Cooking Brisket in a Restaurant.

[SmoothBoarBBQ]

Originally Posted by OOMPDADDY

Thanks man. This is helpful. Do you have a BBQ joint?

I'm running a BBQ food trailer business right now, but I might end up opening a restaurant in the future.

[WeldonG]

Very interesting, I've wondered how bbq restaurants held their meet for so long.

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[OOMPDADDY]

Originally Posted by marubozo

Southern Prides. I've owned 4 of them so far. I also used a nice Sherley offset alongside the SPs at my original location. If you use a southern pride correctly, and use the same wood you're using in say a big offset, the end result is almost indistinguishable. On busy days I'd be serving brisket (and other meats) that come off the offset and SP and you really couldn't tell which was made on which.

Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of people making bad BBQ on rotisserie machines. Just like there are a lot of people making bad BBQ on old stick burners. So you still need to know what you're doing to some extent. But the beauty is you don't have to tend to a fire (oro hire someone you trust and have high labor costs) constantly.

If you have the space at your location to run offset pits, and you don't mind working the pits all day everyday yourself, or have the money to hire someone who can cook your level of BBQ for you, then that's certainly a good way to go. But if you want to do volume, or don't have the space that regular pits require (don't forget wood storage space), investing $15-20k in a commercial smoker will ultimately save you a lot of time and/or labor, save you a ton of space, and if done right, produce very consistent product.

There's no right or wrong answer, it just depends on what you want to do, what your physical location limitations are, and making the best of it.

For example, I'm now right downtown at this location and there's just no room for the Shirley or other pits at the restaurant. So, we built a platform and hoisted an SPK500 up on it at the back of the kitchen. Have to work with what ya got.

This is super helpful man. I appreciate it. I could probably pick your brain all day.

[HBMTN]

Originally Posted by marubozo

I bought and moved an Ole Hickory EL-EW last month. I'd love to know what it took to get that cooker on this raised deck. I'm guessing a crane, those things are unbelievably heavy.

[marubozo]

Originally Posted by HBMTN

I bought and moved an Ole Hickory EL-EW last month. I'd love to know what it took to get that cooker on this raised deck. I'm guessing a crane, those things are unbelievably heavy.

I don't know what you call it exactly, but it was like a fork lift on a front end loader kind of machine.

[poorolddan]

Best tpic and conversation on here in a long time. WELL DONE!

[kynmo2010]

Originally Posted by marubozo

I don't know what you call it exactly, but it was like a fork lift on a front end loader kind of machine.

A Lull?

[kurtsara]

Originally Posted by marubozo

You'll need $$$ but a southern pride or Ole Hickory or similar type smoker. I've been using them for 7 years now, and I cook brisket 14 hours overnight. You still get to use real wood, but you don't have to fuss with it every half hour all night long.

When I was between my two restaurants I got hired as executive chef at a place that wanted to start doing BBQ and their solution for brisket was to cook at 275 for about 5 hours and then finish in the oven rather than spend money on a good smoker. It was awful and needless to say I left there quickly.

Some call a Ole Hickory or Southern Pride smoker a oven. I don't agree.

Originally Posted by kynmo2010

A Lull?

X2

[travismagee]

Look into our Big M Smokers.

All wood burning - thermostat controlled smokers. NO GAS

You get authentic bbq and can do overnight cooks with no pitmaster. You can run the Big M all day like a stick burner and load it up with wood or charcoal for long overnight cooks.

We build single door 9' versions all the way up to 4 door 15' versions.

https://mgrills.com/collections/comm...29404984246341

Originally Posted by OOMPDADDY

Hello,

I have been doing research on opening my own BBQ joint and I have a specific question about cooking. I want to do Kraft BBQ where you can smell the smoke and cooking from down the street. What are some of the best processes for cooking brisket where you don’t have to be up all night or hire someone to man the pit from 10 pm till 7 am? Is there a way to cook Brisket’s in the pit in the afternoon till close and then finish them in some kind of oven that will cook slow till the morning and hold with preserving a good bark? Is the only option to hire someone to cook overnight? I know there are some local BBQ spots in town but you can’t smell the BBQ I’m guessing them have electric smokers they let go over night but they don’t produce a great bark or smoke ring... Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks, Matt

[ynotfehc]

Originally Posted by SmokeRingsMatter

Just out of curiosity, How would they know if you held it at 4 or 12 hours? Would they seriously sit there and wait 4 + hours just to nail you on technicality? And unless nobody tended to it, how would they know if you pulled some out at 4 hours or put some in?

Its not a "technicality", its called food safety. Holding food above 135F slows the rate of bacterial growth, it doesnt stop it. Its been shown that within 4hrs, bacterial growth is to the point of being unsafe. They may not wait out 4hrs to see how long you are holding food, but if people start calling in about getting sick to the HD, they will probably come asking for your time and temp logs for holding food, both hot and cold.

[e11even]

Originally Posted by ynotfehc

Its not a "technicality", its called food safety. Holding food above 135F slows the rate of bacterial growth, it doesnt stop it. Its been shown that within 4hrs, bacterial growth is to the point of being unsafe. They may not wait out 4hrs to see how long you are holding food, but if people start calling in about getting sick to the HD, they will probably come asking for your time and temp logs for holding food, both hot and cold.

Here is what the USDA says "In addition, the Committee concluded that a minimum temperature of 135 degrees for a maximum of 8 hours, or a minimum temperature of 140 degrees Fahrenheit indefinitely also would be adequate to ensure food safety."
https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal...t-holding-2002

What you need to make sure of is that the coolest part of your food is always above 140 degrees while holding. I put probes inside the meat and also the outside of the meat to monitor temps. I also err on the side of caution and keep my holding cabinets well above 140 degrees.

[ynotfehc]

I believe the FDA says 4hrs. I could be wrong. The point was it's about food safety, not technicalities and the HD trying to "catch" you. Every inspector, that I've met, city, county, state, Department of Ag, and FDA, are there to ensure proper food safety procedures are in place and if not then to correct the problem. And there is a reason behind the procedures.

[e11even]

ynotfehc - I think maybe you are misinterpreting the FDA rules. Or maybe I am. But they say that you can keep cooked food hot held as long as its 135 degrees or greater and they do not state a time limit 3-501.16 and when you remove it from hot holding for service that you have 4 hours from that point to serve it or discard it 3-501.19 (B)
Thats how I interpret the rules but if I am not a health inspector and you have to follow their rules.

[ynotfehc]

I'll look for it. I saw it a few months ago, thought it was FDAs rules for hot holding. In Minnesota its 4hrs, like the other member posted. Different states using the same number had to come from somewhere.

[ynotfehc]

This is what you also posted from 2002, question 4. This could be where that number is coming from. USDA, FDA and individual states aren't always on the same page. It also says temperature of 130 for 4hrs and 8hrs for 135. States are supposed to at a minimum meet the FDA standards, but can make them stricter. Either way, gotta follow local regulations. I'll keep looking tho.

https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal...t-holding-2002