how much should I charge?

Were you to use the searchfeature of either the forum, or the Cookshack website, you'll find the answers to your questions.

As to how much to charge? IMHO you have no business even taking this catering job considering you have no experience in producing the product your customer is expecting. At this point someone is counting on you to feed 40 people. Shame on you.

Topchef is right, if a little blunt .

If this is for the church as in your other post, I'd recommend you do it for free, but only after a few practise birds to make sure you can deliver something good. The practise and experience alone is worth your time I think.

After you've pulled a few of these off and are getting the reviews you want you can consider what it might be worth. Then you need to ask yourself if you're in business or just wanting to offset costs and get a little remuneration for your time.

I'd say for charity enough money for a twelver of decent beer and some snacks. That way a buddy or two can keep you company while you cook!

Talk about coup de grace! Maybe he'll get lucky. Come on, give the poor guy some help. Now that his foot is in the mud, help him get it out without loosing the boot!

first of all let me respond by saying thank you all for your response to my question. Secondly, I just did a freebe for this church 2-weeks ago. I donated 2 12lbs briskets and a case of IBP 31/2dn spare ribs
for free, not to memtion the time it took to cook and prepare all of it. I do not have chicken on my menu, however the church was so taken by the previous order they wanted something else. They also offered to pay me for my time. I thought I could come here and ask a simple question and get a simple answear.I guess this forum is onlu good for lambasting people. Thanks for the help.

Harold
BPI Catering
KCMO

When I do their food, in this case chickens, I have a flat rate of $1.75-but I only do splits or halves. So per piece should be around .80� (my price for 20 �'2 would be $35, where yours would be $36).....

Mornin' squeaky and welcome to the forums.

I'm no pro,but I do slip down here for their expertise.

Like the rest of the forums moderated by folks here,this group seems to hold themselves and Cookshack to a higher standard.

If you reflect upon the way your original post was worded,you might agree that people of good conscience might have read it to be a complete newcomer out to do harm to their own name and Cookshack's.

I think with us having a little experience with each other,you will find this group bends over backward to share.

The moderators are also quite insistent that we be a kinder and gentler forum.

Just my $0.02 worth and now I'll slip away, before Smokin' smacks my typin' hand.

OK Squeaky, you make a point and I offer you my apology for having offended you. Had you provided the additional information of your reply, in your original post, I might have responded differently to begin with. Rather than respond with the requested info., I relpied in a scolding manner, which was UN-PROFESSIONAL. Shame on me too.

What I might suggest is that you buy a couple of chickens, quarter them, give them a good shake of seasoning (CS makes an excellent product) and smoked them over hickory at 225o - 230o. 3 lb birds will take 3 - 3.5 hrs, but in this case you're dealing with quarters. If you have 2 Polder or quick temp. thermometers, probe both the leg/thigh and breast. Pull them at 160o
Keep in mind that 40 portions will require more time, depending on the smoker you have.

Since this is your first go-around with smoked chicken, you might consider writing off your time as part of the learning experience, or letting the church determine fair consideration.

Again, my apologies for "lambasting" you.

In that vein my apologies too. It looked like you were new to smoke cooking and were possibly headed for disaster. I've certainly destroyed a load of food on my first time 'round and had to redo it.

Hey Top Chef,

Are you comin' down our way this winter?

Let us know ahead and maybe we can do a cookoff or a restaurant.

I hope the good fight is going well.

Funny you should ask

I'll be in West Palm between Nov 24 - Dec 2. I'll check with the boss to see if we can free something up. Maybe after T-Day we can grab some time away from WPB. Drop me an e-mail when you have time...sounds like fun!
topchef@sover.net

As far as what to charge, I think the rule of thumb is 30% - 35% over total expenses.
I'd be more concerned about not ever cooking any chickens in the CS yet. Practice with a few birds ahead of time, you will have a lot different results than from a conventional cooker.