ribs

Do you think you'll have a lot of orders for ribs? We don't seem to have many orders here, but we're in Florida. People ask, but they seldom order. I work with a woman from Wisconsin who is not at all interested in bbq unless it's free. Watch out for those "special orders". See judging.
Peggy
P.S. We only do ribs as a custom order.

I think people are wanting a lot more from the ribs than I can give them at a profit to me. They are too expensive for what I can sell them at this time.
Peggy

Thanks for your reply Peggy. I was kind of figuring on typically taking advance orders for the ribs. I would make only what I expect to sell in a given day (while supplies last basis).

Right now I am thinking along the lines of mostly carry-out and catering, with limited amount of seating (say 30) and no table service. Maybe a bar style counter-top for people to stand along for the lunch hour.

Last year a replaced my stick burners with the fec100 for competitions. Are you using the eletric or the pellet smokers in your restaurant.

There are family owned restaurants in my area that can get away with charging between $18 - $25 for one full rack, salad, and potato.

These places actually advertise on the tv and radio bragging on their "fall of the bone" quality....I just can't bring myself to destroying a perfect rack of ribs by getting them overdone or foiling them.

But I agree with you regarding making proper profit on them. It would obviously cost me more than these other places to cook them from scratch than to purchase pre-cooked product.

There is a lot more profit in brisket and butt.

Also thinking on serving large turkey legs.

I thought I was the only one who does not sell a lot of ribs. I will sell 50 orders of riblets to 1 rack of ribs. Perhaps that is because we are working out of a one butt trailer kitchen. I sell 1 pound of riblets for $6.00 in a foam cup. Also do a riblet plate with two sides. Riblets are rib trim left over from making St Louis cut ribs. We rub and smoke the trim pieces for 3 hours, cut in 1 ounce pieces, chill, reheat in the microwave and let customer select type of sauce at time of sale. Works great for us. At the farmers market we will reheat riblets ahead because of volumne. Back to the ribs. We only sell 1/2 rack and full rack sizes. Special on Friday evenings because customers are buying them for more fance dinners at home. Keep stokin and smokin.

In the Fl market,it would be difficult to make your profit from the slab.

The three orignal chains here will run all you can eat rib nights,which you can't compete with.

They may also have full liquor bars,where their actual profit is made.

Like hawsfli indicated,our independents may do a rib night,and couple it with a carryout rib special.

I have seen some vendors at contests charging $2 per bone or 3 for $5. At least you can make some money this way. But if you sell single bones, I have seen this lead to people wanting rib plates or whole racks.

The most important thing to me is to have something else to do with the racks of ribs if you don't sell them at the function.

Hi.

Smoken Cheeseheads, what part of WI. are you located ? I am way up north. I added baby backs to the menu this year and they are selling nicely. I charge 14 for a half rack and 19 for a full rack with cole slaw, beans and roll. My profit is very good. I am finding people don't even flinch at the price. I hope for a left over rack, just because I want to eat them! I also have very low overhead because we are mobile.

A few local places sell cheaper than I do, but mine are smoked. There's are not! I have no competition in my market. Okay, Famous Dave is about an hour from us in Hayward WI. but that really doesn't count.

My best sales come from 3 pm to 8 pm. Ribs hold their own and I love to get orders for them!

I have ribs ready for lunch, along with the brisket and butt. Then I start a fresh batch as the day starts so that I have more ready, as the day wears on. The first ones out are foiled and kept warm. People seem pleased with them.

I think you are just going to have to test your market. See what works for you.

Best of luck to you!

