Best way to keep chicken wings/quarters crispy for vending

Hey everyone...I (and my business partner) will be "experimenting" with a small scale vending operation at a local recurring food festival each Wednesday night near where I live this coming summer. Everyone buys dinner there and there isn't any smoked BBQ vendors at the event; I see real potential here as I'm already known for the unique specialty desserts I've been selling there the past couple summers...the event organizers are very excited about this and I know we can deliver. Here are my questions:

I've already been approved by the local health department to sell and they approved my equipment (three WSM's, Carlisle non-electric hot holding box, counter top food warmers). The menu will consist of two different smoked meats each night. While I plan to have pulled pork and/or pulled chicken sandwiches (usually pulled pork), I also want to offer wings (drums and flats) and brined chicken quarters (thighs and legs). I know that chicken will be fine right off the smoker if served immediately or within 10 minutes out of a counter top warmer that is kept around 140 degrees. But how long realistically can chicken with crisp skin hold up decently in one of those before the skin turns out soggy? I'm especially scared that if I make a lot of wings/quarters up front and have to put some of them in the insulated hot box for for 30 minutes or more (maybe over an hour +) there is no way they will be crisp. My wings (and homemade sauces) are my specialty and I especially want those to shine. I will not have the option to throw the wings/quarters back into the smoker or a kettle grill to firm up the skin due to my limited set up...once they are cooked that is it. Wings will be quickly sauced to order.

So, how long can chicken with crisp skin be hot held for before quality begins to suffer?

Would it be better to stagger my chicken cooks so I instead have "fresh" chicken coming off every hour? I'm just worried about losing customers if I don't have food ready at all times.

Will people really complain if juicy/tasty smoked chicken doesn't have crisp skin? Or is this a HUGE selling point in BBQ?

For what it's worth, I will also be rotating items in like homemade sausage and meatballs (for meatball subs) some nights to rest out different items; I know these items should also hold fine.

Thanks for any insight you could provide me!

ronbrad62 said:

Welcome to the forum. I wish that I could be of some help to you, but I will be checking this thread to learn from others as you are. You are living my dream of doing something like this on the side, (my wife thinks I'm nuts) and I am excited for you. Best of luck.

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Thanks! And yeah, I guess I am a little nuts for considering this. :mrgreen: Thankfully the investment will be real minimal and this will be a great spot for me to start SMALL while testing out the waters/learning the ropes. True (authentic) BBQ really lacks here in the Chicagoland area where I live. Best of luck to you should you also go for it someday. And I've found these thread archives very helpful so far. A lot of great info in here.

nachos4life...I agree that the hot box wouldn't be the way to go for chicken wings or chicken due to all the moisture in it. A food warmer set to 140-150 degrees will be my best bet as they will be cooked very crispy to start. If they break down a little sitting in the food warmer or chaffing dish oh well. They'll still be darn good. This line of work can't always be 100% perfect.

ace261...never thought of that but that isn't a bad idea. I'll look at cost and if it isn't too much that might not be a bad thing to experiment around with before the summer season starts.

Thanks guys!