Skip to main content

13 replies

Update Porky Pine Pete's

FM Former Member
Hi All.

Been way too long since I have had time to stop and do an update on our SmokeHouse BBQ. So, here is the story.

Our restaurant is completed, and I call it a restaurant because for all practical purposes it is just that. Five sinks aboard and everything a restaurant is required to have, we have. It is beautiful, it is impressive. We are a bit proud of the place.

Inspection was stressful. It shouldn't have been though. It went like a breeze. The worry factor was the only problem. Since we are totally contained with water, holding tank, sinks, storage, and all that jazz, we ended up with our base station just needing water and dump station. The beauty part here was that we had our well inspected and have a holding tank that we can dump into on our own property. We host our own base station! So, after our inspector toured the joint we got the thumbs up to get going. Our inspector was one of the nicest most pleasant fellows to come along! He had all kinds of complimentary things to say about our setup and what we are doing. I didn't expect such strong encouragement!

So, we were ready to venture forth. Where to go? We picked 4 spots that we though were good locations and started pitching to the owners of property in those areas. We got all four.

Our home town is our Thursday spot. It is on the main Highway through town. Speed limit is 35, so people have time to eyeball us. In this spot we have a corner location, the lot is a future business location, but vacant for now. We will have to move next year, but until the end of this season we are set.

Friday we head down the road 16 miles and park at a lot that has a busy hardware located there. Nice place, lots of traffic.

Saturday it is a longer jaunt. We go to a small but well to do town that is home to resorts and many "weekend owners". We are located so well there that it is hard to relate all the advantages. In the middle of the action, shady because of the trees, nice commercial picnic table and umbrella there for our use, very high traffic with lots of it walking, it is practically perfect. Here we are located next to a park with docks and water access. We get boaters off the lake picking up sandwiches and dinners for thier fishing and pontoon boat outings. In the summer the local water skiing show is just down the road and draws many people. It is nearly an hour away from our home, but well worth the pleasant drive there and back. Things really jump when we are there. It is no rest and nonstop work. There is nothing like putting up the "sorry sold out" sign though!

Sunday we head to a tiny town to the local Feed Store. Surprising traffic there. We are in fishing and hunting country. This feed store carries bait for both. They like us and we like them! It is a slower paced day but a nice finish to the week. After Saturday we are dragging.

Oh, I was having a lot of rib problems last time that I was here, way back when, but I have soved that problem. I 86ed the spare ribs and baby backs and now do only country style. I have AWESOME results. I throw them in plain on smoke for a couple of hours, "sauze" them up and bump the temp up a notch, then sauce them a bit more and bump it up once more. At bout 200 internal temp I take them out and foil them to let them rest. They come out juicy, "sauzey", and lots of blackish gooey good stuff is all over them. They taste smokey and just plain good.

We have had plenty of Okies come by and the remarks are pretty consistent, "Damn Good". Most of them know who Fast Eddie is and are impressed with our smoker.

We have learned plenty, much of it on this board, a good bit of it on the road. Bottom line is things are going good.

I have invented my own beans and cole slaw, and I have even come up with my own signature dessert. We keep it simple, but we do our own thing.

I wish I had more time to stop and visit, but until our weather turns too cold to keep getting out there I will have to only stop in and take a peek at what is happening here.

I feel good, I feel good, Good, GOOD! : )

Take care all, and much success to everyone !

Kate
Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

FM Former Member
Hey good luck on your new venture...if you dont mind if I can ask some questions:

1. What type of menu do you have, how many items and if I may ask what and how did you establish your pricing?

2. What is your kitchen setup like? Did you buy a trailer already built or did you build your own?

3. Why did you get rid of the spare and baby back ribs?

Thanks,
Preston D
FM Former Member
Hi.

Our menu is very simple. We serve pulled pork, brisket, and country ribs. I also do chicken wings on occasion and various sausages too. (i.e. brats, polish etc.) . We serve the pork and brisket as dinners or sandwiches. Here is the catch on the sandwich: In order to keep the profit margin up to the level of the dinners we sell the sandwiches as a combo deal. They get chips and a drink with the combo. Dinners get beans, cole slaw and a roll too.

We keep it simple. Too many choices can overwhelm the consumer. We have a very basic supply list and it saves time. We do the three basic meats and do them well. Keeping it simple works for us. If we are looking at a smaller marketing day we have also just run pulled pork, dinner or sandwich. They still come, they still buy and we don't have leftovers. Which I guess proves that you can go out there with just one smoked item and because it is different the market is still there.

We price out our menu down to the tablespoon. We add in the cost of packaging, pellets, gas, etc. I use the times 3 method and then add a bit more for comfort. Part of pricing is a gut feeling thing. We try to give good value for what we are offering, but still pay ourselves well. It is a balancing game.

