Oktoberfest food ideas

Cooking for about 50. Already made the 16 cornies of beer.

What do you guys think would be good to make? I love goulash. I love smoked meats but want to keep it a German themed meal.

Are you serving or having a walking dinner? If it's the second, you could have sausages (Bradwurst), potato salad (Kartoffelnsalad) and I really like Spätzle. It's kind of a mix between gnocchi and spaghetti. You should try it.

Definitely go for the Spätzle. I say Bratwurst, peppers, onions and sauerkraut.

+1 to brats and spatzle.

Pretty easy to make, and easy to hold/serve for that many folks. After grilling, you can keep the brats warm in an Oktoberfest bath and toss on the grill for a minute or two prior to serving.

reinstone said:

Cooking for about 50. Already made the 16 cornies of beer.

What do you guys think would be good to make? I love goulash. I love smoked meats but want to keep it a German themed meal.

Click to expand...

You can't call it "Oktoberfest" without bratwurst, wiesswurst, lieberwurst or my absolute fav: Nurnbergers. Maybe rouladen would work for you too. Of course there must be sauerkraut, blaukraut, kartofflesalat, Vienna rolls, pretzels, etc...

Here's a link to a place that has great brats & a whole lot more:
https://www.bavariasausage.com/index.php

Of course you could also roast a pig:


Oh, 50 people, right, better go this route with the pig then:


Something I've always wanted to do is spit roast a pig or a lamb:


Combined with copious amounts of beer & polka muzik, you'll have a great party. Zum Whol!
Regards, GF.

At Milwaukee's German Fest and Oktoberfest it's always spanferkle, smoked chicken, white brats, red brats, potato salad, rye bread, and potato pancakes with applesauce. Big pretzels and spaetzle, too.

If you can't do the whole pig on a spit, just smoke some butts with no rub other than maybe salt an pepper. That's pretty close to spanferkle.

JonM said:

At Milwaukee's German Fest and Oktoberfest it's always spanferkle, smoked chicken, white brats, red brats, potato salad, rye bread, and potato pancakes with applesauce. Big pretzels and spaetzle, too.

If you can't do the whole pig on a spit, just smoke some butts with no rub other than maybe salt an pepper. That's pretty close to spanferkle.

Click to expand...

I love pork butt and can get 4 in my smoker. Any type of sauce here? Also thinking of a German goulash and pretzels. I ordered the lye today.

I did a pork butt up to about 190-195ish so it was sliceable and had some chew (well before fall-apart/pulling temps), and it was really close to the spanferkel that I get at the 'fests. I don't remember any sauce with them at the fests. I just pick up the naked pork with my fingers and dig in.

Photo doesn't do it justice, but this is how we do it 'round here. Imagine maybe a dozen pigs and scores of chickens (see the chickens in the background?) Heaven smells like this.

http://chopandbrew.com/2013/07/11/grandma-lois-german-potato-pancakes-recipe/

Delicious, cooked on an iron skillet. Chop for chop, brew for brew!

JonM said:

Photo doesn't do it justice, but this is how we do it 'round here. Imagine maybe a dozen pigs and scores of chickens (see the chickens in the background?) Heaven smells like this.

Click to expand...

That is something like 9 levels of awesomeness right there! Is that for Oktoberfest in Milwaukee? I might have to go there one of these years.
Regards, GF.

That was either the Oktoberfest or German Fest in July. I hear the same guys do the cooking with the same setup at both fests.