problems with this area of the forum

I hope your rant blew off some steam. Although I sympathize with what you're saying, I doubt your primary concern is the liability exposure of the ignorant.

This type of situation exists in blogs from electricians to ebayers. Most of these "fly by night" operations don't last more than a job or two. The jobs they do can be really poor and will just make the pros look better. If these people did some simple searching, they would find all the info they need on previous posts. That should tell you something about the ones posting new questions. They are either too lazy or too ignorant to search. I've also seen questionable responses to business questions by the "experienced caterers" on this board. Ignore them all and focus on more positive issues. :-D:-D

Sorry Pat, but its not why we are here... First off, this has been brought up many times here, especially by business owners.. from all the times its been discussed, it seems that individuls doing stuff on the side is an evil that will always exist to ANY business owner.. Its like Dad telling the neighborhood kids not to go around mowing lawns because it impacts the landscapers, or a friend whos a mechanic, electrician, plumber, etc... not to take on any side jobs because it hurts someones business.. its just not gonna happen..

But anyway, from the perspective of THIS forum and its intent.. Notice the title..

Catering, Vending, and cooking for the masses..

This forum is to educate folks.. period.. no other reason. We dont pick and choose who asks, what they ask and the reason why they ask. Some may be coming to get answers which may help them DECIDE if they want to open a business. No one goes into it cold, and the folks here are the ones who may help someone make an informed decisions.. The answer he gets here may make him realize what they are getting into, be it opening a business or cooking for a 200 person party.. just maybe our answers would enlighten them to say... 'no way, i cant handle that'... Dont have capicity?? refrigeration isnt available, etc.. we educate.. they decide, or act.. Even our experts here at times will tap others here to help on a job, to get ideas, or get advice. we cant decide whos legit and whos not when they post.. its not in our pay grade.

So, if Uncle Fred wants nephew Johnny, who is a member here, to cook for his daughters graduation of 100, then guess what.. we are here to help. Is Johnny supposed to tell uncle Fred to go hire a caterer? Mabe after he finds out what he needs, he may do that.... maybe not.. but he wont go in unprepared.

When brethren teams and members are going to join forces and gather at at a national guard base and feed 2500 troops.. This is where they start and we are here to help..

The past 2 years and going on the 3rd this year, we fed 800 War Veterans at the Northport VA hospital and its discussed on this forum to get quantities and ideas of how to do it. We do that becase WE want to cook for them to say thank you, and we do NOT want to hire a caterer to do it. I know these are not what you were talking about specifically, but the purpose of this forum has multiple angles..

Our members cook for ronald macdonald house, breast cancer organizations as well as the families and I personally have cooked to raise funds for battered woman organizations, cancer sucks, breast cancer, childrens foundations, etc.. and I never considered getting a license.. Im servsafe certified, follow all food handling procedures and even have a 3 bay sink in the trailer.. but what i, and many others here do are not to make make $$, but to help others and THIS FORUM is the first place we come to to make sure we do it right, or at least the best we can.

I understand your plight and your reasoning, but expectations to stop free flow of information here is unreasonable. Its just not why we are here.

I started a food business last year. I feel very fortunate that I was successful enough in another career to be able to afford all the hoops we are required to jump through to sell food. What bothers me at times is all the talented folks who do not have that opportunity.

I get protecting the public, but I also think someone using their skill to start a small business is what makes America great. I HATE all of the barriers we are erecting so it seems like the "haves" are keeping the "have nots" down. People have been cooking for each other for as long as there have been people. I think we sometimes make it way too complicated.

As far as answering their questions, I look at the alternative, which is having them fly blind and possibly hurting someone. I would rather share whatever knowledge I can, in the hopes that they do it right and perhaps turn it into something, or say it is too much work and leave it to the pros.

People are always free to not answer questions they don't want to answer here.

I learned a lot in this forum about doing fundraising cooks for my kids' school - I am very grateful for that and it's one of the many reasons I pay for a subscription to this site.

I sympathize with the OP - 'fly by nights' ruin the reputation of
my field (home improvement.)
However, I think the food safety reasons alone are enough for
a question here. Some lady in S. MD fed chicken to a church group
and put the chicken back on the unwashed chicken plate and EVERYone
got sick.

early mornin' smokin' said:

poobah, i've been there for one of your charity cooks. And the brethren do great things. It's just when I see a post that goes like "...ive been cooking meals at home to order for some time now, and i'm going to take my go at a roadside stand this weekend." As a guy who's put in months of labor, thousands of dollars to do it right. A post like that is blood boiling.

Trust me, if I could've circumnavigated the DOH, Servsafe, building and fire inspections, I would've. But the truth is, you can't without trying to get yourself shut down.

I guess it comes down to using the search function this great forum has before starting another......"how many, what if" post. There's countless threads about quantities, starting a business, catering, etc. If people looked a little before asking a lot of this frustration could be squelched.

mods, delete the thread if necessary, sorry if feathers have been ruffled. It's a free world, read it if you want, answer if you dare.

