Combine eggs and milk; add to dry ingredients.
3. Mix on low speed until dry ingredients are just moist. (I use a hand mixer for this since my Kitchen Aid is not big enough.)
4. Add butter and mix on low speed for one minute (or until it is all mixed in).
5. Scale dough into four 9 x 12 x 2-inch pans, 1 lb. 1 oz per pan. Or you can just eyeball it. I usually do.
6. Sprinkle with reserved topping mixture, 1/2 lb per pan.
7. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes or until done. (I usually have to bake longer for some reason.) Allow 5-10 extra minutes if you have refrigerated the batter the night before since the batter will be cold. (Again, I think I've had to bake longer maybe even up to an hour total to get the center to come clean with a toothpick.)


I remember this recipe for Mac and Cheese being really good at camp. I haven't tried freezing it yet, but I think it will work.

Macaroni and Cheese

3 lbs. 8 oz Macaroni, cooked, and drained
12 oz butter ( 3 sticks)
8 oz flour (2 cups)
2 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp Dry Mustard
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 gal milk
4 lbs cheddar cheese, sharp, shredded

1. Melt butter, stir in flour and seasonings. Cook 5-10 minutes.
2. Add milk gradually, stirring constantly with wire whip. Cook until thickened.
3. Add cheese to sauce. Stir until cheese melts.
4. Pour over macaroni and mix carefully.
5. Scale into baking pans.

Topping*
1 lb bread crumbs (4 cups)
6 oz butter (1 1/2 sticks)

1. Mix crumbs and melted butter. Sprinkle over macaroni and cheese.
2. Bake at 350 F for about 20 minutes until 180 F.