# Bakers and Chefs event grill



## mikedixon (Aug 23, 2010)

I am thinking of buying the 8 burner event grill they have at Sams club. I am setting up a food booth for my 1st time the 1st two weekends in October, and I need some capacity. Have any of you had any experience with this grill? It looks like a pretty good rig, but you never know until you cook on it.


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## chefrob (Aug 23, 2010)

i've never use one but i would ask you what are you cooking? how much are you cooking? how much are you planning to make on this event? will you use it again?


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## mossymo (Aug 23, 2010)

I have looked at the grill when I have been at Sams and thought it looked like a much better quality grill than 3 burner grill's designed for camping (like Camp Chef) and seemed to me for the price compared to camping grills a better value. I have never researched but thought it would be a great to find a thick steel Teflon coated or cast iron top for pancakes, eggs, bacon, etc. that would fit at least 3 burners of the grill leaving a 4th burner available for something else.


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## chefrob (Aug 23, 2010)

MossyMO said:


> thought it would be a great to find a thick steel Teflon coated or cast iron top for pancakes, eggs, bacon, etc. that would fit at least 3 burners of the grill leaving a 4th burner available for something else.


that would be sweet! a 1/2 inch thick high polished steel would work.


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## scarbelly (Aug 23, 2010)

I guess I'll be the inquisitor here and ask some Chef questions 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






  - so how many BTU's are the burners and what kind of burners are they - galvanized - stainless ?  and how much are ya gonna use this - The reason I ask is that when you are cooking, the BTU's (not having enough of them ) could be an issue depending on the ambient temp outside ( you mentioned October) and the other issue with the burners is how they hold up to cleaning. Cooking at an event is a messy job at best.  

I just saw this really neat looking unit at Costco today but it is only 10,000 BTU and would not be enough heat for my purposes - my philosophy is that you can always turn it down if you don't need it but you can't turn it up higher if you don't have the BTU's

You might look for the grill pan at Restaurant Depot or other restaurant supply in your area

Good luck with this and I hope this helps -


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## mossymo (Aug 23, 2010)

Scarbelly

Looking at Sams website, here is how the BTU's are rated - 116,000 BTU performance (14500 BTU x 8 burners) for $400


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## scarbelly (Aug 23, 2010)

MossyMO said:


> Scarbelly
> 
> Looking at Sams website, here is how the BTU's are rated - 116,000 BTU performance (14500 BTU x 8 burners) for $400


Mike and MossyMo
That would be a good one for sure - I just went to the website and the burners are stainless - looks like you could line the bottom with foil too which would help with the clean up - neat too that it will fit into a standard size pick up truck bed - you might think about getting one of the big bottles for propane if you are gonna be using it all day so you dont have to change in the middle of the cook


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## chefrob (Aug 23, 2010)

Scarbelly said:


> I guess I'll be the inquisitor here and ask some Chef questions
> 
> 
> 
> ...


you know, sometimes we just want things............... we will worry about the partiulars later!


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## bassman (Aug 24, 2010)

A couple of years ago, one of our lumber yards would do a BBQ one Friday a month.  They used two old gas grills and always had trouble keeping up with demand for burgers and brats.  I suggested they spring for the $400.00 and get this one from Sam's.  What a difference!  It worked perfectly for feeding upwards of 200 hungry carpenters in a short period of time.  My vote would be to go for it.


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## pandemonium (Aug 24, 2010)

that grill uses two propane tanks, just so you know


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## mikedixon (Aug 24, 2010)

Thanks everyone for the info. I have researched it as far as BTUs and such, but even if it put out as many BTUs as the sun, it is useless if it don't work. I was curious about the reliability of it. As far as the number of people I am going to feed, I hope everyone in the county wants to come buy some of my food. I cook regularly for 60 to 100 people at my brothers party barn, but these festivals/fairs/car shows are new to me. I intend on using this grill a great deal. I happen to be making fajitas at this 1st event, so I need griddles.As far as the griddle plates, they are available from the parts supplier. Stainless steel with 3 inch tall sides, and 2 of them will almost cover the grill completely. $59 bucks each if I remember right, although, the fabricator in my is telling me to make it myself. We'll see what happens. I will post pictures when I get it, and of what ever I decide to do for a griddle.

