Cooking Up a Business

Jackson Ortega-Scheiner Smoking Leave a Comment

Share on Facebook0Tweet about this on TwitterShare on Google+0Email this to someone

Hi Dr. BBQ

I am from Utah and I love to barbecue for family events. I smoke ribs and pork shoulder quite often. I just returned from a business trip in Arkansas and finally ate at some restaurants with true authentic BBQ. A business like that would interest me since the only access to brisket, ribs or shredded pork in this region is TGI Friday’s or Tony Roma’s. My questions is when preparing these meats it is far from a quick process. How do you prepare a large quantity of meat using a long cook time, have it prepared and ready for customers yet maintain quality so the meat is not dry or overcooked when serving?

Butch

Hi Butch,

The best solution is to be busy all the time. Then you can just cook away and it all goes out fresh. Of course it doesn’t always go that way so you’ll probably have to be creative. An expensive holding cabinet with moisture control is a good way. You will always have some leftovers though so you’ll need to have some menu items that use that such as Brunswick stew and pulled chicken sandwiches. Leftover ribs are a budget buster but I’ve seen rib gumbo and fried ribs as an appetizer to solve this. Some places have perfected a pre-cooking process where they cool everything down immediately after cooking and reheat as needed. This creates a consistent product which I think is important but it forces you to never serve your absolute best which is always straight off the pit. The reheating can be a cooker full at a time or individual servings reheated in the microwave. You’d be surprised how many do this. The real answer is a combination of many things that work for you and your market.

Dr. BBQ

 

Share on Facebook0Tweet about this on TwitterShare on Google+0Email this to someone