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Hey All...

About to go live and I'm seriously freaking out about not having enough smoker area to work with (FEC 500)...

I plan on serving chopped pork, 2.25 st louis, rib tips, half chickens and sausage...I want to keep everything as fresh as possible and feel that with what I want to do i'll be running out of meat left and right...

What experiences have you guys had...Am I stretching myself to thin?...Not planning right?...Should I make then refridgerate, then warm in smoker for the day?...

Please give me some advise!!!

SmokingBuckeye
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Well, don't freak out. You haven't even had a dishwasher walk out on a Friday night yet. Then you can freak out.

Not having enough capacity in an FEC500 would be a good thing. Business would be doing great!

Scheduling is going to be very important. I'm thinking brisket in at 8pm, butts in at 10pm. Ribs in at 8am, rib tips and sausage in at 9am. I don't know about chicken. Maybe in at 9am when you pull your butts and hopefully your brisket. You really don't want it dripping on anything else, so it'll need it's own side of the smoker.

You could always buy a smaller CS, maybe an Amerique, to do rib tips and sausage, or just use it for chicken. You could cook a mess of rib tips and sausage in an Amerique. But don't do anything until you see how things go. It's okay to run out of some things because it shows people you're serious about serving quality food. It can be turned into a plus if handled correctly.

If you have a holding oven/cabinet, you'll be okay unless you hit the ground running flat out. Even then, you could cook a heavier load of brisket and butts overnight, then load the FEC up with a heavy load of chicken and ribs in the morning when you pull your night load, then follow up with another rib and chic load in the afternoon. FWIW, I think ribs hold well for a couple of days if you take care not to let them dry out and finish them on a grill. May not be what you had in mind exactly, but you can do a good product like that. There is a way. You'll figure it out once your customers develop an ordering pattern.

You will need to cool and hold some meat overnight even if they're just leftovers. I would use leftover chicken in brunswick stew or chic salad. I would mix any pork at least 50/50 with fresh before I served it. I would use left over brisket for burnt ends or chopped BBQ beef. All this is just my opinion as I don't like to get day old food from a restaurant if I can tell it's day old food.

I would also create a little frozen reserve for those "just-in-case" kind of events. Frozen pulled pork and chopped beef in quart and half gallon containers holds well, can be rotated by using it in stew and beans, and sold to people in bulk also. You might be surprised how many people would prefer frozen containers instead of fresh. A quart will hold 2#+, and a half gallon will go just to 5#. Very useful sizes to have on hand. Keeping 50-100# available won't hurt you at all. Here, people get frozen to take to the beach or mountains. I don't know what the heck people in Ohio do when it's not football season, so your needs may differ. Maybe they'll eat it as they drive back and forth between the football hall of fame and the rock hall of fame? I don't know. Ohio seems kind of boring now that I think about it.

As to your question, "Am I stretching myself to thin?", well, YES! You are. Physically, emotionally, financially, spiritually. Hey! That's the restaurant business for you! Smiler You'll be fine. Just make sure you can sleep at least one night before opening day.
Last edited by Former Member
Todd G...

Thanks for the advise and peep talk...(not so sure Ohio is so boring...it may be the off season, but there's always next year's recruiting class to talk about...)

I do have a char-grill as you mentioned and I intend to char and slather with sauce before I serve...If I use day old ribs, do I need to pre-heat before the grill? Or can I put it straight on the grill to the plate? How about chicken and sausage?

As for the brisket...I think until I get a grasp on the amount of business (I expect to get blown out of the water as I am the only one with true bbq in town and county) I will be doing a special menu on Sunday's only that include brisket and sausage...Sortuva Texas BBQ themed day...I'm thinking if I do this I can have a catch-up day for meats...