Our trailer is thirty feet long. The interior is 7x24 foot, with a large storage area in the goose neck part. My husband built the whole thing, from carpentry, plumbing, electrical, and so on. The outside is cedar lap siding above vertical T-111 stained in a cedar tone. The roof is a green metal one. From the back end of the trailer we put in a large sliding window with an inside sliding screen to keep bugs and such out. Anyone walking up can view the whole kitchen setup, which I feel is a good thing. They can see that we are clean and do things right. The walls inside are glass board. The smoker sits at the gooseneck end of the trailer. We have a 4 foot stainless table near the smoker which makes out loading meat easy. Next is the reefers, then the steam tables and then we have a large ice bin for storing sodas, then the freezer. Starting from the serving window on the opposite side we have a four foot counter with the holding tanks underneath, enclosed with doors. Next is a three bay sink with draining boards at each end, then a food sink, then a hands free handwashing sink. We also have shelves and baskets for holding necessities above the work areas. That is the general setup.

I could not get spares or baby backs to come out as I liked them. Country ribs are well received here. Lots of meat, we give 1 pound servings, they are juicy, always tender and no one seems to miss the others! It just works for us. I can get the country style to come out to perfection. So, I go with them. They are also very reasonable in price and I still get a premium price on the menu for them.

Hope that helps.

Rootsman, thank you for the good thoughts.

Take care all.

Kate
FM Former Member
Thank You !

I think we may have a week or two left to run this year, the weather is sliding to the cooler side now, but we would be happy to see any visitors! Come May we will be running at full speed again.

I give out more samples of brisket than anything else. It is astonishing how many people haven't a clue as to what it is or how it tastes. I assume that this is because of the region. Good thing here is that they usually want it after the taste test.

I have to admit, I like the non fussyness of the County Style ribs. I have always been fond of them, but I have found that my customers feel the same way. They like the meatyness and you still get that same great rib taste. And you are right, that is what counts. Last Saturday I sold the last 10 pounds I had on hand to a guy that came up. I don't usually sell in bulk amounts! When I qualify our ribs are country style I have yet to hear a discouraging word. I more often hear that they prefer them.

We also have the added bonus factor of having no other smoked food places in the areas that we sell; No competition, and I hope it stays that way! It is a lot like being the only gas station in town! Works for me!

Again, thanks for all the kind words and encouragement.

Best wishes to all!
Kate
FM Former Member
Hi Preston.

When we cook for ourselves we have crisped them on the grill. We recently found out that we are allowed to bring a grill with us and it is perfectly alright to use it when cooking for the public. At first they told us that we could not. Now they tell us that if we fence it off or in some way cordon it off it is permissible. Our new inspector really tries hard to work with us and that makes a huge difference.

I have gotten a technique down that crisps them in the smoker. I have an FEC. We are getting a delicious sticky bark like black exterior on the ribs. I can only tell you that it is delicious. It is hard to describe. But, it is GOOD!

We were looking at a pellet grill for a bit of show, a Pink Pig thing, but it is soooo expensive and we want something for fast crisping if we go with one. Probably gas for speed sake. So, we may just design our own this winter, shaping it like a pig.

Thanks for the tip! Always appreciate input!

Kate
FM Former Member
Hi.

I have been down with a pinched nerve in my back, but we will be going to our Saturday spot tomorrow, so I will take the digital camera with us and get a shot of the country style for you.

As for the cut, I never gave it much thought, but here is what they say: Country style ribs are actually not ribs at all but are cut from the blade end of the loin, right behind the upper portion of the shoulder butt and before the baby backs. They are more like fatty pork chops than ribs. While they have more fat per pound than any of the other styles of ribs, the fat is in layers and the meat between those layers is leaner and less marbled than most other ribs. They are the meatiest of all the ribs.

I think on the grill we will do a make over starting with a barrel shaped ready made unit. I will check with the inspector before we go ahead with it. I was very surprised when he suggested we could use an outdoor grill! You have a good point!

On the locations ... we find one we like and hunt down the owner or manager for approval. With owners it helps to show them the unit. We had one owner come to our Thursday location to check us out. She immediately gave us an okay upon seeing the trailer. We had two locations fighting over us in one town! It is nice to be wanted! We have found space that Realtors are representing, but they usually put us intouch with the owner. We do not work with them to find us spots.

Two spots we use are totally without cost. No town permits, no rent from the owner. These are really good spots, rental wise. Another spot costs us $20 per use and $10 in town permit fees per day, but it is so high traffic and prominent that it is a bargain. We had in our sights a great town with high traffic and good opportunity, but, the town wanted $100 per day for permits. The obvious reason is that they do not want vendors in their town. We foiled them there though by going into the town that is so close that it is hard to say where one starts and the other stops. The fee there is only $35 per day and we still get the same traffic.

Thanks! Good Wishes to everyone!

Kate

Add Reply

Post

Membership Required

We're sorry. You must be signed in to continue. Sign In or Register
×
Are you sure you want to remove from your Block List?
×
Loading...
×
When you block a person, they can no longer invite you to a private message or post to your profile wall. Replies and comments they make will be collapsed/hidden by default. Finally, you'll never receive email notifications about content they create or likes they designate for your content.
Note: if you proceed, you will no longer be following .
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×