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Been dealing with the local health department in regard to setting up at some farmers markets with my smoker and selling some grub. The catch is that they say the only way I can cook on site is if my smoker is NSF certified. Now, I use my Cookshack in an approved kitchen for catering when needed. Is there such a thing as a NSF certified smoker that is not electric? Seems rather odd to me given that most farmers markets have guys with grills etc selling burgers, etc. Any thoughts?
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This is where you run into some real bullsh*t. When I started my place everything had to be tip-top, yet the woman who ran it before me grilled out front on an old rusty weber all day long. I asked the inspector, 'is that legal?' and she basically shrugged and changed the subject.

SP's gas-fired smokers are NSF approved; but expensive as hell.
tn welcome to the wonderful world of health inspectors.
take donna's advice and get an fec 100.
while i cursed that i couldn't raise my startup funds fast enough it turned out to be a blessing as my fec is nsf aprroved( now if trailer tech will just give me my trailer i can use it but that is a long story lol). if you go to took the plunge friday subject you can see what all we have gone thru but note that none of it involved either my sm150 or fec100
hope this helps
jack
Jack -

I conversed with you a bit via email a couple of months ago - you were very helpful and willing to share some good info with me - I appreciate that. Believe me, I've been following that thread and rooting for you all the way. Even though it can be kind of a pain getting rolling, it will be all worth it for you.

You are right - the FEC100 was the first pit I looked at, got off on a tangent looking at some of those fancy pull behinds, and now I do believe I have come full circle with the FEC100 for many of the reasons you listed.

Take care,
Brian
brian
i know what you mean. i drove all the way to anderson indiana to look at a southern yankee rig but didnt have the 30k(but i did have a nice visit with my parents and brother) joined nbbqa and went to atlanta convention this year. looked at a lot of "name" rigs like southern pride but john and his group took all the time in the world with me and peggy. we got our sm150 which peggy i am sure will love IF TRAILER TECH WILL JUST COMPLETE OUR TRAILER Mad and since cookshack saved us so much money i was able to get my fec100. thanks for pulling for us Big Grin and keep your fingers crossed i have an interview with a startup bbq place down here and hopefully they will hire me for tuesday thru thursday running their kitchen which will let me compete and grow catering while still recieving an income. i know you want to build your own business and peg and me sure are pulling for you guys
jack
2 Greyhounds
Minnesota Dept/Health inspect the metro farmers markets that we attend [alond with city inspectors, dept of weights and measures,etc]. The dept of Ag checks our meat freezer every 3 years or so, it needs not be NSF, just mechanical and below freezing. Dept of Health only checks us when we sell or give out samples of food. They check for NSF food heating equiptment, wash stations, clorine test strips, tent or roof,gray water buckets, etc. Our guy in St Paul is from New Orleans and hangs out with us to talk BBQ. I think it helps to schmooze these guys. Hopefully you don't have a young, by the book inspector. Good Luck, Roger
When we were looking at trailers, we found out that the Florida regs require the smokers to be screened at least. In other words, you aren't allowed to move your meat around in the great outdoors. This makes little sense when you see people walking around once they buy the food eating it in an unscreened area.
I have a question also. I'm not sure what the test strips are for. Can you explain?
Thanks
Peggy
2 Greyhounds....SMOKIN!!!!

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