As for sleep...Not sure what that is right now...just woke up on an air mattress in my office...first night I've had a full load of butts and sausage...Couldn't leave my baby cooking without me!!! One last piece of advise I may need...How do I let my baby be alone overnight? Bot sure how to let her be!!!!
You don't need to pre-heat before you grill, just allow 6-8 minutes on the grill to heat the ribs slowly. Pretty much every restaurant you see serving ribs does it this way, at least the chains do.

I've honestly never dealt with chicken or sausage that didn't come directly from the grill/smoker, so I don't know about holding it. Around here anyway, chicken is cooked throughout the day and excess is sent to the sauce pot for BBQ chicken, or to the walk in cooler for tomorrows stew or chicken salad. Once done, it usually isn't held for more than a couple of hours, but I would think you could extend that some by wrapping and holding in a moist holding oven. Cooking in a moist environment to retain as much moisture will extend holding time too. I would treat sausage the same way until someone with a better plan comes along, because if cooked fully, it will really shrivel up as soon as the heat is taken away. Assuming you're going to use a ready to eat sausage, I would just give them a light smoke and get them into a warming oven.

And I can't help you at all regarding the baby sitting of an FEC. They seem to be super reliable and safe, but you never know. All those moving parts and an open flame? That's why I went with a CS. Now all I have to worry about is a power outage resetting everything. I suppose you could always do an internet cam focused on the controller and access it from home before you go to bed to see how things are going.

Anyway, hang in there. The big day will soon be here.
SmokinBuckeye...

I own Uncle Buck's Riding Stable and Dance Barn 20 minutes outside of Athens in the Zaleski State Forest and I have been doing "TRUE BBQ" for several years now. I own a CS 150 and it was the best money I ever spent. I have also gained endless knowledge from the experts on this forum (which I greatly appreciate) and you are very wise to come here for advice. My market is very different than yours and I don't see us as competition and I am very excited about getting a chance to have some good BBQ other than my own. Congratulations and good luck.

As far as fresh verses refrigerated or frozen, fresh is always best but I have discovered, with the help of this forum, that brisket and pork butts are still tasty when heated up. I have found that it is better to freeze it whole or at least in chunks. It seems to stay juicier when it is reheated. I only do chicken and ribs for special events because I've never liked reheating them but I like Tod G's idea about the ribs. Tod G is one expert of many that I have paid very close attention to on this forum.

Tod G. If your ever in Southern Ohio and are bored come on out to Uncle Buck's for a horseback ride through a beautiful forest or kick up your heels and have a cold beer and brisket sandwich at one of our musical events.
Buckeye,

Sure let's talk recruiting classes.... then you'll really freak out...

Seriously.

Put a sign up, open until sold.

Or maybe have a "soft" opening, when you can open for a few weeks and try things out.

The worst thing you can do is serve too much old food, there ARE tricks to selling food cooked the night/day before but you want to minimize those.

Fresh, for me as a consumer, is always best.

Keep the butts and brisket whole.

You do need to figure out the timing, so that the big pieces are done and the little pieces go on.

The 500 holds a lot of food, if you're filling it and selling out, you'll want a 2nd one and that can be your hot cooker (chicken, ribs, sausage)

Lots of options, but the key is to hit the home run when you open.
Hey Todd G. Thanks for the kind words about my place and for posting by website. Stop in anytime, in fact I would love to meet anyone who participates on this forum.

Buckey, I have been explaining the difference in the BBQ that they will get at your place compared to what they would get at Ruby Tuesdays or Applebees and everyone is looking forward to your opening.

Goodluck
Hey All...

Opening day is this Thursday (April 30th)...I've been working with the smoker and have become a little less "freaked out" than I was a week ago...

Smokin...I have had two soft-openings with friends, family amd community members...Everything went very well...I think people were more surprised than they thought they would be...Not use to quality smoked meats with a little bit of love involved...

I would like to thank everyone for respones and advise over the last 6 months...the advise I have received from this website has been helpful to say the least...

I should have pics and website up and running before Thursday...

SmokinBuckeye

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