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View Full Version : I caught the bug


chambersuac
09-09-2010, 03:28 PM
For the last three years, my kids have had a snow cone stand at our local festival. This year, I decided to offer some Q. Our menu consisted of brisket nachos, brisket sandwiches, and MOINK balls. We couldn't keep up with demand. A lot of work - but a lot of fun. Now, I'm hooked...but have some questions.

I had a really hard time trying to figure out how to hold MOINK balls. Any suggestions? (not sure I'll do them again, though)

What do you guys suggest for holding brisket? We were using a roaster - is there a better option? A Chaffing dish doesn't sound great to me, as I don't want to deal with sterno getting blown out by the wind.

Where do you guys get buns? At first we didn't offer sandwiches, but had so much demand for them, we went to the local store and just got burger buns. Not the best buns, imo.

Thanks guys!

getyourrubonbbq
09-09-2010, 04:11 PM
Unless you have your smoker there to act as a warmer you could use Cambros to hold the product. That is depending on your demand, I wouldn't want to keep opening/closing it or you'll loss your heat. They do have electric warming/holding cabinets you could get. Not sure if you want to invest that much unless you start doing several things to make it worth the investment. Just my .02 I'm sure someone will chime in that does this for a living.

smoke it if ya got it
09-09-2010, 04:20 PM
I use an old brinkman offset for hot holding, it recovers fast.

big brother smoke
09-09-2010, 05:13 PM
MOINKS hold well in Cambros. Buns I get from Costco or my distributor, it just depends on how many I buy!

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g93/bigbrothersmoke/IMG_0120.jpg

chachahut
09-10-2010, 08:53 AM
I use a couple Metro TC90S (http://www.webstaurantstore.com/metro-tc90s-half-size-heated-holding-cabinet/461TC90S.html) electric heated holding units for all my meat & hot sides. DOH loves seeing a solid NSF heated unit if you're not running a full truck rig while vending. Plus - you'll get much more control over the heat than trying to hold in a smoker. As I also have a Q joint in addition to the occasional vending, this pulls double duty keeping food hot in the joint as well.

The Metro will hold 9 full size 2 1/2 inch steam table pans. I do not pre-slice the brisket so generally I can only hold about 3 - 4 briskets as you need the extra head room between pans. I keep the briskets in the pans with a bit of our house wash to keep them moist.

PCDoctor_1979
09-10-2010, 02:38 PM
Dan - I'm not sure how strict the HD is in Illinois. On this side of the Mississippi, they really don't care what you use as long as you can hold 140*. Through the various iterations of my BBQ food stand; I've used my offset smoker, chafers, and electric warmers. Chafers are great especially if you don't have power to your stand. Have you tried wrapping the chafer frames with foil to block out the wind? It usually takes quite a gust to blow them out. Best of luck and keep us posted about your progress.

chachahut
09-10-2010, 05:35 PM
Damn Brian - thanks for the unexpected tip. Never thought about making a foil windbreak for sterno. Would have come in handy last weekend during a windy Catskills weekend B-day party I catered.

Thanks!