# Tea sandwiches for 1000



## kareng (Aug 31, 2015)

We are catering an event and need to prepare 4 different types of tea sandwiches for 1000 guests. Does anyone have any experience in and or recommendations on setting up an assembly line to expedite the process? Does anyone know if there is a purveyor who supplies crust less bread? Appreciate any other helpful suggestions.


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## Hank (Sep 8, 2015)

The key to an efficient assembly line process is that the tasks assigned to each station/person take approximately equal time.  Designed in this way, the system functions efficiently with no bottlenecks.  A little experimentation should do the trick.


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## meezenplaz (Jan 31, 2012)

1000 all at once? Or over a certain period of time?


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## flipflopgirl (Jun 27, 2012)

Have seen crustless bread at the supermarket but I would rather pull in a few servers and pay them to help.

Just one of those jobs (like peeling a case of hard boiled eggs) that can bore you to death but need to be done.

mimi


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## cheflayne (Aug 21, 2004)

How many different types of bread? What breads? Don't know if you can buy crustless bread, but if so, you will be paying for the labor of someone else. Cutting the crust off goes pretty quickly.


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## cronker (Mar 3, 2016)

Always prepare on the day if possible-cut sandwiches can become stale quickly. Use damp tea towels to cover a prepped tray.
I would go for:
Sliced deli ham with seeded mustard and cheese
Sliced turkey meat with cranberry sauce and bean sprouts
Smoked chicken with avocado and Spanish onion
Curried egg with vegetarian salsa.

Avoid sliced tomatoes where possible as they will make the sammiches soggy.

In a large bowl, whisk creme fraiche with softened butter to make a quickly applied spread. Use baguettes as an alternate to one of the sandwiches, use whole meal for one type, seed bread for another etc etc. vary it up. Being 4 X 250 sandwiches means guest will pick one or two varieties.

Ask (demand) all dietary requirements in advance and be sure to have a reasonable supply of gluten free bread and perhaps Nutalex spread handy.

Hope this helps. In my catering past, we easily fed sandwiches to 1000 guests on a regular basis.
I found that it always took longer than perhaps the kitchen anticipated, and having everything prepared and shortcuts found (ie: the spreadable ingredients in large bowls and rubber spatula supply handy) always helped things along.

The sudden pop up of dietary requirements an hour before service always threw. Spanner in the works.


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## chefross (May 5, 2010)

Cronker said:


> Always prepare on the day if possible-cut sandwiches can become stale quickly. Use damp tea towels to cover a prepped tray.
> I would go for:
> Sliced deli ham with seeded mustard and cheese
> Sliced turkey meat with cranberry sauce and bean sprouts
> ...


I like your examples.

So many times tea sandwiches here bring to mind watercress and cream cheese, egg salad, tuna salad, cucumbers, etc.......Blah blah, blah...


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## chefross (May 5, 2010)

kareng said:


> We are catering an event and need to prepare 4 different types of tea sandwiches for 1000 guests. Does anyone have any experience in and or recommendations on setting up an assembly line to expedite the process? Does anyone know if there is a purveyor who supplies crust less bread? Appreciate any other helpful suggestions.


Some bakeries make what is called "Pullman loaves" in which the bread is sliced horizontally. The crusts are much easier to cut off.


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## justa chef (Apr 5, 2016)

Ha!!  Tea sandwiches for 1000 ppl, figuring 6 per person is 6000 tea sandwiches...lol...Heres a story for ya all.....A long time ago, I saw my chef coming back from a BEO meeting mumbling and cussing under his breath. He gathered everyone in the banquet kitchen around and told us "In their infinite wisdom, the Sales Dept decided to sell a client Tea sandwiches, for 2000 at 6 per person. Do the Math!!" A verily loud "SIGH" came upon the kitchen. What a royal PITA logistically speaking as it would be a "Day of" assembly to insure quality and freshness. We spent the prior day just prepping the Misan plas and when I say "We" I mean all 20 chefs and cooks in the kitchen. The assembly of them would begin at 6am the next morning for noontime service.

We had 6 different groups set up around the kitchen making 6 different sandwiches. Every hour we'd change stations psychologically not getting monotonously bored...lol. But the chef wasn't done there. He was so pissed off at the sales department for not suggesting something other than 14 thousand or so tea sandwiches he Dragged the entire catering sales staff into the kitchen to assist in the clusterf**k they created!!  LOL...He asked them to look around the kitchen a see the $400 and hour in manpower labor cost just for the assembly process and asked if it was really worth the $500 dollars they made on the function. Needless to say, they never did that again without consulting with the chef!!...LOL


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## cronker (Mar 3, 2016)

25 cents pp for 6 tea sandwiches? Wow. No way!


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## chefross (May 5, 2010)

Justa Chef said:


> Ha!! Tea sandwiches for 1000 ppl, figuring 6 per person is 6000 tea sandwiches...lol...Heres a story for ya all.....A long time ago, I saw my chef coming back from a BEO meeting mumbling and cussing under his breath. He gathered everyone in the banquet kitchen around and told us "In their infinite wisdom, the Sales Dept decided to sell a client Tea sandwiches, for 2000 at 6 per person. Do the Math!!" A verily loud "SIGH" came upon the kitchen. What a royal PITA logistically speaking as it would be a "Day of" assembly to insure quality and freshness. We spent the prior day just prepping the Misan plas and when I say "We" I mean all 20 chefs and cooks in the kitchen. The assembly of them would begin at 6am the next morning for noontime service.
> 
> We had 6 different groups set up around the kitchen making 6 different sandwiches. Every hour we'd change stations psychologically not getting monotonously bored...lol. But the chef wasn't done there. He was so pissed off at the sales department for not suggesting something other than 14 thousand or so tea sandwiches he Dragged the entire catering sales staff into the kitchen to assist in the clusterf**k they created!! LOL...He asked them to look around the kitchen a see the $400 and hour in manpower labor cost just for the assembly process and asked if it was really worth the $500 dollars they made on the function. Needless to say, they never did that again without consulting with the chef!!...LOL


Great story, and not to get too far from the subject, I had the very same thing happen when I worked in DC for a Marriott account, only in the form of 4 foot long sub sandwiches cut into 2 inch portions for 1000 people.

2000 portions of a sandwich with a frilly toothpick to hold it together.

My French Chef was so angry at sales as well, but didn't get them involved. Too bad.


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## justa chef (Apr 5, 2016)

I too had the same senario way back when...But I used my head and blew away the hot shot corporates that were in their suits watching things....We made the subs...then I picked them...then whipped out my electric carving knife and zipped right though them like a chainsaw through wood....The were like WTF, made a big deal out of it and I just played the game...lol


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