How long to bake a huge fruit crisp?

Hi - I am headed to camping trip with a shared potluck dinner the first night. I want to bake a fruit crisp in a 12x20 steam table type of pan. Fruit will start from frozen and is mixed peaches and berries. How should I bake this so that the fruit cooks through without burning the crumbs on top? I'm inclined to more time, lower temp and raise the temp at the end if the crumbs aren't browned. Or partially cook the fruit covered, then uncover and add the crumbs halfway through. Any help would be appreciated.

cranberry
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4 Comments

702551
702551 June 24, 2017
Actually, there are probably many people who could tell you how much time it would take to make this, but they don't frequent this website as it is geared to home cooks.

Your typical pastry cook working at a catering operation, large restaurant, or hotel should be able to chime in on how long to bake a "from frozen" fruit crisp in a standard hotel pan, the problem is that none of those people read this site.

I suggest you do some judicious Internet searches, you should be able to find better information elsewhere.
 
PieceOfLayerCake
PieceOfLayerCake June 24, 2017
Unless they had made the exact recipe before and knew how her cooking appliance worked, no...nobody can tell her for certain how long it would take. That's why we pastry chefs (I am one, by the way) are taught to look for signs that a recipe is done. Time is always a guideline, never a rule.
 
702551
702551 June 24, 2017
Absolutely, I am one of the biggest proponents of "cook it until it is done."

I'm just pointing out that someone elsewhere can probably give better guidelines for such a project than most people here.

There *ARE* catering recipes for such matters. European museums are full of historical recipe books that cover how cooks should prepare ____ dish for the emperor/empress/king/queen/prince/princess/duke/duchess/marquis/marquise/baron/baroness/whomever. That's the original reason for cookbooks: so service people don't screw up their employers' big parties. (Along with how to feed an army.)
 
PieceOfLayerCake
PieceOfLayerCake June 24, 2017
Nobody could confidently tell you a "time" to bake this, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to bake it covered until it begins to thicken and then uncover it to brown. If you can keep the temperature low enough (325 - 350), I wouldn't worry about burning and just cook it uncovered until the fruit bubbles.
 
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