im still here

[nottooyoungtosmoke]

hello everyone,
i havent been on here much cause ive been real busy, but ive still got my mind set on smoking meat. ive been taking advantage of living with my parents by using their ingredients to make sauces :lol: ive made all kinds and i love doing this. i dont even have a smoker yet, but i have been making all kinds of sauces just to get a taste and feel, even taken some of each recipe i find and making my own! i have a big question. since all i can think about is completing my dream. if i opened a bbq, how does the meat and serving go? do i take a wild guess and cook what i think would sell. what happens to leftover meat? any answers to those questions would be great.
thanks guys

 

[scott in kc]

nottoo, Some Q joints operate on a "til its gone basis" where they cook what they need to sell daily to make a living and when it's gone they shut down. Most of these are drive up only or very small sit downs.
Bigger resturants that operate on a fixed schedule, operate on a cook-reheat-serve plan that allows for plenty to be cooked in advance without waste. A lot of commercial cookers are designed with this plan in mind.
As an entry level foray into foodservice, I see a lot of wisdom in the "til its gone" type of small fixed or portable (trailer based) drive up joint. The biggest being it can be run by one or at most 2 people. The biggest headache for any small business owner is employees. With this type of operation, you can figure pretty easily what it will take to cover expenses, the Gov, Uncle Sam and yourself and what you'll need to sell to do that. You cook that much and maybe a bit more each day and then go home. Pretty good work if you can get it!!

 

[Dutch]

nottooyoung, Scott has given you some good advice. If you want a real eye opener, check with your local Board of Health Dept. and see what the requirements are for the Food Service industry. I'm not trying to scare you from what you want to do, I'm just showing you another tree in the forest that needs to be looked at.