Nachos question

S

Southern Home Boy

is Blowin Smoke!
Joined
Jan 14, 2010
Messages
1,248
Reaction score
340
Points
0
Location
St...
For those of you who vend at festivals and fairs and provide nachos as part of your menu, how do you heat and maintain the cheese sauce?

I'm going to be responsible for running the cafe at a craft fair our kids' high school hosts as a fundraiser for the marching band.

Nachos have been a huge hit in years past and have earned us a big portion of the profits from the event.

So far, they've used crockpots to heat and hold the nacho cheese at a nice warm temperature, but ladleing out cheese sauce with a spoon or small ladle is inconsistent and incredibly messy.

I've looked online for a warmer with a pump and have found lots for sale but they're expensive for what and how often we'd use it.

I was hoping some of y'all would have some ideas for alternatives that would be easy, neat and consistent and not involve shelling out a couple hundred bucks.

Thoughts?
 
Are you guys twins? :becky:

Southern Home Boy, I moved this thread into the right section since it already had a reply and deleted the duplicate. If that happens in the future just use the report post button and ask the mod team to move the thread to the right place.
 
Just had another though :idea:. Does the high school have a concession stand for football? They may have one you can borrow.
 
Cast Iron Chef said:
Just had another though :idea:. Does the high school have a concession stand for football? They may have one you can borrow.
Click to expand...

Yes they do and no they won't.

They are very protective of their gear. I guess I can't blame them, but it's not like I'd be borrowing it for personal use or anything.
 
Southern Home Boy said:
Yes they do and no they won't.

They are very protective of their gear. I guess I can't blame them, but it's not like I'd be borrowing it for personal use or anything.
Click to expand...

You would think the marching band would have some sort of pull with the football team. Tell them you'll play the other teams school song when the come on the field. :boxing:
 
Cast Iron Chef said:
You would think the marching band would have some sort of pull with the football team. Tell them you'll play the other teams school song when the come on the field. :boxing:
Click to expand...

Apparaently it's a long-standing rivalry.

One year, the football players egged the band during practice. The next game, instead of playing rally music when the team scored a TD, the entire band held up newspapers in front of their faces and ignored them. :caked:

I understand there were a lot of laps involved on both sides afterwards.

Either way... for my purposes I don't get to use the concession stand's (or the cafeteria's either) cheese warmer.
 
I'm not sure about if they have a cheese warmer pump, but I know our local equipment rental store has a popcorn machine and cotton candy machine for rent. They have lots of party supplies so maybe a rental place would be reasonable enough to rent for occasional use.
 
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=hot%20cheese%20pump&sprefix=hot+cheese+pum%2Caps"]Amazon.com: hot cheese pump@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/312mQGMJrFL.@@AMEPARAM@@312mQGMJrFL[/ame]

Found a few on amazon. Cheaper than the others I was seeing.


This might call for some red-neck engineering in order to be cheap. Put a pump on your crock pot. Either with the lid it came with or something like a piece of sheet metal with a pump on it that just sits across the top. Maybe the handle of the crock pot lid could be removed and a pump put there. IDK,.. just spit ballin here.
 
AlwaysSmokey said:
Amazon.com: hot cheese pump

Found a few on amazon. Cheaper than the others I was seeing.


This might call for some red-neck engineering in order to be cheap. Put a pump on your crock pot. Either with the lid it came with or something like a piece of sheet metal with a pump on it that just sits across the top. Maybe the handle of the crock pot lid could be removed and a pump put there. IDK,.. just spit ballin here.
Click to expand...

I think it's lookin' more and more like I'll be redneckin' it. I found a plastic condiment pump for $5 with a lid that will attach to a 4 quart plastic container.

I'm thinking - if the aperature for the pump is big enough to accomodate the thick cheese sauce (not a sure thing) - that putting the sauce in the plastic container with the pump head and then keeping the plastic container semi-submerged in the crockpot like a double boiler may be a solution.

This will require some testing....

Keep the ideas coming though, guys. I'll take anything you got.
 
I use a steam bath / crock pot type unit which holds 3-4 large squeeze bottles and keeps them hot, one empties I add one to start warming as needed
 
An odd thing about using a plastic pump with heated cheese sauce. Although it seems like it should hold up, for some reason (I suspect the combination of heat and pressure) the plastic softens and fails. The use of plastic squeeze bottles will work better. Or get the metal pump, and a metal canister, the canisters are not the pricey, and use it in a heated water bath (crock-pot) to dispense the cheese.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

LYU370
Do You Like Nachos? Let's See Your Best Version and Enter the BBQ Brethren “Nachos” Throwdown! – Lasts Thru Mon, Oct 9th!
Replies
12
Views
831
frognot
frognot
J
Roasted Mex Street corn salad (Elote)????
Replies
4
Views
560
AirKuhl
A
cowgirl
A Molcajete Mixto
2 3
Replies
46
Views
2K
cowgirl
cowgirl
LYU370
Garlic Cheeseburger
Replies
12
Views
239
Smoking Piney
Smoking Piney
H
Rocky Rococo inspired fatty “The Perfect”
Replies
8
Views
491
Harmony BBQ
H
Back
Top