Need help with techniques for making a large amount of food

[Corinne]

This sounds like lots of fun to me but I'm thinkin' that someone isn't going to get much sleep tonight. I think I would have started making meatballs WEEKS ago & freezing them if I had some prior notice! I would be too stressed out if I was trying to make that many meatballs tonight. Very time consuming work, if you ask me. Best of luck to you!! We're all pulling for you!

 

[buckytom]

thanks so much for all of the tips and well wishes.

well, i started around 7pm, and made 67 meatballs, and 48 sausages, in roughly 15 quarts of tomato sauce with onions and peppers. i made the sauce in the lobster pot (constantly stirring because of the thin bottom), while i made the meatballs by dividing everything into 1/3'ds. i was still able to get the "feel" that way so i knew that they'd be moist and tender. i also used elfie's trick (thanks chica ) of adding a little olive oil to the mix because i ended up using 90 percent lean beef. unfortunately, costco didn't have 80 percent. also, i was careful when adding spices, a little at a time, as ic suggested. another trick employed was mish's idea of spreading out the meat and putting the breadcrumbs and other stuff across it to make sure it incorporates evenly.
then i browned them, 12 at a time in a skillet, and then browned the sausages. when the sauce was mostly cooked and all of the meat browned, i emptied about a third of the sauce into an 8 qt. stock pot, and added the meats until both pots were full to the brim., and simmered for a few hours, until i passed out at 3am. thank god i remembered to turn off the burners.

it looks like they were a big hit, since they're almost all gone, and the other trays are still more than half full.

again, thanks for everyone's responses.