Kate
Porky Pine Pete's
SmokeHouse BBQ

I up in Norfolk Virginia. In the Navy, but retiring soon. I've been dabling in small catering. Ribs just happen to be my "pull in item". I think I make a good profit from them. What is more important is that I sell them ribs first and the next thing you know they want pork butt, brisket and lately hams. I charge 18 dollars per rack, no sides or nothing and no one complains.

remember, the most important rule of business........KNOW YOUR MARKET.
that said, i will reveal. we (me and the wife)
sell over a hundred pounds of ribs a week.
the key is to sell them by the pound, because you buy them....'by the pound'
if my supp;ier would sell them by the rack, then i would sell them by the rack...
anyway, you gotta know what the customer likes.'
our customers, like the ribs falling of the bone, so thats how i make them. i cook them normal, pull aside my slab for dinner...heehee
then, i rub them with honey, add a little coke, and foil them about a half hour. they keep their smoke flavor, and get real tender. if you keep them hot too long, they will get mushy.
i chill over nite, cut and weigh out half pound increments ans wrap in deli sheets. nuc a min and serve. sauce on the side, of course. the best rib flavor comes from the wood coals. gotta have a good bed of hot coals.....
oh yea, it cost me seven dollars a pound, out the window, for ribs. i charge ten. but, thats three dollars profit from every pound of ribs...

Hey Coffeebluff, Thanks you have given me another excellent idea. Love this forum. Pre cutting the ribs in 8 ounce portions held in in the cold top and microwaving to order is excellent. I had stopped offering ribs in less than 1/2 rack protions because of confusion created by the various bone sizes. Preportioning in advance gives better control on portions and more consistant profits. I had been doing the same thing with sliced brisket at 3.3 ounce portions for sandwiches. That change related directly to a 6 fold increase of brisket sandwich sales with less loss. I slice on a Chef's Choice slicer on 3 or 5 if the meat is on the done side. If brisket is dry I add 1/2 teaspoon of water to the meat portion before microwaving, 35 to 40 seconds. Always get a moist, tender serving. Question: When you glaze the ribs with honey and coke, do you combine the two and heat slightly before glazing? Thanks for your timely comments on the forum. Keep stokin and smokin.

Ribs are tough to make money on...people do expect to pay for 'em; I can get $20 a rack but it's still a pretty high food cost item.

Still, if you're runnin' a barbecue joint, you'd better have good ribs.

This is just my two cents...Been doing this for 2 years now, so it is valid info. First, DON"T be afraid to charge for your food. I get 25-30 dollars a rack-Market fluctuation/What they drive/wear . If people don't want to pay it then I won't cook them. We cook a 2-1/2 and down. They are cheaper than smaller ribs---but, by no means cheap. There is another guy around that gets 42 dollars a rack--and he sells plenty. I am in Western NC, BTW. That size rib will comfortably feed 3---10 dollars a head--that is a fair price for good food. I also cook them for other establishments in our area and they glady pay 25/rack. If the typical person goes out and buys ribs retail approx 4-6 dollars/pound and has to spend 1 hour prepping and 3-4 hours cooking they have (on a 2-1/4 pound rack average)9-13.50 + seasoning(reatail priced), in a rack plus their time and depending on whether they know what they are doing or not, may or may not get the quality of rib they are looking for. If you provide a good quality rib-30 dollars a rack is TOTALLY fair. Basic formula for your food (3 x Your cost) + a "little." That puts a 12 dollar rack of ribs in the mid to upper 30's. SO BE SURE YOU MAKE YOUR MONEY--CHARGE THEM!
Another thing, if executed properly...Ribs are fine for atleast 2-3 days to serve, and yes, they will be as good as when you cooked them. It can be done for longer with BBQ, so why not ribs?
We do not have ribs all the time at our place--except for catering. But, I cook them a couple of times a week and what ever I put on the smoker I will sell. No matter how many racks.
Here is some info that took me most of 2 years to figure out *remember this post..it can/will make you GOOD money*
People LOVE the SIGHT and SMELL of Smoked foods and REALLY like a demo, if you will. First of all a little background on my place. Everything is WIDE open. When you eat with us you are eating in our kitchen--almost litterally. People can see EVERYTHING we do. From making biscuits and pulling pork to washing dishes and making their food. It is this fact that has allowed us to come upon what I am about to tell the forum. Let them SEE you prepping the ribs and or putting/taking them on/off the smoker. Let them SEE you working the smoker. Let them get in the way and ask questions. I Promise you this, you can set a smoker up anywhere in a public place and start cooking and I assure you atleast 10-20 people in 30 minutes or less will pull off and ask you what you are cooking and when it will be ready, How often do you do this, how can I get some...Don't be afraid of SAMPLES. When you say ribs they will get VERY excited. Open the smoker and let them LOOK/SMELL what you are doing--again let them get in on it. I assure you that before the ribs are done they will be sold. I pull my Stump's Off-Set(we cook inside with a 250) to our place and fire it off and start getting the ribs ready and such. I will cook 10-12 racks at a time. Before they are done they are sold and I have PRE-Payed orders for the following day for about the same amount of ribs. At about 20 dollars profit/rack you are looking at up to 480 dollars profit in 2 days. Ribs are easy and quick. It is and can be for someone else, EASY money in the pocket! Not bad.
REMEBER! Sight, Smell, Samples and involvement(letting them get in the way and ask questions--opening the smoker and letting them SEE/SMELL) It is an easy recipe for some easy money.
Best wishes in your endeavour!
Zeb

