Side Dish Tune up

[nicerackbbqteam]

I was wondering if you have any of you have any good TIPS or tricks to "Dr" up pre-made side dishes like, BBQ beans or potato salad and Mac salad. maybe you guys can help me make it stand out just a little bit more.

I do make fresh side dishes for smaller gigs like around 30ppl, 50+ i go store bought with added bacon, green onions little bit more mayo,pickles,olives ect..

[BigBellyBBQ]

stay with your own...they also can buy from Sams club, however they only can buy a quaility dish from you,,

[mchar69]

For beans, 'Dutch's wicked beans' is awesome.
Store bought potato salad, coleslaw, or mac salad tastes
so..... store bought.

[Smoke House Moe]

Sorry man.
Gotta go with the veterans; serve your own.
If the higher volume is an issue, start setting aside some cash for the equipment that will help.

[acguy]

I've had this in the "try it" file for a while. Give it a try and let me know.

Dutch's Wicked Baked Beans
Ingredients
8 slice bacon
1/2 onion - diced
1/2 bell pepper - diced
2 or 3 jalapenos - diced (deseed for less heat)
55 oz bush's baked beans - large can original flavor
8 oz pineapple chunks - drained
1 c brown sugar - packed
1 c ketchup
3 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
1/2 Tbsp dry mustard
aluminum pan 12x9 or deep 9x9

Directions
1. Sauté bacon pieces in fry pan until crispy and remove from pan with a slotted spoon. Sauté onion, bell pepper and jalapeño pepper until tender.
2. In a large mixing bowl combine beans, pineapple, brown sugar, ketchup and dry mustard. Stir in bacon pieces and vegetables. Pour into a 12X9 or a deep 9X9 aluminum baking pan. (While mixing if things look dry, add additional ketchup 1/4 -1/2 cup at a time)
3. Place in a 220-250° smoker for 2 1/2 – 3 hours (make sure temperature of the baked beans reaches 160°) or place in a 350° oven and bake for 1 hour.

[poorolddan]

I'm wondering why it's OK to use cooked beans but not a basic prepared item like potato salad or slaw and doctor it up. That's kind of like saying there is no good commercial BBQ sauce or rubs that put out a good product when doctored. As for being a veteran cater/cook, I've been doing it for almost 40 years and have never had a complaint.

[TailGateJoecom]

Originally Posted by nicerackbbqteam

I was wondering if you have any of you have any good TIPS or tricks to "Dr" up pre-made side dishes like, BBQ beans or potato salad and Mac salad. maybe you guys can help me make it stand out just a little bit more.

I do make fresh side dishes for smaller gigs like around 30ppl, 50+ i go store bought with added bacon, green onions little bit more mayo,pickles,olives ect..

In my opinion doctoring up a potato or mac salad with extra mayo etc won't really give you a great product, and not something I would do. The preservatives and processed stuff in those salads will still poke through and taste commercial. Also, I find that for bigger parties it is actually better to make your own as the cost of ingredients goes down when buying in bigger bulk. Baked beans are one of the few items that I think can be successfully doctored up, but otherwise I roll my own.

[TailGateJoecom]

Originally Posted by poorolddan

I'm wondering why it's OK to use cooked beans but not a basic prepared item like potato salad or slaw and doctor it up. That's kind of like saying there is no good commercial BBQ sauce or rubs that put out a good product when doctored. As for being a veteran cater/cook, I've been doing it for almost 40 years and have never had a complaint.

Well, due to cost the mac or potato salad used at the base is going to be some industrial/commercial salad, not the homemade stuff from your favorite deli.

First of all, that stuff is crap, so garbage in = garbage out.

In addition, those salads are made with a bunch of preservatives and artificial sweeteners and flavoring. Doctoring it up will not hide those strong artificial flavors, but just co-mingle that with the mayo/dressing you add to it. It will probably also give you a gloppy gross consistency. When you eat those commercial salads, there is no depth of flavor or variation in textures, it's all just an amorphous mass of one thing. Throwing chopped eggs or veggies or pouring on mayo I don't think will combine well with the prepared salad.

As far as rubs and sauces as you asked, there is a difference, those are ingredients, not final finished products. A rub or a sauce is a component in a final dish.

[Chuckwagonbbqco]

Ahhhh here we go again. BBQ Pitmasters that are BBQ Pitmasters----all they wanna do is cook meat. They take every slight meticulous step to make sure that the BBQ meat is the finest possible and then throw slop out for side dishes.

If you want to graduate from BBQ Pitmaster to BBQ caterer---then become a caterer. Side dishes are your friend----put as much passion into your side dishes, as you put into the BBQ. "Doctored" beans, potato salad, etc are not made with "Passion."

Folks cook brisket for 12 hours, but say beans take too long to cook. We cook dried beans from scratch for every catering job. The food cost is way lower. People say what about the labor-----the labor is done while meat is in the smoker---so we can do side dish labor or sit in a chair and watch the temp gauge. We get as many great remarks about our side dishes as we do the BBQ meat. It is all cooked with passion.

Be a caterer----not just a meat cooker-----strive to make every dish the finest that it can be. Like someone else said----"Garbage in--Garbage out.

[Jeff Therrell]

Originally Posted by Chuckwagonbbqco

Ahhhh here we go again. BBQ Pitmasters that are BBQ Pitmasters----all they wanna do is cook meat. They take every slight meticulous step to make sure that the BBQ meat is the finest possible and then throw slop out for side dishes.

If you want to graduate from BBQ Pitmaster to BBQ caterer---then become a caterer. Side dishes are your friend----put as much passion into your side dishes, as you put into the BBQ. "Doctored" beans, potato salad, etc are not made with "Passion."

Folks cook brisket for 12 hours, but say beans take too long to cook. We cook dried beans from scratch for every catering job. The food cost is way lower. People say what about the labor-----the labor is done while meat is in the smoker---so we can do side dish labor or sit in a chair and watch the temp gauge. We get as many great remarks about our side dishes as we do the BBQ meat. It is all cooked with passion.

Be a caterer----not just a meat cooker-----strive to make every dish the finest that it can be. Like someone else said----"Garbage in--Garbage out.

AMEN, preach it brother!!!!!! They ain't never made potato salad like what I can make myself. We don't even have a freezer in our restaurant!!