Click to expand...

If people searched for 90% of the questions asked on this forum, and people used tags in the original threads to make the searching easier, we'd hardly see any thread activity through most of the different sections on the forum.

Every single Thanksgiving we see a slew of turkey questions in Q-Talk, and I guess we could just start telling people, "Look it up farker!" but I think it makes sense to answer the question.

I think the most important question here is: Has the catering section of the forum lost integrity? :heh:

Ron_L said:

If we deleted posts just because of a little feather-rustling, half of the forum would be gone :-D

Click to expand...

My usual haunt wouldn't even exist. :shocked:

I have been catering for 25 years, and do not reply to posts that ask questions that should have been answered before accepting a "catering" job.

I think that with today's BBQ television programs, and numerous BBQ Forums, that many folks want to attempt to make money with their hobby. It all sounds like making money while having fun, however sooner or later it still becomes "work" with a little "fun" thrown in.

I like to reply to posts where another BBQer has a problem that I can help solve. Sometimes when posting I feel like a "3rd base coach" because I am saying "Run, run, run fast." but it is great when a problem is solved.

Business minded people will always rise above hobbyists, although sometimes it is frustrating to be under bid by someone that is not business minded. There are enough good jobs out there to keep us all busy

Ron_L said:

Why not help him understand where he is violating health codes or breaking the law. He may not be aware. That's part of eduction as much as helping with costs, how much to cook, etc.

Click to expand...

I agree with you Ron. This forum has helped me make the decision to throw my hat in the ring as a caterer.

I am just starting out, have not done any advertising yet, because I did want to learn how to do it the right way but there are times when people on this forum make it seem so daunting that it discourages people.

For me, this forum is helpful and I think if people provide honest insight about the ups and downs of catering then we all are better for it. And the truth is that when my cigar buddies ask me to "cater" an event for them, it's because (1) they trust me, (2) they like my food and (3) they want to help me succeed. And probably they would rather have me there to hang out with around the smoker than a stuffy, non-involved person.

Some of us have no desire to open a B&M, this is a hobby for us and we get all the legal/health stuff taken care of as protection but it's not going to replace our 9to5.

As a fully licensed and insured ninja I don't even consider Shinobi who aren't. My clients won't even consider them so we are not even competing.

I honestly assumed every time I saw this thread title that it was about the Woodpile.

Imagine my surprise.

This forum serves a huge purpose.

Yeah, fly-by-nighters kill us. But, my biggest fear is making somebody sick. This very forum taught me about ServSafe, insurances, and pricing.

Simply put, if it weren't for this forum, I would still be catering bootleg gigs for someone that can't afford a caterer.

I supplement my bbq habit with a few gigs a year, and that dinero keeps me somewhat relevant.

You can pass information, but you can't make people use it. The best you can do is hope someone has a conscience and does things right. In my experience, those fools that do it illegally don't last long.

You can choose to chime in, or ignore it.

In general, most of us who answer (and I am no pro cook anymore) try to gently, or directly let the person asking know that they are going down the wrong path if they are suggesting they are going to charge. There are many times i have let a question go, because I didn't like the posters intentions. If a person comes on and starts talking about undercutting professionals, and they respond negatively to the first one or two suggestions about doing it right, I will let it go.

I do try to help, and also when needed, I come here to ask, for confirmation and/or guidance on larger cooks.

I have slowly (over two years) went through the painful steps to start a genuine bbq catering business. I have absorbed a plethora of knowledge from this site. I appreciate all responses to all the questions I pose here (some way more silly than others/ in retrospect). I have gone through the pains of acquiring a business license(LLC), reserved the use of a commercial kitchen, located affordable insurance, so on and so on. I would not have been able to push forward without the vast knowledge I have acquired here. I appreciate all of it. I appreciate all the time and effort some who put into their responses. I also appreciate some of the "devils advocate" answers i get. It is good to get the "do you know what you are getting yourself into responses", just as much as the "you go guy" responses. I understand what you are saying. I have put two years into building up enough resources, capital, and experience to begin stepping into the arena. However, I dont think it conducive to discourage anyone from posting here. A lot of the posts are redundant. However, it is good to get new eyes on certain topics from time to time.

In all honesty it's the redundant questions that are the most important.
There's a reason the same people ask the same things over, and over, and over again.
Also it brings a smile to my face every single time I see a post in Q-Talk along the lines of, "Help! My first brisket! What do I do?!" and when I look in the thread you've got the key threads linked to, a bunch of new advice, some more questions asked, some more answers covered. The icing on the cake is when some dude shows up into the thread and he's all, "I've been wondering about the same things, but I was too scared to ask and couldn't find anything when I tried to use the search. This is a great thread!"

Like Ron L said, it's what makes this place the Brethren.
Well, that and page three.