- Mar 23, 2009
- 436
- 325
So my small town does has had a Fourth of July celebration every year going back, well I'm not sure how many years but it's over 50 for sure. It's not a huge event, but for our little town of 230 ish people it draws quite a crowd. We have all the classic redneck events, like horseshoe pitching, pedal tractor pull, chicken drop, hog wrangling, and so on. The "main draw" during the day is the parade, where everyone gathers along main street and watches as everyone from little kids on bicycles, local fire/police, candidates for the "Royal Court, Shriner's, and whoever else go through and show off. This parade happens at 11 am so there are always local fundraisers there cooking and serving up lunch to make some money for their dedicated cause.
This year I've decided to throw my hat in the ring, and do a little barbecue concession stand of my own. Think of this as a little test run into branching out from backyard cook, to event concessions and possibly catering. I went and paid my dues to secure my spot in the park to sell food, and spoke with the 4th committee. Now I had a plan in mind before I spoke with them. I had priced out, online mind you, what I wanted to sell that day. It was to be a 1/2 lb pulled pork sandwich, dill spear, small bag of chips, and a pop/water for $5 even. I'm not looking to make a ton of money, really just wanting to dip my toe into the concessions world and get some experience. A five dollar price point also allows me to easily, handle incoming and outgoing money quickly. My price for everything mentioned about, not including the extras there will always be, comes in a less than $2. I'm pretty happy with a $3 dollar per meal profit, and it will go towards building my own large smoker if I decide to continue down the path of smokey concession work.
So here's the rub(hahaha not). Come to find out that the town library does pulled pork, and has for three or so years. Now I'm not against doing it, but I'd much rather give the people some more choices for their meal. So I'm left with a dilemma about what I want to serve. Someone suggested I do pulled chicken, which tbh as much as I love chicken, I've never really cared for pulled chicken sandwiches. I considered doing brisket sandwiches, which are always a favorite, the only drawback is the price point on buying brisket. I'd still like to maintain that $2 cost so I can sell at $5, and brisket as we know is a little more costly right off the start. A buddy of mine suggested doing a three rib meal, which I thought would be a nice change. I'm not sure about what style of ribs either backs or spares. Again, I have to do some research on pricing, but here's where I'm currently standing.
I have just shy of a month and a half to not only make my decision on what to serve, but hone my craft with some practice smokes. I only currently have a PBC, so today after turning in my dues I went and stole my Grandpa's smoker away from my aunt and uncles place. I'll post some pictures later of the old beast later today. She's homemade, older than I am, but has cooked a lot of meat in her life.
So what do y'all think? Any opinions on what I should be serving? Any tips from seasoned concessions/caterers, pitfalls I should watch out for? Oh I forgot to mention, my goal is to shoot for selling about 100 meals. I figure with this number I won't step on any of the other vendors toes, but I can get enough food out there to see some reactions.
This year I've decided to throw my hat in the ring, and do a little barbecue concession stand of my own. Think of this as a little test run into branching out from backyard cook, to event concessions and possibly catering. I went and paid my dues to secure my spot in the park to sell food, and spoke with the 4th committee. Now I had a plan in mind before I spoke with them. I had priced out, online mind you, what I wanted to sell that day. It was to be a 1/2 lb pulled pork sandwich, dill spear, small bag of chips, and a pop/water for $5 even. I'm not looking to make a ton of money, really just wanting to dip my toe into the concessions world and get some experience. A five dollar price point also allows me to easily, handle incoming and outgoing money quickly. My price for everything mentioned about, not including the extras there will always be, comes in a less than $2. I'm pretty happy with a $3 dollar per meal profit, and it will go towards building my own large smoker if I decide to continue down the path of smokey concession work.
So here's the rub(hahaha not). Come to find out that the town library does pulled pork, and has for three or so years. Now I'm not against doing it, but I'd much rather give the people some more choices for their meal. So I'm left with a dilemma about what I want to serve. Someone suggested I do pulled chicken, which tbh as much as I love chicken, I've never really cared for pulled chicken sandwiches. I considered doing brisket sandwiches, which are always a favorite, the only drawback is the price point on buying brisket. I'd still like to maintain that $2 cost so I can sell at $5, and brisket as we know is a little more costly right off the start. A buddy of mine suggested doing a three rib meal, which I thought would be a nice change. I'm not sure about what style of ribs either backs or spares. Again, I have to do some research on pricing, but here's where I'm currently standing.
I have just shy of a month and a half to not only make my decision on what to serve, but hone my craft with some practice smokes. I only currently have a PBC, so today after turning in my dues I went and stole my Grandpa's smoker away from my aunt and uncles place. I'll post some pictures later of the old beast later today. She's homemade, older than I am, but has cooked a lot of meat in her life.
So what do y'all think? Any opinions on what I should be serving? Any tips from seasoned concessions/caterers, pitfalls I should watch out for? Oh I forgot to mention, my goal is to shoot for selling about 100 meals. I figure with this number I won't step on any of the other vendors toes, but I can get enough food out there to see some reactions.