 By the way, I took left over fajitas to work today, ( I was having a practice run) and I was informed that they were going to take orders from within the plant (and take up money) for me to cook fajitas for everyone else that wants them. I happened to give the maintenance secretary a fajita, and that was her idea. She takes care of us maintenance men. I dread her retiring in a few months.


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## mossymo (Aug 24, 2010)

The customer reviews sound like it is a well made unit. Do you have a link to the manufacturer? I am interested in the $59 stainless gridles.


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## pandemonium (Aug 24, 2010)

MossyMO said:


> The customer reviews sound like it is a well made unit. Do you have a link to the manufacturer? I am interested in the $59 stainless gridles.


not sure if this is what your talking about but here i just ordered me one of these

http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/product.jsp?productId=prod1530022&searchTerm=sizzle q


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## mikedixon (Aug 24, 2010)

The one I was talking about, the lady at the help desk told me about.  The number I called was 888-837-1380.  It may be the same thing Pandemonium has the link to. I never saw it, the customer service lady told me about it. Actually after looking at that link again, I think the one I called about was bigger. I was thinking she told me like 17x 23 x 3 or something like that.


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## scarbelly (Aug 24, 2010)

chefrob said:


> you know, sometimes we just want things............... we will worry about the partiulars later!


Not me Rob - I always wait on getting what I want as you know -i'm never impulsive so don't read my post on the LEM or the plow disc Wok


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## mikedixon (Aug 25, 2010)

Well I changed my mine, http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/product.jsp?productId=179714&navAction=#desc  This is on the way!


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## mikedixon (Aug 25, 2010)

After studying it, this Blackstone grill will work fine for what I am doing, and will fit in my Expedition too.


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## pandemonium (Aug 25, 2010)

That blackstone griddle does look great just more than I need.


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## scarbelly (Aug 25, 2010)

Congrats on the new unit - be sure to post up some Qview so we can all enjoy


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## mossymo (Aug 26, 2010)

Nice choice Mike, did you order the Grill Box Accessory with it?


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## mikedixon (Aug 26, 2010)

I didn't get the grill box yet. I have a huge charcoal grill that I like to use for grilling. I may get the grill box one day though.


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## mikedixon (Aug 31, 2010)

Well here it is. I cant wait for the weekend so I can use it. I'm studying about some hillbilly fried rice to break it in with.


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## scarbelly (Aug 31, 2010)

What is hillbilly fried rice? Sounds like it would be good in my plow disc wok


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## mikedixon (Aug 31, 2010)

Yeah, you use bacon in it. Let me know if you want more info, I can send you the recipe.


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## scarbelly (Aug 31, 2010)

I would love to look at it

Thanks

 


mikedixon said:


> Yeah, you use bacon in it. Let me know if you want more info, I can send you the recipe.


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## pandemonium (Sep 1, 2010)

oh man that thing is gonna be fun!! that will hold a ton of fried rice, I just fried some up on my little griddle, I would like that recipe too if you dont mind?

make sure to take some pics when you use it.


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## mikedixon (Sep 1, 2010)

Actually, i just call it hillbilly fried rice. I fry some bacon and crumble it up, then save the grease to fry the rice in. That bacon makes it so much better than the local Japanese restaurant I think.I put eggs, green onions, some soy sauce, or Franks Red Hot in it depending on what kind of mood I'm in, then usually some squash or zucchini,  mushrooms and sesame seeds. I serve it with steak, chicken, shrimp, Spam or Vienna sausages, just like a trailer park hibachi! I typically use short grain rice, but in a pinch (the 7/11 don't carry short grain), I even use minute rice. See hirrbirry! You should try it. I was suprised how good it actually is.


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## mikedixon (Sep 1, 2010)

By the way, I just got done seasoning it. Man that sucker gets hot. I was afraid the top would become molten. As far as the Cooks and Bakers grill, the company I work for has one. They cooked over 350 steaks on it this past Friday, and didn't miss a beat. I got to take it back to the department it belongs to. Seems like a really well built piece. I may end up wth one after all.


