Topic: Tis the season, BBQ anyone?

[Shamb]

So i've decided to commit to a catering business, i'll be doing a vendors event down town on July 5th and i made a 6' custom banner made, shirts and business cards made. Check out my graphics I had made, pretty cool huh? 

[HogCanyonHopper]

way cool Shane! that logo is awesome 

[kneedownnate]

Ditto!  Best of luck, man 

[Shamb [OP]]

Thanks guys, i'll post up my business facebook account once I get it setup. Follow me!  check out my comp's/events

I may be doing a rib cook off in Dixon on July 20th if anyone's around that area come check it out!

They're having a chili cook off as well

[Wainiha]

I used to cater.  Weddings, rich people and their private parties.

You can never say "no"

Weddings were fun.  The rich let their CPAs pay me.  I was small potatoes, so last on the list.  I got paid once a month if I was lucky.

You doing BBQ may be different.  "Here is what I have.  Eat it or wear it"  Or maybe both.  Good luck.

By the way...do you know how to cost your food.  By that I mean pricing your dishes and knowing your profit margin.  I can help if you'd like.

Math, math and more math.  That will keep you in business.

[Shamb [OP]]

Here's my facebook site I created last night. Check it out!  "Like" if you'd like

www.facebook.com/LittleBuddiesBbq

Wainiha that's the part I probably stuggle with the most. However for this up coming event I figured base cost for me to make my product minus the sauce..then I just tacked on a few bucks. It seemed to make sense and wasn't overly expensive.

If my math is correct I will make roughly $500 profit not counting any profit I will make off bottled water.. which isn't bad. I think that is one of those thing's i'll have to zero in on.

Also I haven't looked at any compareables for the area, one of the many things i'm going to start keeping my eye on. There's only one BBQ vendor that does all the large events. They have a trailered BBQ that is HUGE.. but they're BBQ is bad.... like no seasoning what so ever and dry type of bad but they do alot of business because they're the only BBQ at an event. Although i'm much smaller I think my product will blow theirs out of the water.

[Wainiha]

The most basic is:

Figure out your cost per ounce on all ingredients used.  Spices too-they're expensive.

Once you have a cost per ounce use that to determine the cost of each dish.  That is restaurant style.  For catered BBQ that may be a boston butt or an aluminum tray full of...whatever.

Remember that you pay a price for a certain cut of meat.  After trimming there may be less weight than you bought.  YOU do not pay for the fat or trimmings thrown away.  That is passed on to the customer.

There is a book out there-"The Book of Yields"  that will tell expected "yield" of an item. 

When you buy an orange you pay for the weight of the skin.  It is tossed maybe, but your pricing still needs to reflect that.  You don't want to be paying for orange peels.

Figure in your costs(overhead).  Travel, time, expendables like charcoal, napkins, laundry, wear and tear on equipment, cost of storage at your house.  Are you gonna keep inventory in a fridge/freezer at home?(electricty)   The customer's price needs to cover all those otherwise you lose.


   There are tons of hidden ones.

Then you have a base cost per dish or maybe a price/lb. if it is a casual service  BBQ.  To the base you need to add 30% or so for profit.

[Shamb [OP]]

Wainiha we need to talk more


Today i'm BBQ'n a whole leg of lamb, first time smoking lamb! smells good though.... i'm also doing a lamb flank steak and about 5-6 blades steaks I cut up.

My brother in law traded a lady alot of beef for lamb so he's bringing the bigger cuts over to me because he isn't sure how to cook them. I'm hoping this lamb is just pull apart tender!  I looked up a marinade on the internet and had it marinading for a little over 5-6 hours.. wrapped it about an hour ago.. gonna let it go until 5:30-6:00 and then just grill the steaks.

[Wainiha]

This thread is torture.  I'm hungry.

[Wainiha]

How'd the lamb turn out?

[Shamb [OP]]

dude it was awesome! I smoked it on my UDS for 3 hours and then wrapped it fro 3 hrs.... i didn't think that "pulled lamb" was possible because it's such a lean meat but it was so good!

I cut the other part into blade steaks and grilled them.. they were REALLY good as well!

If you add my business off facebook you'll see a pic at about the 3 hr mark.

I'll be finishing my buddies UDS tomorow it turned out really well and he has the option of putting THREE grates inside with a diffuser plate!

Friday i'll be cooking 70lbs of pork shoulder.

[Shamb [OP]]

 Whats everyone cooking for the fourth? 
 
 Since I Q nearly every weekend and have to cook 70lbs of pork shoulder tomorrow i'm gonna be taking it easy today. Families coming over and i'm going to tossing some burgers and dogs on the grill.

HOT dogs that is

[Wainiha]

Nothing wrong with burgers and dogs.  After a couple drinks I could nail a few of each.

Are you a plain ground beef guy or do you doctor up the burgers.  Not trying start fight but some are very picky when it comes to that.  Me I'll eat anything. 

I'm like a garbage disposal. 

In Hawaii we say don't eat till you're full, eat till you're tired.

Hawaiian Paralysis:  when you ate so much you can't move. 

