Tips for cooking Gumbo in large quantities

you're gonna need a bigger pot

Just do couple batches and combine them

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Just do couple batches and combine them

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Get a copy of the rules before you make any plans. Some cookoffs allow you to make small batches and combine, others require you to do everything on site, day-of. Some allow premade roux, others don't. Some allow prechopped veggies/ingredients, others don't.

So you need to make sure your good efforts don't inadvertently DQ you before you start.

NO Powder Roux!

i tend to use more protein when cooking a larger gumbo. the more people eating out of the pot the more people will fish for the meat. you dont want people trawling for meat towards the end.

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With a big batch cooked in one pot, it can be tricky to develop proper color by browning the onions & veg in the roux

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Why is this? I regularly make 4-5 gallons at a time and I've never had a color issue. My roux is dark and it only gets darker when I add the veg mixture. I think I don't understand something about what you're saying.

If the roux is cooked until dark, why would you need Kitchen Bouquet?

4-5 gallons isn't big--I make a pot that size on the stove in my home kitchen....I'm talking 15+ gallons. At this size, the surface area of the pot bottom is relatively small compared to the volume of onion, bell pepper, etc. You're adding so much chopped veg to the roux, it steams as a result & doesn't brown very well. Sure, you could brown it all off in 4-5 batches...but that takes quite a long time, multiple burners, etc.

The workaround trick I (and a whole bunch of other cooks I know) use is to make a "bouilli": water, veg, and some of the sausage (or other smoked meat ingredient)...bring to a hard rolling boil & cook the veg until somewhat soft, then add a cooked/cooled roux, a spoonful at a time, stirring like hell to incorporate the roux into the "stock" you just made. Flavor is good this way, but the color can be on the pale side. Hence the "cheat" to enhance color.

Did I say it was haute cuisine or orthodox? No. But the proof is in the taste, as always. I'm also cooking 6-8 15 gallon pots for charity in the course of 3 days, so expediency counts for plenty in the process.

The OP isn't making 15 gallons, so I thought you were talking about 5 gallons as he referenced. I still don't understand how the roux goes pale if it's dark to begin with, but I haven't ever made 15 gallons at once.

Couldn't you brown off the onions only and cook the rest of the vegetables in the stock until soft? Would that prevent the steaming you reference?