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## pandemonium (Sep 1, 2010)

I was wondering if it would get hot enough, good deal i just looked at samclub and they are out of them and that might be a good thing because

i am wanting one of them lol. You have to get some oyster sauce for the fried rice its what gives it that chinese flavor and i just found out about this

other seasoning called maggies seasoning and its killer on rice too


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## pandemonium (Sep 1, 2010)

Amazon has them for a good price too uhh oooo


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## harryho (Sep 1, 2010)

I used one of those for a Food and Wine Event a couple months back. We went through about 200 pounds of beef,in about 4 hours.......mini burger patties, ribeye, sirloin and NY strips. The event had about 1000 or so attendees and the servings were around an inch cubes.

The searing station was great in finishing off thicker cuts of meats with a nice crust.

I had no complaints. I though it was not enough for the amount of people we had to give samples to, but it held up well and was pretty consistent. Of course you have to find the hot and cold spots and work around those. We did and were able to work around them ok.

EDIT: Now that i saw the picture, I used the event grill that Costco sells.....that picture looks totally different from what I used.


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## scarbelly (Sep 1, 2010)

pandemonium said:


> I was wondering if it would get hot enough, good deal i just looked at samclub and they are out of them and that might be a good thing because
> 
> i am wanting one of them lol. You have to get some oyster sauce for the fried rice its what gives it that chinese flavor and i just found out about this
> 
> other seasoning called maggies seasoning and its killer on rice too


Maggie is mostly used in soups, sauces and gravies but I bet it would rock some rice too - Nice


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## mikedixon (Sep 1, 2010)

One thing to keep in mind though, UPS shipped my grill. It had the devil beat out of it when it got here. It had a handle bent, and one of the leg "sockets" bent, and various scratches and scrapes. It even had the vertical edge around the grill bent. I didn't bother trying to file a claim with them. I had a guitar shipped to me 2 weeks ago, and they broke the neck off of it. It was insured, buy they wouldn't honor the claim. They said it wasn't packed according to their guidelines. Now the poor guy I bought it from is out 40 dollars he paid for shipping, and has a busted guitar. Guitar necks don't just break that easily. I wrote the corporate office and they wouldn't do anything either. UPS has gone down hill a lot in the last couple of years. I wouldn't have even bought the grill had I known UPS would be shipping it, that's how sore I am at them. I will never use them again, and I won't buy (knowingly) from anyone who does ship through them.


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## pandemonium (Sep 1, 2010)

ups is horrible imo but read reviews on that griddle, the number one complaint is it comes damaged, so something is up with that? some say

its packaged poorly, what do you think it was all ups's fault? or a little of both?


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## pandemonium (Sep 1, 2010)

the first thing it says on the bottle is rice im pretty sure? anyway i saw it on a youtube video i dont know tastes good

wth this was supposed to be a qoute from scarebelly? this new site sucks

no it doesnt say rice on it, oh well its good


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## mikedixon (Sep 2, 2010)

According to UPS it will be packaged poorly, but you just cant bend a 1/8 inch or thicker griddle top by handling it well, nor can you break the neck off a perfectly good guitar without some serious handling flaws, no matter how well or poorly it is packaged.


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## boykjo (Sep 2, 2010)

I dont care for ups either but remeber where this unit came from. Assembled in china. It was loaded in to a truck then shipped to a wharehouse then unloaded into the wharehouse then loaded into a container, brought to the shipyard and put on a ship, took a nice boat ride, then unloded off the ship and sent to a wharehouse and unloaded into a wharehouse then loaded into a ups truck then a plane then back into a ups truck and brought to your house..... Phewwww........

congrats on the grill

Like to see some Q on your next outing


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## pandemonium (Sep 2, 2010)

boykjo said:


> I dont care for ups either but remeber where this unit came from. Assembled in china. It was loaded in to a truck then shipped to a wharehouse then unloaded into the wharehouse then loaded into a container, brought to the shipyard and put on a ship, took a nice boat ride, then unloded off the ship and sent to a wharehouse and unloaded into a wharehouse then loaded into a ups truck then a plane then back into a ups truck and brought to your house..... Phewwww........
> 
> congrats on the grill
> 
> Like to see some Q on your next outing


I agree but hell wouldnt everything we get be damaged then? its all from China so im not sure thats the reason


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## bpopovitz (Sep 2, 2010)

I work for a rather large computer company and we receive quite a bit of stuff from China.  We us all sorts of precaustions and spend millions if not billions in packaging design to make things arrive at the customer in one piece and working. Having said all of this, we probably still receive (from china in to the distribution centers)approx 5% of out product in "DOA" packaging, of that 5% probably 50% the unit is damaged beyond repair.  So long story short you can spend all the money you want on great packaging, but you still will have 5% damaged product.  Doesnt sound like a lot, but consider this we ship about 8k every day just out of one plant in Indianapolis and just shipping locally still give about 2-3% damage and that's just the computers.... The other stuff well that's in the 20-30k everyday and I'm sure that Sam's / costco / Amazon and whover makes these grills probably doesnt spend the money in packaging engineering that a computer / electronics company would. 

