New Mobile BBQ Business in MN

Well, a gently used cargo trailer can be converted to a decent, though limited, catering kitchen.

You didn't say where you are located, but most states require a lot to do a mobile kitchen, but are somewhat more flexible if you're just looking at cooking meat and keep the side items simple or better yet, store bought. In most states, there is an exemption for site cooked food, as this is viewed as more of a personal chef type deal. Most festivals, fairs, and BBQ competitions will have requirements as to the way food is held, and some will be strict.

I'm in the process now of converting an 8x18 cargo trailer into a catering rig. I have no intention of going all out and getting it approved, but safety and sanitation are my primary concerns. I'm re-sheeting the interior walls with FRP wallboard and doing solid vinyl on the floor with all the corner seams sealed with caulk. I've added light and plan to do an A/C unit too. I don't plan to cook in the trailer, so I won't need a hood, but I do plan to prep food, with the smokers just outside.

In my case, I'm going with a two door reach-in, a small freezer, a triple sink, a prep table, and a hand sink mounted near the door so I can just reach in and wash my hands. A fresh water and grey water holding tank and small water heater round out everything I need.

If you already have the trailer, you can do everything I just listed for about $4K if you shop wisely via the internet. I ended up paying $792 delivered for the triple sink, where I had been quoted $3K from my local supply store.

I just bought a whole pig cooker which I'm having mounted on the back of an open motorcycle trailer that has had the rails removed. I'm doing a grill on one side, fryer on the other, and room for an Amerique up front. The whole thing will roll right up into the larger trailer(mother ship) with my generator in back. I can be fully set up and cooking in 10 minutes, or I can just pull the smaller trailer if that's all that I need.

Didn't mean to run on. If all you want is a hand sink, Cambro offers a nice portable unit Cambro Hand Sink

This company offers a large selection too. Portable Sink.com

Or you can do what a lot of folks do, and get a mop basin from Lowe's and a couple of plastic drums and make your own system. It might not be pretty, but it'll work and be cheap. It all depends on what you want and need to do, plus are required to do to be safe and legal.

Pellet Envy has some nice rigs. I especially like the dual FEC100's. It's only partially enclosed, but it looks great.

One other thing. If you really just want to transport the cooker, you might check with a local Coke or Pepsi distributor. I picked up a used Pepsi concession trailer a few years ago for virtually nothing. The local bottler rents or donates them to local festivals and charity events, so when they get a little worn he sells them cheap. Most are just an 8x10 enclosed trailer, with serving windows on 3 or 4 sides. The smoker would fit nicely towards the front.

Rodney[Pellet Envy] really spent a lot of time and he is good at projects like this.

Barbara and I have had the opportunity to cook some contests with Rod,and his is really set up to be a comp operation,not that it couldn't be worked around to vend.

The dual FEC s,as many of us use .
make it not just functional,but very fast -for comps.

Vending might do more pre cooking/prep and some type flat grill[like a Belsen] is almost a necessity.

Over the years,we have seen/used rigs that can be inexpensive,but even if you make a profit,the "work experience" can make it not worth it.

Many folks find that the more you might do,the more critical the work experience becomes-quickly.

Like Todd says,find someone else that built the functional trailer of their dreams,and wants out for $0.20 on the dollar.

Or,the chain operation,that upgrades with their warranties.

There are a scarey bunch out there.

Thus, we see a bunch of top cooks,on logburners,that would quit-except a couple FEC s make it physically feasible.

Just a thought.

Excellent information. I am in Minnesota - I know that there are such requirements from the health department regarding hand washing, cooking on site or in a commercial restaurant, and such. It seems to me that much of this is driven by local requirements - every search I do on state vending licenses comes back rather empty.
My thought process is to go observe a couple of competitions, do some "dry runs" in my driveway, then enter a few competitions. After that, let 'er fly at county fair or two! Thoughts?

You're really talking two separate animals.

Competing? Come on down, it's pretty easy and you can do it out the back of a pickup if you want

Fairs? Well, you WILL have to check into County/City Health Regs and they can be VERY VERY picky. Worst thing you want is to show up at an event and have the HD close you down. You might want to go to some of those and talk to the organizers and maybe? other vendors and find out. Some places don't care, but more and more they do and it's up to you to find out the regs. Look for a couple of fairs and call the organizers and local HD.

Gracias. I think you're right that it vending boils down to county/city ordinances. As for comp - is it a good "warm up," if you will, for getting into larger scale vending? I'm interested in both, but I do understand that they are completely different endeavors.

