Selling your BBQ, anyone doing it?


 
R

Ryan Ko

TVWBB Super Fan
Does anyone sell their Q? I have had several people ask me about it and have actually sold a little bit. I checked on the requirements to be legitimate with the health department and that is a pain the @#@. I think if I do it, I will just do it "under the table" and hope I don't get caught. Any thoughts or comments? What is everyone else doing?
 
I have a question...
Who are you selling to? Folks you know? Friends, family? Others?
And, if others, how do they hear about your BBQ?

I have been told that I, too, should sell mine, butt in my mind, that is work. And i hate work.
It is a pleasure for me to simply cook for others and see smiles and bright eyes as fingers are licked.
 
Ryan we sold at our last contest.. about 700-800 sales we estimate.

It's a lot of work. If you have local festivals that have food booths. I would offer to help cook just to see what's it is like.

If you decide to go forward, you will need to put on a business hat to determine what is a combination of most proftiable and saleable foods versus what you prefer to cook.

For example, although our team likes to cook ribs, brisket, pork shoulder, they may not be the most profitable considering to time to cook and cost of the meat. Cooking for a big group on site.. maybe 200+ people we favor chicken thighs, tri tips, hot dogs, hot links, and burgers. These are the fastest and easiest to cook. Maybe pork shoulder done in advance would also work out.

There's alot of issues with health requirements that you need to check out specific to your local area.

John
 
Ryan, what i would do is have the people bring there own meat and you cook it for them for a price. Have them bring a 10lb bag of charcoal and the meat. This way you are not selling bbq, you are charging for labor and equipment. Good luck!
 
I sell ribs to my coworkers quite routinely. I don't make much money. I basically end up with free food. I keep a spreadsheet & report the income but I don't have a permit or anything. I'm a lot more careful about the process now though. I do all the prep work in my garage (I.e. I don't have raw meat in my kitchen... That's where the cooked product is packaged). Once the meat hits the smoker I dispose of all the prep stuff & wipe everything down with bleach wipes.
I was careful before but now that I sell to friends, I'm REALLY careful.
 
My boss came to our big memorial day/smoke day cook out a couple years ago. His wife was raving about the pulled pork I cooked. At work on tuesday,he said his wife wanted some more. So the next weekend,I cooked a butt for them. I was only gonna charge him for the meat and charcoal,but he threw in a $10 tip! Came out to about $30!
 
I sell whatever I can fit into my smoker. Don't do this on a real regular basis. Maybe every two or three months. I ask for specific honest feedback on the taste. This allows me to tweek my recipes.
 
Ryan depending who you are selling to, I can tell you I have seen a lot of people from different states and it is the case here in NY as well (suprisingly!!!), if you do it as a private chef, the health department is NOT involved. So if upi gp tp their place and Q for a price, no health department is needed.
 
I looked at getting a license to sell BBQ legally a few years back. I was just going to do festivals, fairs, stuff like that. Turns out its a big headache.

Seems like one of those BBQ trailers would be the best bet. The main thing with selling any kind of cooked food is the dedicated kitchen for the business. You can't use your home kitchen (at least here in MO.), and it needs to be enclosed.

I like the idea of taking the food and charcoal and only selling the service, not the actual product. I wonder how that would fly with my health department.
 
I am in the process of taking the plunge, ordered a concession trailer, created an LLC, insurance the works so far its about 22k. I did talk to someone who started this way and now has a restaurant, at fairs rodeos and such he said no problem doing a $1000 an hour with descent Q . which in my estimates $300 an hour profits. Is it worth it .........I will let you know at the end of the summer.
 
One of the ways recommended by the pros is the charge 3x your cost (meat, supplies, charcoal, wood, etc.) on the low end.. on the high end whatever the markeyt will bear.

The cost may come out to about $7.00 to $12.00 per lb. for finished meat.

Example of the math.. 10 lbs of finshed pork = 15 lbs. precooked (x $1.50/lb) = $20 + $5 of supplies = $25

$25 cost x 3 = $75.00 for 10 lbs of cooked meat or $7.50 per finished lb.

There's a good catreing forum on the Brethren site..

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/fo...owthread.php?t=56966

John
 
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