Not sure why i went into all this detail, but what the heck :)


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## pandemonium (Sep 2, 2010)

How is the quality of it? can you replace the burners when needed?


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## mikedixon (Sep 3, 2010)

The quality seems to be good. It has easily replaceable cast iron burners. It is just hard to hold up against the brutes at UPS.


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## pandemonium (Sep 3, 2010)

im really trying to justify why i need one of these and your helping lol, please take some pics when you load that puppy up


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## mikedixon (Sep 3, 2010)

I used mid life crisis as my excuse, plus my wife likes my cooking, especially when I bring her some lunch to work on my days off. Her friends are envious, and she enjoys that. I will get some good pictures this weekend. I still can't decide what to cook though. I'm still pretty sold on fried rice, but the boss wants shrimp in it. I guess that is okay with me. Shrimp is like money, you can never have too much.


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## pandemonium (Sep 3, 2010)

haha well bacon has to be part of the christening!!!


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## mikedixon (Sep 5, 2010)

Well, I cooked on my new grill for breakfast this morning. I just fried bacon and eggs. I have to say, the thing worked great. It didn't stick at all. I seasoned it as per the instructions, then used some Pam on it too, and fried eggs, and even scrambled eggs with cheese in them didn' t stick. Tonight, I am smoking whole chickens and ribs though. I want to use my new grill somehow. I may saute some squash ond onions on it or something.


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## pandemonium (Sep 5, 2010)

no pics?
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






 aww lol


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## mikedixon (Sep 5, 2010)

I got some of the bacon frying. I will get them on later. Was in a hurry to eat so I forgot about the eggs.


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## pandemonium (Sep 5, 2010)

bacon


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## pandemonium (Sep 7, 2010)

yes im still hoping for griddle pics? lol


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## mikedixon (Sep 7, 2010)

Here is your bacon frying: That is a whole package. Looks kind of small with all that open grill around.


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## mikedixon (Sep 7, 2010)

I don't know what it is about cooking outside, but it seems to make everything better. I am doing Fajitas on this grill Monday for a few places. I'm taking orders from some of the local businesses, so I will be sure and get more pics.


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## chefrob (Sep 7, 2010)

mikedixon said:


> I don't know what it is about cooking outside, but it seems to make everything better.


sure does!!!!


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## pandemonium (Sep 7, 2010)

it is great cooking outside but in florida here i was sweating bad making breakfast this morning out there, so does the griddle heat nice and evenly?


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## mikedixon (Sep 8, 2010)

I didn't notice any hot/cold spots. It seemed to be very good to me. It takes a couple of minutes to heat up because the top is made from such heavy material, which is fine by me. I like the quality. It was the best 319 bucks I have ever spent. Like I said, I will do a big cook on it this coming Monday, I can tell you more then.


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## pandemonium (Sep 11, 2010)

does the wind affect it? looks like it wouldnt let the wind i nto blow the flame out?


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## mikedixon (Sep 11, 2010)

It doesn't seem like that's going to be a problem. The burners are well inside of the main enclosure, so it should be fine. You should go ahead and buy you one, you will like it. Just be sure and season it good. Just don't blame it on me for your buying it, I don't need any more spouses mad at me, one is enough!


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## pandemonium (Sep 11, 2010)

lol damn you are pushin me over the edge haha, sams didnt have them for awhile now they have them back so i am like ready to go for it, i sure

as hell dont need it but i want it!!


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## mikedixon (Sep 11, 2010)

I try to justify it to myself that that's the reason I work, so I can buy a bunch of crap I don't really need, plus it's really cool to have a 3 ft. wide solid cast iron cook top!


