{"id":9,"date":"2009-10-20T14:39:36","date_gmt":"2009-10-20T18:39:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/food-health\/?page_id=9"},"modified":"2026-04-09T12:08:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T16:08:06","slug":"cooking-for-crowds","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/food-health\/food-safety\/cooking-for-crowds\/","title":{"rendered":"Cooking for Crowds"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Food Safety Training for Volunteers<\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-15436 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/food-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2024\/03\/Cooking-sq-Pixabay-young_amyc-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"Large pot of soup\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/food-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2024\/03\/Cooking-sq-Pixabay-young_amyc-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/food-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2024\/03\/Cooking-sq-Pixabay-young_amyc-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/food-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2024\/03\/Cooking-sq-Pixabay-young_amyc-105x105.jpg 105w, https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/food-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2024\/03\/Cooking-sq-Pixabay-young_amyc-317x317.jpg 317w, https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/food-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2024\/03\/Cooking-sq-Pixabay-young_amyc-423x423.jpg 423w, https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/food-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2024\/03\/Cooking-sq-Pixabay-young_amyc-32x32.jpg 32w, https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/food-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2024\/03\/Cooking-sq-Pixabay-young_amyc.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 320px) 85vw, (max-width: 768px) 67vw, (max-width: 1024px) 62vw,300px\" \/>Many organizations and community groups rely on volunteers like you for a variety of food events for fundraising, fellowship, food pantries or other services to the community. But cooking for a crowd is tricky! How do you store all that food? When is the food completely cooked? How long can you leave food on the buffet table? Now there is a workshop on safe food handling designed specifically for volunteers.<\/p>\n<h3>Cooking for Crowds Workshops<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Date:<\/strong> Wednesday, May 6, 2026<br \/>\n<strong>Time:<\/strong> 10:00 AM &#8211; 1:00 PM<br \/>\n<strong>Location:<\/strong>\u00a0UMaine Extension Penobscot County, 307 Maine Ave., Bangor, ME<br \/>\n<strong>Cost:<\/strong> $15 <strong>\u00a0registration deadline April 29, 2026<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/umaine-extension.formtitan.com\/ftproject\/events?eventid=a1cUy000005en0j\">Register for May 6 Cooking for Crowds Workshop<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Date:<\/strong> Wednesday, May 12, 2026<br \/>\n<strong>Time:<\/strong> 1:00 PM &#8211; 4:00 PM<br \/>\n<strong>Location:<\/strong>\u00a0UMaine Extension Penobscot County, 307 Maine Ave., Bangor, ME<br \/>\n<strong>Cost:<\/strong> $15 <strong>\u00a0registration deadline May 5, 2026<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/umaine-extension.formtitan.com\/ftproject\/events?eventid=a1cUy000005eqjN\">Register for May 12 Cooking for Crowds Workshop<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Date:<\/strong> Wednesday, June 3, 2026<br \/>\n<strong>Time:<\/strong> 10:00 am &#8211; 1:00 pm<br \/>\n<strong>Location:<\/strong> Hancock County Cooperative Extension, 63 Boggy Brook Rd., Ellsworth, ME 04605<br \/>\n<strong>Cost:<\/strong> $15 <strong>registration deadline May 27, 2026<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/umaine-extension.formtitan.com\/ftproject\/events?eventid=a1cUy000005er2j\">Register for May 12 Cooking for Crowds Workshop<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><br \/>\nWould you like to host a workshop for your group? <a href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/food-health\/food-safety\/cooking-for-crowds\/request-a-workshop\/\">Request a Cooking for Crowds training<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>Why attend?<\/h3>\n<p>There\u2019s a lot to learn about safe food preparation and handling. If you don\u2019t do it for a living, you may not be aware of all the special techniques involved in cooking for a large group of people.<\/p>\n<p>It is scary to think about people getting sick from your meal, but it can happen. More than three-quarters of the outbreaks are blamed on food eaten outside the home.<\/p>\n<p>While food-borne illness can be as mild as stomachache, it can be much more serious and sometimes fatal.<\/p>\n<p>Unsafe food can \u201cspoil\u201d your group\u2019s reputation \u2014 and its finances. Don\u2019t take a chance. Sign up for the \u201cCooking for Crowds\u201d workshop. Learn to protect yourself and the people you feed.<\/p>\n<h3>What you will learn<\/h3>\n<p>Learn up-to-date methods for safely preparing, handling, and serving food for large group functions such as soup kitchens, church functions, food pantries, and community fundraisers.<\/p>\n<p>Workshops cover the following food safety guidelines:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Planning and Purchasing<\/li>\n<li>Storing Food Supplies<\/li>\n<li>Preparing Food<\/li>\n<li>Transporting, Storing and Serving Cooked Foods<\/li>\n<li>Handling Leftovers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Materials fee: <\/strong>$15 per person.<\/p>\n<h3>Participants receive:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Cooking for Crowds \u2013 A manual specifically designed for volunteer cooks;<\/li>\n<li>Certificate of Attendance;<\/li>\n<li>Posters; and<\/li>\n<li>Instant Read Thermometer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Resources for Cooking for Crowds<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/food-health\/food-safety\/cooking-for-crowds\/pre-event-checklist\/\">Pre-event Checklist<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/food-health\/food-safety\/cooking-for-crowds\/day-of-event-checklist\/\">Day of Event Checklist<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/food-health\/food-safety\/cooking-for-crowds\/hot-storage-record-sheet\/\">Hot Storage Record Sheet<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/food-health\/food-safety\/cooking-for-crowds\/cooling-record-sheet\/\">Cooling Record Sheet<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/food-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2015\/05\/Takeout_label.doc\">Takeout Labels (Word)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Food Safety Training for Volunteers Many organizations and community groups rely on volunteers like you for a variety of food events for fundraising, fellowship, food pantries or other services to the community. But cooking for a crowd is tricky! How do you store all that food? When is the food completely cooked? How long can [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":0,"parent":7,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"templates\/page-withsidebar.php","meta":{"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-9","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Cooking for Crowds - Cooperative Extension: Food &amp; Health - University of Maine Cooperative Extension<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/food-health\/food-safety\/cooking-for-crowds\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cooking for Crowds - Cooperative Extension: Food &amp; Health - University of Maine Cooperative Extension\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Food Safety Training for Volunteers Many organizations and community groups rely on volunteers like you for a variety of food events for fundraising, fellowship, food pantries or other services to the community. 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