Wild Embers

If you do a google search for "Minesota Dept. of Health and Human Services" you will find a site very similar to the one I deal with here in California. There are licensing requirements for both the "moblie unit" and yourself as "food manager" of the operation. They also have regulations for the construction of your unit. It you go to the MN site and go to "food safety" and then look for the "mobile unit" button you'll find what you are looking for. I would have included a link, but wasn't sure how to do so from there to here.

A key as to whether these regs. kick in in your situation is when you begin selling to the public, not just giving the stuff away to friends. Hope this helps.

Jack

Didn't know how to bring it over so I did it manually. A good place to start is: www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/license/mfureview.html

Thanks Jack - this is really good info. FYI to anyone else reading this thread, Todd G. turned me on to similar resources available at ebay. There is a place there that will get you .pdf files covering rules and regs for your particular state for $10.

quote:

Originally posted by Wild Embers:
Thanks Jack - this is really good info. FYI to anyone else reading this thread, Todd G. turned me on to similar resources available at ebay. There is a place there that will get you .pdf files covering rules and regs for your particular state for $10.

Why do I want to pay someone money for what i can find on google?

Valid point - it just depends on how much time one has. If you have been around the block with state rules and regs, and don't mind making phone calls then it is indeed a waste of money. If, however, you are looking for something set out in plain english from a layman's point of view, providing an "A to Z" approach on what to expect, then it's worth $10. Personally, I found it helpful to review alongside the state website information.

To tag onto Smokin's point that comps and vending are different and the admin requirements can be hard/lengthy/frustrating,

whereas a comp can GET by with a small weber kettle,bag of charcoal,an umbrella,a lawn chair,a 5 lb butt,a two lb slab of ribs,a small frying chicken,an a couple lbs of brisket.

A $150-$400 entry fee.

I have helped a teammate vend and it is hard work,and the profit motive and planning is central.

Thousands of dollars up front and a couple rain days wipe out your year.

I have helped some cook teams ,that are large vendors and they usually only do both- when it is required.

Having good gear can make vending doable,and without it can be a mankiller, to do a couple a month.

Good /big vendors are usually managing grunts/planning/finance and can do several a weekend.

A comp team is usually mentally and physically drained at the end of a contest,so not many are able to combine them successfully.

Todd and others often do offsite cooking/cooling/freezing/vacpacking ,while their schedules permit, and have reheat methods available,or simply deliver.

A simple ananogy about comps being a prep for vending large events,might be that you enjoy playing pingpong at home,so you'll try pro fighting on the weekend.

Each is doable,but the first doesn't really help much with the second.

Just a couple of thoughts.

quote:

Originally posted by Tom:
Todd and others often do offsite cooking/cooling/freezing/vacpacking ,while their schedules permit, and have reheat methods available,or simply deliver.

Yes to all that.

And vending scares the crap out of me. While my cooking trailer is evolving to kind of straddle the line between a vending trailer and a straight catering rig, I do that so if the weather turns bad I can still cook and prep most items in the trailer.

I'm far from knowledgeable about vending, but there are few places you can just pull over and set up shop anymore without paying for the privilege. And fairs and festivals charge what seem to me to be very steep fees, with little guarantee that anyone will show up or eat if they do. The folks that are successful with vending seem to have a one track mind and special skills I never developed in the restaurant business.

I hit the road for my day job for a while, so I am just now catching up. The points made above are brutally honest and exactly what people like me need to hear. I love the ping pong/street fighting analogy!
Sounds to me like the most prudent route for me to take is to pick up an FEC-100 and say "yes" to my friends who ask me to do ribs/brisket and such for their parties.
I'll put it and my coolers, etc.. in a small trailer when I'm asked, and otherwise I stay at home playing ping pong, staying out the street fight, and all the while sipping a cold beverage, eating good Q, with a big smile on my face!!
Heck - if the "requests" roll in and grow upon each other, so be it. Command performances would be a situation where a profit center could be all but guaranteed (unless I use really bad math), and I'm not running the risk of paying heavily up front for an event license/profit sharing fee with the potential of bad weather or attendees without appetites (or cash)!
Thanks again to all!

Matt

I ran across the fee structure for the NC State Fair today and the cost for an 8'x24' vending rig would be about $450 per day, for the 10 day duration of the fair. A corner spot would cost about 50% more. They also charge for any extensions such as serving shelves, awnings, etc, and these can really add on to their fees.

I don't have a dog in this hunt, but I wonder how it must feel to be stuck in a trailer for 16 hours a day, with your wife no less, in the middle of the state fair after having paid $4500 in advance, only to see it rain for 8 days. Must be hell on earth.

I disagree. It sounds like Hell on top of hell in the middle of hell surrounded by hell with no escape.
Hopefully the beer is cold!