BBQ Food Truck questions

[HBMTN]

Guess I'm the odd ball. I cook everything fresh for both concessions and catering. Yes this means up most of the night even when I do get to lay my head down it's barely considered resting. When I sell concessions I pull my trailer to my spot and my Lang 84 by making two trips early 7am on Saturday mornings after cooking most of the night. We will usually sell from 11am-3pm as late as 5 or 6pm. Then I pull my Lang home and go back Sunday morning and get my concessions trailer.

I would not recommend this as it is exhausting. I can do it as much as 3 nights in a row and then I am dead but usually only 1 night. One day I would like to upgrade to a 24ft trailer and a Southern Pride but that will require going full time to even think about paying for it.

[SirPorkaLot]

Originally Posted by Motley Q

Tell that to the millions of ppl who eat ribs prepared that way everyday

Put em on the grill to finish and booyah


Hate to tell ya porky but I know of at least 2 TV BBQ Pitmasters who do ribs that way in their restaurants.


Never heard a compaint about the taste.

Doesn't make it right........just a fact.

"Porky" cute.


I wouldn't go around bragging about BBQ restaurant or TV BBQ Pitmasters food in their restaurants.

At least not where people can see.


If your gold standard is what you eat at Dickeys, Sonny's or Tony Romas, then we really have nothing to discuss anyways.

[Bamabuzzard]

Originally Posted by SirPorkaLot

"Porky" cute.


I wouldn't go around bragging about BBQ restaurant or TV BBQ Pitmasters food in their restaurants.

At least not where people can see.


If your gold standard is what you eat at Dickeys, Sonny's or Tony Romas, then we really have nothing to discuss anyways.

I got to give him credit though. He's hell bent on telling us we CANNOT tell the difference. No matter if we really can. I know I can. I've eaten at Tony Roma's, Applebee's and Chili's and there was an obvious taste difference. I'm not saying their stuff was "awful". If it was "awful" it wouldn't sell. But if I'm using a criteria of smoke flavor, texture, and tenderness. I can usually tell you real quick if something was truly Q'd or not.

We used to have a "Smokey Bones" here in Shreveport that stayed open less than a year and a half. The first time I went I had their rib plate I notice the texture and just the overall flavor didn't seem like anything I'd ever eaten that I knew was pulled out of a smoker. So I asked the waiter if these were smoked in a smoker in the back or not. He asked me why I asked. I told him I do a lot of Q'n and something didn't taste right. Not meaning it tasted "bad" but just different. He said they didn't actually smoke them their but were shipped frozen and already prepped they just tossed them on the grill. He never said if they were actually smoked or not. But either way. I was right about them not being smoked there. So I could tell some form of difference.

[bobaftt]

Originally Posted by Motley Q

Tell that to the millions of ppl who eat ribs prepared that way everyday

Put em on the grill to finish and booyah


Hate to tell ya porky but I know of at least 2 TV BBQ Pitmasters who do ribs that way in their restaurants.


Never heard a compaint about the taste.

Doesn't make it right........just a fact.

I don't know if you are being intentionally dense or not? No one is debating whether or not you can get crappy non bbq ribs from a chain restaurant or even from a so called bbq joint. What we are saying is that we can tell the difference and wouldn't eat ribs there. Have I had applebees ribs before? Sure. Did I expect the same result that I get with 6 hours in the backyard? Nope.

[BigBellyBBQ]

the bottom line of advice in my oppinion, is what type of food quaility do YOU want to prepare, put your name on it and sell to the cash buyer. If some nit-wit thinks you can outsmart the customer, let him do it, while you are seeing your lines get bigger. Yes, I have been out-sold by the bigger vendors who bring in thier ribs pre-smoked and so be it...at the end of the day I KNOW that what was sold was real and not just a misconception or deception. Be true to your self and your customers and it will work out..real bbq sometimes does not mean bigger profit, but if you stay real then so will your customers...they can tell..

[Bamabuzzard]

Originally Posted by BigBellyBBQ

the bottom line of advice in my oppinion, is what type of food quaility do YOU want to prepare, put your name on it and sell to the cash buyer. If some nit-wit thinks you can outsmart the customer, let him do it, while you are seeing your lines get bigger. Yes, I have been out-sold by the bigger vendors who bring in thier ribs pre-smoked and so be it...at the end of the day I KNOW that what was sold was real and not just a misconception or deception. Be true to your self and your customers and it will work out..real bbq sometimes does not mean bigger profit, but if you stay real then so will your customers...they can tell..

Amen brother!

[deguerre]

Man. Where are the Help or NO Help nipples? There have been quite a few very Non Helpful posts in this thread. (Some good replies to those too though...)

[luke duke]

Originally Posted by BigBellyBBQ

the bottom line of advice in my oppinion, is what type of food quaility do YOU want to prepare, put your name on it and sell to the cash buyer. If some nit-wit thinks you can outsmart the customer, let him do it, while you are seeing your lines get bigger. Yes, I have been out-sold by the bigger vendors who bring in thier ribs pre-smoked and so be it...at the end of the day I KNOW that what was sold was real and not just a misconception or deception. Be true to your self and your customers and it will work out..real bbq sometimes does not mean bigger profit, but if you stay real then so will your customers...they can tell..

So FECs and Southern Prides are keeping it "real"?

[Bamabuzzard]

Originally Posted by luke duke

So FECs and Southern Prides are keeping it "real"?

I think what he's saying is stay true to what you believe in and don't take shortcuts that impact "your" standard of quality.

[SmokinJohn]

Originally Posted by C Rocke

We have 2 trucks out here in LA and Orange County - Happy to share what we know. PM me with a phone number and I will give you a call. Best of luck!

And may I say that I liked the pulled pork and mac and cheese!! Mrs. SJ and I almost wolfed it down in the parking lot of your store on Tustin Ave.

[gtr]

Originally Posted by C Rocke

We have 2 trucks out here in LA and Orange County - Happy to share what we know. PM me with a phone number and I will give you a call. Best of luck!

You gotta come up by Universal! Ain't no good BBQ trucks here. There's a park across from gate 2 and we get 4-9 trucks a day there. Tuesdays aren't good though - Kogi dominates that day no matter who's there. There's a woman at Universal who sends an e-mail blast and has a blog about the trucks there. She'll notify 100's of folks that you're coming.

[Hometruckin]

this is my buddy's rig in south Florida. We are required to be screened in around the cook area.

[Bigmista]

Originally Posted by Motley Q

@smokethis

Ever eaten ribs at chilis, fridays, longhorn, roadhouse, o'charleys, applebees, ruby tuesday, etc??

Then you've eaten ribs prepared this way.

surprissssse, surprisssse

I've never eaten ribs at any of those places. If it ain't a bbq joint, I don't order bbq.