Looking for advice on a gas (lol) griller

[curious aardvark]

Right the general situation here is that next year I'd like to go professional and go to people's houses and (we call it bbq you call it grilling - bbq is easier to type ;-) do proper gourmet bbq's (see above note for the us readers).
The typical british fare is cheap fatty burgers and sausages.
Check out my first post for the sort of things I do.
Also while there are bbq services in the uk - they pretty much have a minimum number of people they'll cook for. And I have yet to see one whose menu I'd want to sample.
Essentially I'm looking at the upmarket-more-money-than-sense crowd.

Now asking round there's a definite market for the service. A buddy of mine is a pretty hot marketing guy, and even he reckons it'd be a goer.
Originally my idea was to use my chargriller outlaw. As it can easily cater for 20plus people.
However, the logistics of the thing pretty much make it unfeasible. For a start it's just too darn big - I can't afford a truck and it don't fit in my station wagon (estate) without much dissassembly (yes I tried). Then there's the whole charcoal part - sure it all tastes much better over charcoal - no arguments there. But on a practical level I just can't see how it'd work. People are going to want me out of the way asap and you just can't rush the cooling down with a big cast iron grill.
And while I' loathe to admit it there is a definite advantage to heat on when you need it and for as long as you need it and instant off when you're done

So, I find myself forced to look at the gas alternative. Now given that the outlaw not only has a huge grilling area but a superb warmer/slow cooking shelf. I'll need both in a gas grill. At the very least a built in warmer oven would be a good idea.
I know less than nothing about gas grills - never owned one the two I've used at other peoples houses were just plain awful.
I'm looking around on the net - but nobody advertises their goods truthfully.
So I'm after some real advice from people who've used gas grills - commercial use especially.

Hopefully after I've been doing it a while I'll be able to afford a more utilitarian vehicle and take the outlaw or one of it's slightly smaller cousins on the odd job. But till then I need the goods on gas grills.

Any help and advice welcome :-)

 

[richtee]

Have you considered a trailer for the CG?

 

[krusher]

in my opinion, these are the best grills out there, they are a little pricey, but if you plan on serving to the upperclass, it should pay for itself in no time.
Hope this helps.





http://www.napoleongrills.com/

 

[teeotee]

I'm with Rich on this one ..... i'd say a trailer option would be best. If you know anyone over there who has a metal shop take him some pics of a trailer grill/smoker unit and see what they'll quote you.

Living out here i see a lot of these trailers and for catering they are they way to go. The weight wouldn't be too bad so you should easily pull it with an estate car. Also if you had one like this i'd bet some of the people would like to see what it was cooked on. Would be a good marketing pic to put on flyers too.

On a side note, i know what you mean about the gas grill thing. When we went on vacation this spring all the vac home had was a gas grill. I used it, hmmmmm had been throwing around getting one. Definitely decided against that after using one.

Either way good luck on your project.

 

[curious aardvark]

well at the moment I have nowhere to store a trailer. Believe me I thought of all sorts of different ways of making the outlaw a viable option - it's just not.
On top of which there will probably be times I'll have to track kit through someones house to get to their back yard - the outlaw's just too big.
Don't get me wrong you try and take it away from me and I'll fight you !

But I just can't see how to make it work on the small scale mobile catering front.

So I'm after something that might not exist lol. I need a large cooking area, warming rack/basket, preferably something that folds down/comes apart easily for transportation. I don't mind a certain amount of assembly-dissembly. Money isn't unlimited but I'm willing to cough up for the right bit of kit. (though obviously if a spare chargriller and new vehicle are the same price - I'll probably go that way lol). And I have seen some gas grills in the thousands of dollars range so it's not that daft :-)

Hmm, wonder if 2 smaller (cheaper) grills might not be the way to go rather than one big one.
Thoughts ?

 

[jminion]

This is what you need
http://www.magikitchn.com/magicater_lpg.htm

 

[teeotee]

Aardvark, i remember them days. I used to live in a middle terrace, 5 rooms. Parking one side of the street with two way traffic. Everything had to come in through the living room. Real pain to store anything large.

I understand your dilemna!!