Costco Gas Griddle Capcity

Hi.  Im doing an event soon and am wondering what the pro's think a person can get done with two of those free standing free standing propane three burner units with the expanded griddle.  We are doing Philly's, Gyro's, and Brats.   This is a big if, but there could be anywhere from 1000 to 2500 people at this event.  I have done fairs and such with electric equipment (close to grand coulee dam....cheap power), but there is no 220 power close to our location.  I know these are really camp griddles and the metal is thin.  Just curious if any of you think I can get away with that (on a thin budget) or do I need to spend the $$ on a commercial propane griddle.  Thanks!

ususaly there are HD reps that come and inspect you during or before the event. If you get caught serving food on a non approved item, they might shut you down. the best person to ask is your health dept.

ususaly there are HD reps that come and inspect you during or before the event. If you get caught serving food on a non approved item, they might shut you down. the best person to ask is your health dept.

Thanks for the reply.  The HD allows these to be used.  I was just wondering if anyone had and idea as to just how much of a crowd you could handle with these?

If you just did the Brats, youd be fine, Philly's will take up way too much space with that crowd, as you need fried onions, and a big pile of steak cooking at all times, not to mention the time it takes to scrape off the burnt cheese on a camp type griddle. Just my opinion.

Not exactly what you are proposing, but I just did a large three day event using nothing more than two 3-burner cast iron camp stoves.  The burners put out 15000 BTU each, and I was using commercial non-stick saute pans for the actual cooking.  We partially pre-cooked the pasta and flashed cold before the event, then reheated to order along with our various ingredients and sauces.  We did about 400 servings over the three days (with half of those being on Saturday).  We were busy most of the time, but not slammed other than Saturday when the parade ended.  The burners held up fine being on continuosly. 
 
Your brauts and gyros should be no problem whatsoever.  I'd suggest trying the the phillys on the griddle beforehand and see if you have any problems.  Have a group of friends over and see how many you can output in a set amount of time and if there are problems with the cheese.  
 
I'm very happy that I tried the burners I used rather than buying the commercial cooktop outright.  They work great for what I need and so I saved a considerable amount of cash.
 

Cheese is not going to be your problem, it's the sugar in the onions.
I did cheese steaks on July 4th, I had to shut down for 10 min to brick the grill about 3 hrs in , because I could not scrape the caramelized sugars off the grill any more. People were pissed, just stood there staring a hole in the back of my head while I was cleaning it.... I have 36" flat top that is nice and thick, I think you will have problems if you do any volume with a thin grill.
 

chefbuba


Cheese is not going to be your problem, it's the sugar in the onions.
I did cheese steaks on July 4th, I had to shut down for 10 min to brick the grill about 3 hrs in , because I could not scrape the caramelized sugars off the grill any more. People were pissed, just stood there staring a hole in the back of my head while I was cleaning it.... I have 36" flat top that is nice and thick, I think you will have problems if you do any volume with a thin grill.

 
Can you pre-cook the onions and hold in a pan on steam table and just heat them on the grill to order?

I do pre cook the onions, add to the meat. The onions still continue to give their sugars when they hit the grill.