zeb, that is awsome!!

1hawsfli, sorry i was vague. i rub the cooked ribs with honey. drizzle pretty thick.
then, i add coke(about 20 oz) to the pan and wrap the pan. let 'em get hot back in the smoker for about 25 min. not too long(they will get mushy), but long enough to get more tender. what that does, is makes them better on the reheat one or two days later.
i chill them over night, then cut and portion..
nuc for about a minute. for dinners, i leave in the deli wrap. for pounds, i unwrap, and place in a one-compartment, with a foil sheet underneath and 4 oz of sauce to dip.looks impressive, i should get a pic for ya...

You came to the right place, some good advice here.

quote:

I just can't bring myself to destroying a perfect rack of ribs by getting them overdone or foiling them.

While personally I agree, from a restaurant owner perspective, I'm not the target audience, the public is.

However, you DO have to cater to the public and their tastes. Heck I love mustard sauces, but they won't sell in Oklahoma.

Keep in mind you might like the end product, but if the public doesn't buy them because they're NOT fall off the bone, then you're the loser.

Go for the best flavor in the state and maybe they will come.

Opening up a restaurant is a challenge in a lot of ways, flavor is just one issue. Maybe do some catering only first to start with, build the reputation then open a place?

Russ

well like you didn't get enough ideas here's how i do it for our business and the owner of the bbq joint i work part time for has now adopted it for his 4 restaurants.
1-cook your ribs (in my case that is 4 cases at work. more if they are on sale and the owner wants to maximize profit.
2- when done, not falling off the bone, but floppy take them out
3- wrap in commercial film
4-wrap in heavy gauge foil
ok at this point is decision time. if you are going to use them within 3 days put them in the freezer for 2 hours (a blast chiller would be perfect but don't have one of those) and then into the reefer. if your usage time is higher than that leave them in the freezer.
5- to reheat leave them wrapped and place into a smoker running a true 225f for appx 90 mins.
6- unwrap and drop the temp to service temp of 165f true to restore the bark.
7- based off of sales unwrap the others about 20 mins before needed

this method works great in the fec100,sm150 and southern pride smokers no matter what their sizes are.

one other word of advice. don't confuse competition ribs with commercial ribs they are two different animals. this is not to say you can't make your style of competition ribs match what you are giving your customers it just means some trial and error and good note keeping to get the match true just as it does making two sm150's match the product characteristics of one fec100. it can be done just keep good notes.
hope it helps
jack

I gotta agree with Jack...competition ain't the same as what you sell. Everybody wants 'em "falling off the bone". That is too done for my taste, but you gotta give the people what they want.

A lot of folks, especially in some internet communities, will turn up their noses at foil or other methods. If you are to be a commercial success then you gotta do what works. that being said, I do not use foil when I do ribs, but I'm not opposed to it on moral grounds...I make good ribs without it, so why go through the extra step?

Also, Jack is on the right track with his reheat method. Much better to have it done in your cooker than in a damn microwave. I use a charbroiler myself, but same idea.

Just wanted to thank everyone that replied. The info recived has been a great help.