Advice for new catering

[highergr0und]

Yeah, definitely get legal. I would love to start a small business, but state law says I can't work out of my house simply because I have pets. Doesn't matter how clean the kitchen is or if I take perfect safety precautions.

Another angle I've been intrigued by is doing fundraiser cooks. A guy near me does pork butts for a schooll. They're like 35 each and he recovers costs plus a little profit and the school gets some cash.

Also know another guy that just does cooks around holidays, smoked meat for memorial day, July 4th, etc and smoked turkeys are Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. He takes orders to his capacity, cooks them then meets folks in a parking lot to hand the food off.

Catering works too, but at that point you have to find folks that literally just want meat, which can be tougher

[kurtsara]

Originally Posted by highergr0und

Yeah, definitely get legal. I would love to start a small business, but state law says I can't work out of my house simply because I have pets. Doesn't matter how clean the kitchen is or if I take perfect safety precautions.

Another angle I've been intrigued by is doing fundraiser cooks. A guy near me does pork butts for a schooll. They're like 35 each and he recovers costs plus a little profit and the school gets some cash.

Also know another guy that just does cooks around holidays, smoked meat for memorial day, July 4th, etc and smoked turkeys are Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. He takes orders to his capacity, cooks them then meets folks in a parking lot to hand the food off.

Catering works too, but at that point you have to find folks that literally just want meat, which can be tougher

Do I assume you do not need a NSF smoker to sell food to the public where you live?

[medic92]

Originally Posted by kurtsara

Do I assume you do not need a NSF smoker to sell food to the public where you live?

It's going to vary from county to county depending on the health department. Some are fine as long as it's taken care of, some won't let you use it no matter how pretty it is if it isn't NSF rated. You'll definitely want to feel them out about it before you drop big money on a smoker.