My first "catering" gig

[diggles]

A family that goes to our church is having a graduation party in a few weeks. The wife asked me if I would be willing to smoke some pork. Since I was going to have the smoker going this weekend for a pork butt anyway, I said, "Sure, how much?" She said they are planning on having 100-200 people :shocked: I told her I could fit another 8 shoulders on my smoker, so that is at least a good start for her. She is buying the meat, but I told her I'd charge $50 for time and other supplies.

Last night, she brought over 70lbs of shoulders for Sam's. Got up at 5am, started the fire, rubbed them all down and got them loaded by 6:30am. 3 butts on each rack.



I've cooked a few racks of ribs for someone else and done pulled for for a church BBQ, but this is the first time I've actually charged someone for BBQ. I'm hoping it turns out well. So far so good.

 

[jasonjax]

Prepare to be preached to about not having your license etc. because people who do this for a living have to pay for that stuff yadda yadda.

Personally I have no problem with something like this here and there for a friend, but mine is one opinion among ... well lots.

Good luck with the cook. That's a lot of pork!

 

[Joshw]

I don't think 70lbs of butts is going to feed 100 people, and certainly not enough for 200. Also, you are a cheap worker. Cost of rubs, charcoal, wood, and other things, you will probably lose money, or maybe make .50 an hour. Good Luck!

 

[Rusty Kettle]

Only reason I ever say don't do it without licensing and insurance is because you are open to liability if you make someone sick. All they have to do is claim it and they can file a lawsuit against you. You do it free of charge for a friend your home owners insurance would probably cover you. You charge and that is their out. Chit happens.
Don't get me wrong in this instance you are just trying to cover your expenses which I get. I would have just said buy the supplies. Meat, rub, charcoal, and wood with the understanding whatever is left you keep. Then you are covered. You charge and you are not covered at all without licensing and insurance. It opens you up to fines also.

You already decided how you want to handle it. Not going to hurt me at all. I only ever say anything because I don't want anyone to open themselves up to liability.
Not trying to hurt anyone just making them aware they are open to liability.

 

[diggles]

I don't think 70lbs of butts is going to feed 100 people, and certainly not enough for 200. Also, you are a cheap worker. Cost of rubs, charcoal, wood, and other things, you will probably lose money, or maybe make .50 an hour. Good Luck!

Yes, I'm definitely not trying to make any money on this deal. This is just the first round of cooking. I knew it wouldn't be enough for the whole crowd, but this was all I could fit at once.

 

[Jason TQ]

I don't think 70lbs of butts is going to feed 100 people, and certainly not enough for 200. Also, you are a cheap worker. Cost of rubs, charcoal, wood, and other things, you will probably lose money, or maybe make .50 an hour. Good Luck!

70lbs is 35lbs after cooking and 1/3/lb portions would feed 100 just about right. But not 200 so you are correct there.

 

[Jason TQ]

Looks great! For close friends and family they can have whatever they want. Most of the time I just give them stuff I have in my freezer. For larger quantities I just have them cover the food/supplies.

For scenarios like this one where it seems just outside (possibly) of the close friends/family (folks from church you know) I typically stick to $10lb for pork. Everyone is different though and that is cool. I don't "cater" to people I don't know. Did a friends wedding vow renewal deal last week in the mountains and had some folks I didn't know ask how much I charge for catering and I just say I only do it for friends and family.

Have fun! Keep us posted on that meat :-D

 

[diggles]

Looks great! For close friends and family they can have whatever they want. Most of the time I just give them stuff I have in my freezer. For larger quantities I just have them cover the food/supplies.

For scenarios like this one where it seems just outside (possibly) of the close friends/family (folks from church you know) I typically stick to $10lb for pork. Everyone is different though and that is cool. I don't "cater" to people I don't know. Did a friends wedding vow renewal deal last week in the mountains and had some folks I didn't know ask how much I charge for catering and I just say I only do it for friends and family.

Have fun! Keep us posted on that meat :-D

That sounds like a good policy.

 

[poorolddan]

Thing about graduation cooking is that most guests, except family, will have been to or plan on going to several different parties and eaten a lot already and usually want more sample size portions than a 6oz sand. Tell the customer to go with slider buns and this amount will go a long way. Even though I agree with Rusty regarding lic & ins how can they determine your food made them sick when the ate at 10 different parties?

 

[diggles]

Sorry no pics of the finished product. Got pretty crazy later in the day. They took quite a bit longer to get done than I thought. With that much meat, I don't think I had the airflow that I normally do. Most were fine, but a few were harder to pull. The couple that is hosting the party came over to help shred it all. Good thing they did too. They were really happy with the results and we got to hang out with friends and have a few drinks.

We weight it all after shredding and it came out to right at 35lbs. I'm kind of surprised with that much loss, but it was predicted by folks with more experience than I.

Just managing the cook was a lot more work than I thought it would be, so I'm going to have a strict friends and family policy for large cooks.

 

[effinUker]

Looks great! For close friends and family they can have whatever they want. Most of the time I just give them stuff I have in my freezer. For larger quantities I just have them cover the food/supplies.

For scenarios like this one where it seems just outside (possibly) of the close friends/family (folks from church you know) I typically stick to $10lb for pork. Everyone is different though and that is cool. I don't "cater" to people I don't know. Did a friends wedding vow renewal deal last week in the mountains and had some folks I didn't know ask how much I charge for catering and I just say I only do it for friends and family.

Have fun! Keep us posted on that meat :-D

Grandpa used to have people he didn't know try and hire him to do stuff all the time when I was a kid. His standard answer - "Let's stay friends and I'll say no.