[Shamb [OP]]

 These where a 80/20 ground chuck/sirloin but when I do my own grinds and experiment with all sorts of things. Best i've tried so far was a grind of sirloin, brisket and oxtail.

Yesterday went well!  check out my business page on facebook  www.facebook.com/LittleBuddiesBBQ

Posted some good pictures, had a great time.  After the event me and my buddy went to a local bar where one of our co-workers where playing. Got in free, got backstage and got Little Buddies BBQ shout out!  

It was a long day but had a blast!

[Wainiha]

Oxtail, that is interesting.  You obviously know what's up if you are grinding your own meat.  My charcuterie chef at Western Culinary made some deadly lamb sausage.

Incidentally if you haven't read up on forcemeats/charcuterie(sausage and pate like stuff) they are tasty and an excellent way to use trimmings.  It is possible to cover costs of the meat with trimmings in that form.  Then the "cut" itself is pure profit.

That lamb pic looked good.  Where are you?  Norcal or Oregon? 

[Wainiha]

Salmon might not be on the BBQ menu but it is any easy example.

Fillet the fish and set them aside.  Scrape the bones with a spoon for that unharvested meat.  That meat can be used to make fish cake(kamaboko-Japanese style that goes in saimen) or salmon burgers.

Simple as that.  Salmon burgers pay for the cost of the fish.  All fillets or salmon steaks are profit.

Same goes for Boston butt or other meat cuts.  Make sausage with the trimmings and fat back, the rest is profit.
I bet you could easily add some smoked sausage to the menu and make more money.

You really got me going Shamb.  There is no stopping now.

Now, if you are in the PNW and hunt/fish your own catch.......Profit goes up and so does the cool factor on the menu.  Wild, fresh, locally sourced, sustainable and all the catch words rich yuppies like to hear.

[Shamb [OP]]

One of the few things I haven't tried yet is smoking my own sausage but I really want to. My grinder has the attachment for stuffing but I just haven't had a chance to try it out.

Speaking of pate, I'd really like to try head cheese, just seeing that pork head braised down to nothing then reformed into head cheese looks amazing!

[Shamb [OP]]

Oh yea i'm located in Northern California

[Wainiha]

Head cheese.  There is a lot of good meat on the head.   Sometimes when hunting just deep frying the small bits are tasty.  Good power food.

I'll see if I have some recipes. 
Some of the less used spices are often in these forcemeats and tuerrines.

Allspice, juniper berry, things like that.

The Italians really perfected recipes(Guancale-the cheek meat).  Salume, not salami, are their porcine creations.  Get some ides from Mario Batali....

[Shamb [OP]]

had a great time at Dixon yesterday, posted all the pic's on my FB business page.

I also cooked 5 lbs of tri tip, 8 lbs of pork butt and about 25 abt's on the smoker friday.. wife had a get together with friends... i got volunteered to do the cooking

[Wainiha]

you got volunteered.  Ha.

What is/ are abt's?

[Shamb [OP]]

It's short of Atomic Bull Turds aka Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno's

There's nothing better then smoked ABT's.

[Wainiha]

Stuffed with cream cheese?


This thread sucks.  At least the cool build threads are way out of the range of possibilty for me.  No money. no skill.  Not even in dream land.

Bacon wrapped jalapenos..Now, I can do that... I have to go back to the store .  Menu change! 

If I ever move back to Oregon I'm coming down for dinner and a job.

[Toymin8r]

I smoked a rack of beef short ribs on Sunday.     First time I have ever smoked beef ribs.   They turned out awesome.  I used the same smoke times as the pork but I used a bit different rub with a lot less brown sugar than I use on the pork ones.    They are actually cheaper to buy than the dam pork ribs now. 

[Shamb [OP]]

yea i've cooked beef ribs a few times, they take a litle bit more time.. usually the one's i get look like something from the flinstones.

we have friends down from new york so we're gonna get together tomorrow and Q some meat..  i'm going to practice some competition chicken thighs and i'm planning on smoking 4 or 5 racks of ribs with some experimenting


yeah one of my go to's if i'm in a hurry is split the jalapeno in half, stuff it with softened cream cheese seasoned with cajan seasoning and garlic salt.. wrapped with a nice piece of butcher platter bacon.

i've decided to compete on August 10th in Brentwood, local comp.. looks pretty big.. over $4000 in prize one.. hopefully i'll get a piece of that

[Shamb [OP]]

three trimmed racks on the pit looking pretty, i'm about two hours in.. gonna try and go 3 before I wrap them.. get that nice smoke ring.. also doing some comp chicken today.

home made pork n beans and slaw on the side...

doing some experimenting with the ribs today, we'll see how they turn out.

[twistedtoy92]

my mouth is watering........   

[Shamb [OP]]

Little Buddies BBQ will be competing in a 3 meat comp in Oroville at the Feather Falls Casino. I judged the last go around but this time i'll be competing in the series event and caveman division! 

Wish us luck!

[garlicgabe]

Good luck!  Trying some of those ABT's this weekend.

[Wainiha]

Good Luck.