backyard grillin vs catering...

[Pinkelephant]

I am comfortable with my skills as a cook. I can cook it, plate it and serve it. my problem is preparing it and storing it until a crowd is ready to eat or the rest of the food is ready. another idea I had was selling bbq from a parking lot up in town. I am sticking this propane brinkman/kenmore smoker on the trailer as an oven:


do i want to wrap food up and keep at 150F in a grill or in this or do I want some sterno chafers or do I just wrap em and put em in a big cooler?
what are the options and what should I know before I try?
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It's all about the smoke!
Allen
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| _Trucks-n-BBQ _ | H|--[ ]\____,
|_______________| H|___|____|
(o)(o)"""""""""""(o)(o)****(____)(o)

[Pinkelephant]

I started this thread without context. I'm building a mini bbq trailer, able to serve 1 to 75 ppl.
thread
http://www.thesmokering.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=49516&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0&sid=bc2719cc88a279a7e0f69dde1a0e7e35
_________________
It's all about the smoke!
Allen
._______________ H ___
| _Trucks-n-BBQ _ | H|--[ ]\____,
|_______________| H|___|____|
(o)(o)"""""""""""(o)(o)****(____)(o)

[Raine]

HD requires you to hold at 140° or above.

[SoEzzy]

And they will make you jump through hoops till you get it right.

http://www.thesmokering.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24737 read this too!
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Here's a change Robert.

I still work here!

[Pinkelephant]

I ask how to keep cooked food until it's served and you guys throw the health dept and the insurance companies at me. ouch.

I just talked to my dad in MA. his state just outlawed serving any food from non-inspected kitchens. no more bake sales. his church had to get inspected.

I would bet $50 that the guys around me selling bbq in my small towns with smokers on trailers can't show me a health dept cert.
they dont even have water systems.
oh man....
food for thought.

I hate to ask the health dept about it cause then they know where I live.

A place I visit often has his (cooked) meat in a cooler. he pulls it out, slices and dices and makes your sandwich and drops it back in the cooler.

I didn't really want to incorporate. I used to be a bicycle tourist and loved everything about bikes. I got a job as a mechanic at the largest bike shop in Houston. It's like getting a personal chef to work the grill at a fast food joint. It wasn't about quality, it was about quota. get it done, don't scratch the paint and start on the next one. I hated it.

I don't want to cook food to make money. I actually like to cook and I love the reactions when people eat it. When half the people who taste my food say it's the best they ever had and the other half smile and nod because they are too busy chowin down, that's the high I'm after. not the cash.

If it pays for the trailer, cool. If I clear enough to fool my wife into thinking there is a sane reason I'm doing it, cool

If I get a mega-rig and cater to 100-200 ppl it would be the next step up but it wouldn't be fun anymore.
_________________
It's all about the smoke!
Allen
._______________ H ___
| _Trucks-n-BBQ _ | H|--[ ]\____,
|_______________| H|___|____|
(o)(o)"""""""""""(o)(o)****(____)(o)

[Raine]

You need to hold it at 140° or above or you could make someone sick.

All that being said, you need to figure out based on your set-up, if you can achieve that.

Here in NC, if you are non-profit you don't have to comply with any of the rules.

They are really concerned about public safety and health.

[Pinkelephant]

[BUGSnBBQ]

You talked about cooking for doctors and university cheerleaders and also having a banner to promote a business. That's a 'Commercial Eneterprise'. If you are only cooking for 'family and friends' (on private property) and not charging them money - only accepting 'donations' - you might be okay with what you're doing. I would be very wary of running afoul of the local HD, as fines and/or the hassle involved might make your entire venture a complete waste of time and money.

Not trying to deflate your dreams or bust your balls, but as the others said above, it's well advised to check local regulations in your city/county.

I say this because I was thinking about doing something very similar to what you're attempting and realized it was much more money that I had anticipated.

Either way - GOOD LUCK!
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[Raine]

How much will you be able to hold in the equipment you have?

When we vend or cater , we wrap it and keep it in the cooker.
When we had the store front, we kept them in a warmer.

[Pinkelephant]

[Herman]

In NC the holding temp required is 135 degrees. Normal cooking of butts is to around 195 degrees. Any good ice chest will maintain temps above 135 degrees for several hours if the butt is foiled. So you could use the ice chest to hold the first butts that were up to your temp and then move the foiled butts to your cooker to hold after all butts were finished.

But HD regs are a whole different game to be legal.

Herman

[Raine]

135°, when did they drop it?

[Geronimo]

[SoEzzy]

[Pinkelephant]

[feldon30]

Pinkelephant,

I understand where you're coming from.

You're a guy being helpful, just staying under the radar or not bothering anyone, just serving people some good food.

Sure, you can try to do a little business and hope an inspector never catches wind, but eventually it will happen. No offense but this is not the Philippines. The health codes in this country are very predatory against small business and favor big operations. In some counties (and some states) it's just prohibitive to even try. Home cooked meals are just about illegal anymore.

Going commercial is a whole different world from being a backyard cook and it may end up costing you out the wazoo, as you can read in the many threads in the Vending, Catering, and Commercial BBQ forums here.


I don't know what the hell is happening to this country that bake sales are illegal, kids are not allowed to bring sack lunches to school -- they have to eat the garbage served there, a grandmother canning up preserves has to own a $20,000 kitchen, and I cannot cut up a tomato I grew in my organic garden and offer a sample at a farmer's market. All these laws favor big business and chains, but it's the big business and chains and nationwide recalls that are drawing all the attention and making us sick, not small operations.
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22" Weber Smokey Mountain + Weber Spirit

[Ira]

Pink--you could consider doing what I plan to do for my hog roasts:

I'm going to be "renting my unit" to homeowners and organizations--and I come along with the rental as a "consultant," more or less. In addition, the food will be considered purchased directly by the renters themselves, although I'll help facilitate pick-up. (In other words, I'll order the hog under the renter's name, but do all of the legwork.)

The day before the event, I'll deliver the hog (plus any other items) in huge coolers, and inject any needed marinades. So, the renter is purchasing the food himself, which he perceives as a real bargain with no markup--he even sees the supermarket bill. And I get just a flat fee for the day to make it all happen.

It's a way around the rules that may or may not work, but I think it's a way to attract the attention of a lot of people. It also ties in perfectly with organizations doing fundraisers that want to charge and sell by the plate, since THEY'RE the ones doing the selling, not you. You're just renting the unit.

This is why I decided to make a dedicated hog smoker unit, because in my area, people don't have the capacity to do whole hogs, and it's such a big draw. So I expect some of my renters, especially people just having small parties in their homes, will want me just to do the hog, and they'll handle the appetizers and sides. Again, perceived value for them as a cheaper way to throw the party.

My China Box does the hog in about 4 to 5 hours, so if I can make $100 to $150 for that amount of time, I'll be happy.

An important thing though:

Order the book and study for the Certified Professional Food Manager test. Under all circumstances, you want that certification.

The various counties around the country contract out with national, private companies to administer the test. You can buy the book online first (like I did), or find your testing center and pay for both the book and the test (to be administered later) at the same time. Some even offer classes, but I don't think that's really necessary.

There's a lot to learn about food safety, but it's sure worth learning. Look for NEHA--National Environmental Health Association--in your state here:

www.prometric.com

[Pinkelephant]

[Pinkelephant]

[Raine]

Servsafe course is always a good thing, and it makes the HD happy.