Help a new member w/ question

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jctm

Newbie
Original poster
Jun 24, 2010
4
10
Hi I am a newbie to this forum and to smoking (not to grilling), hence the following question.

I am looking at the possibility of opening a restaurant (BBQ and smokehouse).  I plan to start by smoking pork butts, ribs, chicken and some sausages.  The rest of the menu will be grilled per order……I guess my biggest concern regarding the operation is the cooking time for the pork butt and the ribs…..Should they be pre-cooked and stored overnight for the next day (reads lunch)? Or should the cooking process be done every morning (ouch!! ;) ) so that the food is ready for the servings (lunch and dinner)?  Do you have any recommendations???  I have worked in restaurants before and know that they are hard work (5 am to prep shifts).  However, I never worked in a smokehouse (sounds like an around the clock operation).  Since cooking times are so long especially for the pork butts and ribs. It seems like it would be logical to start lunch the afternoon before and dinner in the morning of servings.  Please correct me if I am wrong.
 
Somebody else may be able to help you some, but I think that's a lot of questions to answer with so many unknown variables. Like how you're set up with room, equipment, etc. Also lengths of time depend on the size of the meats, how low & slow you want to do it, etc, etc, etc.

First thing you might want to do is go over to "Roll-Call" and introduce yourself. Then do some surfing on some posts you're interested in. Then you can expand on your questions, and get a lot better answers than I just gave you.

Bearcarver
 
Welcome to the SMF, I moved your thread to roll call so that everyone has the chance to welcome you. It's all good my friend.
 
Welcome to the SMF. Glad to have you here. Lots of good folks, great recipes and knowledge. Looking forward to your first qview.
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Welcome aboard.......... Like Bearcarver stated alot of it will depend on the type and size and brand of your smoker and your other equipment too. Different smokers take different times to cook. Read up on the posts here and also take the free ecourse (I think its still free and on the site somewhere, I have been away for a while so I am still getting used to the new server and look on the site.), Lots of great information on this site. If you have anymore questions feel free to ask and someone will shoot you some answers. Welcome again. 
 
Thanks for all the replies and the welcome
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.....I am glad to have found this forum.  I will take all your comments and get rolling.  My goal is to have a family (casual) oriented place small to medium in size.  Not looking to mass produce.  Quality is better than quantity....like I have read in one of the threads here "if you build it, they will come."  My goal is to offer a product that it is not offered in my neck of the woods..... What can I say my nickname is Chonchi (piglet in English).  I love family, grilling, food and friends.  It does not get better than that.


 Cheers
 
I am considering making my own (charcoal/wood) smoker.  I have a steel welder that could help me with that.  I am in search for plans/drawings to get some of the spec's and take it from there.  Like I mentioned I plan to start small and to keep it under control.  Not looking for mass production equipment.  Will likely start with a 55 gal type designed smoker.

Cheers
 
I don't mean to be a buzzkill here, but if your looking to have a restaurant that specializes in BBQ, then you will need a smoker a heck of a lot bigger than a drum smoker.  Also, since you are new to the smokin world, you may want to hone the craft a while and start out with catering.  If that becomes a hit, then go into the restaurant biz.  Just my non pro opinion.
 
Having worked in both restaurants and owned a catering business,  I also think you would be better off to test the waters with catering - most of the equipment you buy for catering will be usable in a restaruant and the feedback from your customers will help steer both your menu and your style.

Here is the rub ---- you will need to find or rent a kitchen that is health department approved or have a self contained rig that is approved by the health department ( several guys on here have them) They usually require a 3 compartment sink and hot water and drain tanks at a minimum. They may also require cold storage for food safety.

To jump into a restaruant is a huge leap and from the questions you asked in your first post it sounds like some homework is still needed. Good luck which ever way you go    
 
There ya go---Great suggestions by MattS & Scarbelly---I agree with that, but they said it better.
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One thing though:

"If you build it, they will come"----I think that was Noah's Ark.

The one I think I saw on this forum is "If you Smoke it, they will come".
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Bearcarver
 
Correct in all counts......I think that catering is a super idea.  As for size of the smoker, that is just to get started.  Why go wild spending crazy dollars if you can always build up you busuness slowly.  By slowly I mean takeouts and weekends....to test the waters and see how the public will reacts to this.   Smoking is not common in my neck of the woods.   The location I have been looking at has high trafic on the weekends.   The reality is that I am just doing homework/research.  If you dont ask questions and try it yourself...... you dont learn.....that is in part why I am here.  Not going to jump at this type of venture overnite if you know what I mean.  I know that my post talked a/b lunch and diner.  Well nothing is carvered in stone.....the start-up does not need to be a 200K investement.  Start low and slow........If there is demand then we move from there.

cheers   
 
Good.  Now get ya a smoker and get to it.  

Once you start getting the hang of things, have your friends start throwing big parties for no reason and you do the cooking.  With everything you learn here and putting out great food, you will have people calling you up to cook for them.  Then you will get your name out there and it will be a lot easier to start a restaurant.  
 
I would highly recommend that u go on u tube for smokin it - .com....he has great advice that is very helpful & his smokers are well worth the money !   Ps smokers are meant for slow cooking at lower temp but the end result is mouth watering delicious!!!!
 
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