Price of custom cooking

One caution I would point out is if someone else is providing the meat to be smoked, how do you know the meat was handled properly and kept cold enough. If someone gets ill from your cooking because of mishandling in a raw state, you will be the one to pay the price!

Good advice. You purchase the meat and charge them accordingly.

Liability insurance would be a good idea too! maybe even setting up an LLC. It's worth the protection. As for pricing, figure cost of materials, fuel, spices and your time. Then tack on 10% or so. Don't forget depreciation on your equipment.

When I was in Culinary School they stressed the point of keeping your food cost at about 28%. Using that theory a $10 item should have a food cost of around $2.80, I'm sure you could reverse engineer that formula. If your meat costs $4 a portion then menu cost would be around $12. I'm not sure how labor/ rent/ insurance would figure in for a smoking business.
Here's an article breaking it down more extensively:
http://books.google.com/books?id=rVY1KP_57LEC&pg=RA2-PA...0RLt1nY#PRA2-PA20,M1
When I redid the menus at my families restaurant, I found other area restaurants with similar menus and priced accordingly. You could call around to some BBQ guys and Caterers and get quotes to give you an idea.
Good Luck