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## pandemonium (Sep 11, 2010)

im with your way of thinking minus the job, but ill justify it another way haha


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## pandemonium (Sep 13, 2010)

Just ordered it from Amazon!!!!! was 21$ cheaper there since i didnt have to pay sales tax like Sams wanted


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## Bearcarver (Sep 13, 2010)

mikedixon said:


> Here is your bacon frying: That is a whole package. Looks kind of small with all that open grill around.


That thing even makes a whole pound of store bought Bacon look small!

Probably get 10 pounds on there with room to spare!!!

Even more if you crowd it like I jam Bacon into my Frying Pan!

Awesome!

Bear


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## pandemonium (Sep 13, 2010)

the great thing is you can cook everything at the same time and be done in no time, and i will be cooking in my air conditioned garage with it.


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## brdprey (Sep 13, 2010)

somone on this list recomended grilling the bacon and putting a pan under it to catch the drippings. so i did

omg its the best way to have bacon. i shall never flat fry again or oven kill my bacon again.


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## mikedixon (Sep 13, 2010)

Here is 3 1lb Hamburger steaks a whole green pepper and a whole onion. Saturday night supper!


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## mikedixon (Sep 13, 2010)

Meat for 100 fajitas.


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## mikedixon (Sep 13, 2010)

Veggies for 100 fajitas!


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## mikedixon (Sep 13, 2010)

I cooked the hb steaks in a pretty strong wind Saturday with no problems what so ever. So far, I'm happy!


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## pandemonium (Sep 13, 2010)

Nice!! you had that thing loaded up!! Whoho cant wait till mine gets here!! is the cooking surface regular steel or cast iron?


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## mikedixon (Sep 13, 2010)

I am pretty sure it's cast but the welds look like mild steel welds though.


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## pandemonium (Sep 13, 2010)

heres the only youtube vid of it

/lib/ckeditor/images/spacer.gif?t=A39E


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## pandemonium (Sep 13, 2010)




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## mikedixon (Oct 22, 2010)

Well, my Blackstone grill and I are going to middle Tennessee tomorrow to cook fajitas at a car show. I tried it out at a local concert with fajitas and it worked out great. The only problem there was with me. I thought I was getting the flu. It hung on for a week and a half whatever it was.  I cooked 88 fajitas on it for my work and my brothers work too. So far so good.


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## pandemonium (Oct 22, 2010)

Have fun and get some pics of the viddles


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## mikedixon (Oct 22, 2010)

pandemonium said:


> Have fun and get some pics of the viddles


Will do!


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## mikedixon (Nov 1, 2010)




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## mikedixon (Nov 1, 2010)

This was our set up. Kind of crude but very effecient.


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## chefrob (Nov 1, 2010)

good to see this grill is getting used!!


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## mikedixon (Nov 1, 2010)

Here is chicken and veggies cooking at our event.


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## pandemonium (Nov 2, 2010)

Did you sell alot? I wish I could sell food at an event like that.


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## mikedixon (Nov 2, 2010)

I didn't sell but 8 fajitas that day. Nobody sold much that day. It was weird.


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## mikedixon (Nov 2, 2010)

pandemonium said:


> Did you sell alot? I wish I could sell food at an event like that.


You should just go register for a one day event and give it a try. I am kicking around the idea of even trying Bike Week in Daytona for 2011. I can't decide for sure though. For one, I don't know Florida health laws, and two, I bet a spot on the River Walk (Front, whatever the name is) Park is expensive, so you would be starting out behind the 8 ball. I figure a spot would probably cost $1500 for the week, but I'm just guessing. That is a lot of Fajitas to sell!


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## mikedixon (Nov 2, 2010)

chefrob said:


> good to see this grill is getting used!!


Man, I love this thing. I use it every chance I get. I wish it was ventless so I could bring it in the house and use it.


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## pandemonium (Nov 2, 2010)

Yes i am not even sure i could use that here in Florida? From what i hear we have strict rules for vending food but hopefully i am wrong but ive heard that alot of the New York hot dog carts cant be used here. Not sure what they require?


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## mikedixon (Nov 3, 2010)

Luckily, my 2nd cousin is the local health inspector here in my county in Tennessee. I am hoping he will be able to hook me up with the right people in Fla, if I decide to try this there.


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