Price for 4 butts?????

ThaTS a lot of work to net $40 bucks.
18lbs cooked product x $12 per pound = $216
Delivery fee depending on to where = $50

$266 make yourself some money or stay in bed.

Jacked UP BBQ said:

Thanks a lot of work to net $40 bucks.
18lbs cooked product x $12 per pound = $216
Delivery fee depending on to where = $50

$266 make yourself some money or stay in bed.

Click to expand...

Yup.

I figured $240.00.

I sell whole 6-7#(precooked weight) smoked butts for $24. Pulled I sell for $28, basically $5.50 a pound of cooked meat. Sauce is extra. I have 15 presold for July 4th already. I am purchasing the butts @ 1.29 a pound. I spend abount $10 on charcoal and wood, $15 on rub and foil. Smoke them overnight while sleeping and people pick them up. I know it is not a huge amount of profit, but I will make enough to enjoy it.

Bbq Bubba said:

Yup.

I figured $240.00.

Click to expand...

Ditto.

DADGUMMIT! said:

Hey guys. I've got my first gig. I'm cooking 4 9lb butts and delivering them pulled and sauced in foil pans. Everything I bought to do this cost me right at $60. What's a fair price on this? I was thinking $100 but don't want to low/high ball anyone.

Thanks for any help.

Click to expand...

You sound like me brother when I first started catering. Get what your worth. I have had people laugh in my face when I told them the price of a job claiming we were too high. Get what you are worth $40 profit is not worth your time:icon_shy

$240 is reasonable, and fair to both you, and the client- go for it! :thumb:

Two guys partnered up and started buying watermelons. They were buying watermelons in Los Angeles and selling them in Seattle. They were buying watermelons for $1.00 each and selling them for $1.00 each because they were told they could make it on Volume.

The gentlemen looked at their first months figures, and decided to buy a bigger truck.



Do not buy a bigger smoker
Make money even on small amounts

You have :
your time
your spices
your smoker
your smoker fuel
your fees
rent
insurance
health dept certificates
business license
etc etc etc

One job with profit is better than 20 jobs breaking even

DADGUMMIT!-While it is very tempting to carpetbomb your area with your bbq, it may backfire on you. If you lowball everyone to get the word out, you are just hurting yourself down the road. I have maintained my prices for three years, and am now just getting to the point where people realize what a value they are getting from my services. I am usually about 10%-25% more on my prices than my nearest competitor (who also owns a restaraunt), but the difference is in quality and customer service. Once word gets out that you are a better value, just sit back. I rarely cater in the 100's, but the parties for 25-75 people are my main income.
When you get 10-15 people from those parties to notice what they are eating, they are the new customer. In this biz it doesn't happen overnight. It takes time. If you are patient, maintain your quality, and have excellent customer service, you will be cooking for money every weekend.

Good Luck in your endeavors.

I'm in line with the prices quoted by most of the others. I'd probably actually charge a little more than some, but the cost of living (and food!)in the Pacific NW is higher than most areas. Think about it like this: how much are you worth an hour? After you do some gigs you'll get an idea of how much "active" time you're spending prepping and cooking and "inactive" time you're letting the pit do the work for the particular food item. Don't forget you've got to go purchase the meat using your experience as a cook to select the proper cuts of meat to yield the best results, pare the meat with proper injections/marinades, rubs, and sauces and then cook the meat at the right temp for the correct time to turn out a fine product. Besides purchasing the ingredients, you are spending considerable intellectual energy in bringing all these things together based on your experiences. The reason you are being hired is that someone along the way identifed you as a cook with an above average set of skills in preparing bbq and they want you to showcase "what you know" to their clients, not just that you managed to buy a pit big enough to cook for a crowd. Use the best ingredients you can get and make sure that the price you quote is going to make you a fair profit; if it where easy everyone would be doing it.