How much should i charge for a smoked turkeys

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nicerackbbqteam

Knows what a fatty is.
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HI we are just starting out this year so far we had a really good year
and i was thinking of ending the BBQ season by offering Smoked turkeys
so i am trying to figure out a good price for them
average size is about 8-12lb bird

thank you
 
During the holiday season almost all stores have turkeys on sale for 99 cents per pound. I have had trouble trying to get a good price for smoked turkeys---people seem to balk at the price. The only way I have been able to make money smoking turkeys is to smoke them 20 at a time. I take orders and plan the turkey pick ups so that I can smoke a whole load at a time. I have been getting $40.00 per turkey so only $20,00 or so per bird is paid for labor. That is not much money to brine, spice and smoke one turkey---but by doing 20 turkeys at a time it works for me.

Things may work differently in your area---I think that we are in the poorest county in the state. If I could only take EBT cards for turkeys.
 
I really hate doing Turkeys. I agree, the effort is not really worth it unless you can do 25 or 30 at a time.
 
I did 25 turkeys last year and sold them for $35 a piece. I had a couple people not get it saying they could get a turkey for $5 and wanted me to smoke them. I won't smoke turkeys other people buy just because I have no control over the quality control and if someone get sick its me that gets blamed, to much risk for me.
I think this year we will be selling them for $40 and see what happens.
 
We do turkeys for 30 dollars plus price of turkey. Some of your customer ask for free range makes a difference.
 
I fry and smoke about 40 birds each holiday......smoked turkey has better margin.....I start at 48 for a 10-12 lb, 53 for a 13-17 lb and 58 for 18-22 ....nothing bigger than that......RD has turkeys for .86 /lb right now
 
It's a good way to get started in the business. I almost refuse to them now due to the profit margin.
 
Bossmanbbq said:
I won't smoke turkeys other people buy just because I have no control over the quality control and if someone get sick its me that gets blamed, to much risk for me.
.
Click to expand...


Thats right, thats not a good thing. I had a guy bring me some deer meat that he wanted me to smoke. He said it was frozen and brought it to me. When he got there it was nothing but HOT and dried out stinking meat:shock:. It was like it had been laying in the sun all day. He said its ok because it was going into the cooker and the heat would kill everything.:shock::shock::shock: I said you have got to be kidding me. Needless to say I told him to take a hike and Ive never let anyone bring meat to me since then. LESSON LEARNED!!!!!!:rolleyes:
 
I only do them by request, or for catering the whole package. People chit themselves when they see what I have to have for a $.89/lb turkey.....
 
I started my mass smoking by doing Turkey for 2 different meat markets. I learned alot about all the work and mess was involved that 1st year for Turkeys. I now do Smoked Hams only and no Turkeys for the Holidays because of a much better profit for the work load. People see Turkeys for $1 or less a pound and do not understand adding $2+ more per pound for smoking but are use to paying a larger profit for Ham because of past Businesses already charging this price.
 
Get $40 per ~12lb bird. Only do them for family, friends, co-workers etc. Have orders for 30 smoked birds and 16 fried so far. I buy the "enhanced" birds since they are already brined in a sense since I don't have any way to safely brine that many birds.
 
How do you guys store the turkeys after you cook them? Like if you have a whole bird for pickup, do you put in a pan and wrap or something like that for when people pick up? Then they just pop the pan in the oven and reheat to 160 or something?
 
Buster Dog BBQ said:
How do you guys store the turkeys after you cook them? Like if you have a whole bird for pickup, do you put in a pan and wrap or something like that for when people pick up? Then they just pop the pan in the oven and reheat to 160 or something?
Click to expand...


Buster - I cool them down and then use the 2 gallon vacvuum bag just enough for snug / not crush, then store in my large 500 quart ice chest.
 
Remember to include a note with instructions to reheat the turkey to a safe temperature for consumption. We always print those up and tape them to the top of the wrapped turkey.
 
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