Vending beans over a long period of time

how long and what is the volume of beans?

The best way I know of is to only heat up enough for what you are going to sell in an hour, then heat more and sell that. Always keeping a fully cooked but cold batch ready for heating.

I agree with landarc. We prepare "batches" of bean mix ahead of time and keep them in food safe containers at proper temps. The "batch" quantity is the amount that will fit in our hot/hold unit. We keep a close eye on the hot/hold unit, and throw another batch in the pit to heat up to serving temp, so that it will be ready when the hot/hold unit is about empty. It is a bit of a dance at times but it is the best way to ensure quality product at food safe temps. If we feel that the "batch" is a bit dry then we add a small amount of water. Not too much though. You don't want to dilute the flavors.

If your holding, your not selling?

we use some stock to thin out the beans if they sit too long. Doing it in batches helps also.

I hold beans all day long in a steam table. As long as you keep a lid on the holding container, they shouldn't lose too much moisture. Another thing to watch, would be your holding temp. You only need to keep them above 140°. I find the closer they are to or over 160° they will dry out.

We hold our in 1/2 disposable pans, covered with plastic wrap & foil & keep them in a cambro and take them out as needed. We have held several trays as long as 4-5 hours without problems