extend this a bit and one could say easily say no self respecting BBQ professional would cook meat in a machine shop fabricated, insulated cooker.
it should be in a pit dug out of the dirt with the meat on a stick.
the sauce is play, whether commercial or not...cooking the meat properly is the challenge.
True for those of us here - not true for the average BBQ customer.
just curious, what liquids go into your sauces? hope it aint heinz or lee and perrins.
I'm guessing you missed the post above where I said:
"All the ingredients for a great sauce or rub can be found at any Sam's Club, Costco or BJs. Just do it - your customers WILL appreciate it."
I have never said ANYWHERE in this thread one needs to make all the ingredients that go into a sauce or rub. Hell - I never said anything against "doctoring" a commercial sauce (though I do think it is rather lazy & kind of cheating). What I AM saying is - if you are going to be serious about making a living selling Q, you need to be serious about ALL aspects of your flavor profile. That means the cook, the smoke AND the sauce & rub. Do you honestly believe ANY of the legends often revered (and paid big bucks for classes) here used commercial sauces & rubs when they started? Do you think ANY of the legendary joints past & present did?
Just saying - if you don't think you have the time or energy or skill or whatever to make one sauce & one rub AND you're thinking of making BBQ vending a profession - you REALLY need to re-think that business plan.
BTW - to answer the "what liquids go into your sauces" - store bought stuff right now though I am working with a local producer to make our own ketchup, worcestershire & cider vinegar. We've started making our own mustard. Our apple cider is source from a local orchard. We also have a 2 acre farm (Cha Cha Hut Acres) where we are featuring the organically grown potatoes in our potato salad this week. (I dug them up on my "day off" on Wednesday.) When the watermelons come in we'll be making a salad, sauce & rind pickles from those. Hoping the tomatillos come up well for a later summer salsa. Going over to a local baker tomorrow to continue work on our own signature bread recipe for our sandwich rolls. Hope that helps you understand where I am coming when it comes to producing BBQ for the public.
Oh yes - & the Hut is just my wife & I creating all of the menu items fresh daily (
http://chachahut.com/menu)
To me it is about trying to live up to the legend of Q in this country - especially given the latest interest via TV shows & websites. Dumping sauce from a can is in no way shape or form legendary.
Gotta jet & make the house sauce (3 gallons = 15 minutes dumping ingredients into a pot; 3 hours on simmer) & North Carolina Vinegar Sauce (1 gallon = 5 minutes) plus running the line until 8pm tonight.
Have a lovely day...