Baked potatoes are definitely a comfort food that almost everyone enjoys. And a baked potato bar not only offers guests a warm dish made exactly they way they prefer, it’s an inexpensive and easy way to feed a crowd.
If you’re thinking of having a baked potato bar for a birthday, graduation, church event, or fundraiser and need to know how much to buy and prepare, you’ll can get an estimate of what you’ll need using this calculator. After you enter the number of guests you’ll be serving, the result will provide a breakdown of common purchased ingredients which you can use as a checklist to prepare for your event.
The calculator will give you an estimation of the ingredients and quantities you’ll need to feed 10, 25, 30, 50, 100 or more guests. You can even print out the results.
If you are making rather than purchasing any of the items for your baked potato bar, use our Recipe Multiplier http://calculate-this.com/recipe-multiplier-calculator to convert your recipes to the ingredient quantities you’ll need.
Potato Bar Basics:
- A typical baked potato serving should be between 8-12 ounces. We’ll average that out and use 10 ounces in calculating how many potatoes to buy per person.
- Rather than worry about the weight of each individual potato, buy by the pound. You’ll have an assortment of sizes so that guests can choose how big (or how small) of a potato they would prefer.
- Starchy potatoes such as russets are great for baking because they are absorbent and will soak up toppings such as butter. and their starch makes them sticky (and hold together) so it’s easier to scoop up bite-sized portions when using a fork.
- Don’t pierce your potatoes (unless you are microwaving them). Piercing allows moisture to escape.
- Don’t wrap potatoes in aluminum foil. Foil makes the potato skin wet and soggy.
- After thoroughly scrubbing the potatoes, coat the potatoes in vegetable oil and season lightly with salt and pepper. The oil helps retain moisture and adds a nice crispness to the potato skin.
- A perfect baked potato has an internal temperature of 205-210 degrees. Because of concerns over bacteria, your potatoes will need to reach this temperature before serving. Place your potatoes on a baking tray and bake at 400-450 degrees 45-60 minutes until the largest potatoes have reached the ideal internal temperature.
- 15-25 single layer of potatoes can fit into a typical home oven rack.
- Store the finished baked potatoes in a standard or styrofoam cooler until serving time (no more than 2-3 hours).
- A variety of toppings are nice, but focus first on the standard potato toppings. Guests might try a few unusual or gourmet potato toppings but they’ll definitely load up on the tried-and-true favorites first. According to Food Management’s survey, the top three favorite topping combinations for baked potatoes are:
- Cheese and Broccoli
- Sour Cream and Butter
- Chili
- Based on comments on a few other sites, sour cream was always the first thing to run out at a potato bar.
- Put sour cream in condiment bottles to make self-serve as well as clean up easier.
The calculator will provide an estimate of items needed based on standard serving sizes. However, guests’ preferences as well as appetite can vary greatly so you may have too much of one item and not enough of another. Please come back and leave feedback after your event on how the Baked Potato Bar Calculator worked for your party!
