What should I charge?

B

ButtBonz

Guest
Hello all, I have a friend who owns a catering business but doesn't do bbq, and is getting requests for bbq. She has asked if I would cook Butts and brisket for their catered weddings and other events. Some of the events she wants me to cook on site. She offered to pay me $12 per lbs, plus $100 additional for cooking on site. Do you think this is a fair price?

Also for one of the events they want a whole hog cooked at $18 per pound plus $100 for on site.

For off site work she offered $10 per lb for pork $8 per lb for brisket.
 
Who is buying the meat? I think you can make more than what she is offering personally. Have you determined your cost for fuel, rubs, sauces, etc or she is paying for that and you are only paying for your time? Is that based on raw or cooked weight?
 
Buster Dog BBQ said:
Who is buying the meat? I think you can make more than what she is offering personally. Have you determined your cost for fuel, rubs, sauces, etc or she is paying for that and you are only paying for your time? Is that based on raw or cooked weight?
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This is cooked weight. I buy meat, spices for the rubs and sauces which I make. The price she offered was for finished product plus $100 for cooking on site. I don't have to do anything except buy and cook. I'm not looking to get rich just want to be fair
 
I would do a little local research, most BBQ places list their 'per pound' weight for pork and brisket. It would be worth a little driving to find out. The prices she is offering seem a little low if you are buying the meat retail, but, I do not live in VA.
 
$12 per lb. seems standard for brisky and Pulled pork. Now if we are talking ribs or prime rib to name a few that increases the cost.

For Example: You have a wedding of 100 guest. You will need 25lb. of cooked briskie and the same for PP. So, we are talking $700 minus expenses. For chits and giggles you are looking at 100lbs. of raw product at hypothetically $1.50 per LB.

Sooooo, $150 for meat; $20 worth of spices and $30 worth of fuel (again hypotheticallly speaking here) = $200 - 700 = $500


You just need to decide if $500 works for you.
 
I would talk about just charging them an hourly rate and they buy the product, you provide the rub, wood and smoker but just cook.
 
be careful comparing to prices at your local bbq joints. remember that she is the middle man in this deal and she needs to make a little profit as well, if you charge the going rate she will not get the work so neither will you. if all you have to do is pick up meats and smoke you should be able to turn a decent profit at the prices you listed. I would rather make a little less on a easy job than work twice as hard for just a little more.
Brett
 
Now, I think everyone should be entitled to make a little profit on every job, and that is my point of looking at local charges. Yes, there are additional costs that a restaurant incurs, which makes a direct comparison difficult. On the other hand, unless you are a restaurant and have access to the meat sources and wholesale prices, you are paying more for your raw materials. Further, it is very common for caterers to get a little more for their food on-site for weddings and other events. I think it is good to see what they could pay for the meat if they were gonna pick it up themselves and factor in the fact that they want it brought to them.
 
The offsite per pound seems backwards. Don't let brisket go for $8 dollars a pound.

You are delivering full pieces and she is preping them as well. right. Thats weighed whole not sliced. I think for a caterer to offer you that much its a deal. As was said she needs to make money too. Heck the onsite can be a dog a pony. Cook early and make smoke at the event. lol
 
Skip said:
The offsite per pound seems backwards. Don't let brisket go for $8 dollars a pound.
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I agree this sounds backwards. It sounds like a good deal if you are selling a good amount of Q. I wouldn't do it if they only wanted just a lil Q. How much are they expecting to sell. Are they going to buy a minimum from you. For us to do an onsite I would have to have set a minimum amount for them to buy. Even if I have to bag and seal the leftovers.
 
Price aren't the same in all area. For instanc NYC will be much higher than Podunk Ky
 
Shouldn't the onsite cooking fee ($100) be adjusted by gig. If it's 50mi away it doesn't seem to me like $100 is worth it.
 
We do 12-15 large bbq festivals in the northeast each year. I sell it for $16 a pound. i also pay up to $3000 for some of the events that i do. I think your getting good money @ $12 a pound considering you have no space fees but its gotta be a good amount of meat to make it worth while The only thing i would do is set a minimum on the amount you do. if shes gonna put an order in for 5 pounds of pork regardless if its on site or not, its not worth it. id say the easiest way to do it is to figure it by the amount of people. 10 people=$150 20 people=$300. Id say give her a price per person instead of per pound. not many parties are you going to need more than 20 pounds of cooked meat unless shes doing really big parties. if your selling 10 pounds of pork to her @$12lb it cost you about $30 just for the pork and add your charcoal and rub into the mix and you made about $80. to me if im going to supply food that took about 12 hours to cook its gotta be worth my time. Id say $10 a person is better than 12 a pound.
 
For Private onsite parties (usually 100+ ppl), in a 50 mile radius of home, I charge a flat rate of $350.00, meat cost +25% mark up. The $50.00 of 350 is cost for seasoning, rub fuel etc. mostly use a stick burner so fuel cost is not too high as I have 110 acers to cut from. I always do an early smoke at the shop and do other things to make $$$ while the meat is cooking. usually have a butt or 2 on for the neighbors and 1 always wants 2 racks of ribs ($22.00 ea.) on 10 hrs smoke, I am making 35.00 hr as the 25% mark up on meat pays for the rub, fuel, etc
 
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