Starting out with 2 WSM's for catering?

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jeffh

Got Wood.
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Where I live there is a lot of red tape involved with any kind of vending/farmers markets/etc. Even a concession trailer would need to have a commercial kitchen for a "home base" and would need to make return trips every day and be parked in a commercial area when not in use. In other words, if you don't own a restaurant, it is near impossible to open such a business.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad the regulations are there to keep me safe, but it does make it difficult to start out small and grow from there.

One grey area I have come across is catering - specifically cooking on site and serving immediately. I've recently reached out to the local HD for clarification.

If they give me the green light to open a business doing small-scale catering (50-75 people) I have to consider how I would cook the food. I live in a relatively remote area of Canada and shipping (coupled with US/Canada Exchange rates) would make purchasing conventional caterer type cookers (Meadow Creek/Backwoods/Fast Eddy's/Etc) financially challenging.

However, I can have shipped to my door (via Home Depot) 2 22.5 WSM's for under $1000. If I wanted to really splurge I could spend and extra $1000 for a Rock's Stoker setup (I figure it would help manage any tight deadlines and keep temps steady).

So, I guess this post is a long, roundabout way of asking if you guys think I could make a go of small scale catering with just two WSM's? I figure I could arrive at a guest home early in the AM. Put food on right away (two WSM's could fit up to 8 butts, or 4 briskets, or 16 chickens, etc). Then prep sides in their kitchen. Serve and clean up.

I figure worst case, I would gain a couple of more cookers :grin:
 
I'm not sure you can get that much food on one WSM if you take the average size pork butt or brisket. You do need air flow and if the food is touching it wont get a smoke color or flavor.

I spent some time in NS and was quite surprised at the difference in quality and size of your chicken and pork in Halifax. Portions where smaller and in the case of the chicken the skin was way thicker and bit more fatty all round. I'd be interested to hear your outcome.

Your cook times, recover from all that cold meat on at once, open times during checking will all be affected.

Good luck and if it's any consolation I'm in the same position with the a food truck venture... so in the mean time I'll try competing.

Dave
 
I handle some small time catering for 30-75 people cooking out of UDS and a 18.5in wsm.

It does take a well thought out timeline and ability to hold the large pieces of meat.
 
On 22's you could get 3 butts per level, so if you had 2 units you could cook 12 butts. I once did 4 per level, but had to turn them on their sides...not ideal, but I was desperate.
Let's take butts for an example: 8lbs per butt=96 lbs of raw food. Figure 50% drop and you have 48 lbs or 768 Oz of cooked pulled pork. At 6oz per serving that would be enough for 128 sammies.
My opinion is that you could do some small scale catering, but you would be limited to what types of protein you could use.
My .02
 
I have done just what you have said a number of times up to 70, but on a single 22" WSM. I do two cooks, one immediately after the other. You need to choose your meats though - I usually do beef ribs (5-6 hours), and while hot holding in coolers (for 4-6 hours), I do the pork ribs in rib racks.

This puts me onsite 10-12 hours before serving. The pork ribs will take longer than you think because they are pretty jammed up and the cook times extend.

For a single WSM I would be looking very doubtfully at brisket or pulled pork unless they were small, because your timeline gets stuffed if they run a bit slow/over. Ever had 70 people standing around looking at you, waiting for their dinner? I would recommend shoulders for pulled pork on the second WSM, starting when the beef goes in.

Also, with WSMs, when they are full of meat, they are very susceptible to wind/rain and you really need to keep the fires stoked. You wouldn't be cooking with water for instance.
 
If you don't mind me asking, what would your goal be with opening a catering business? Is it something you would like to buiuld to a full time job or just make a little extra money? The issue I see is by the time you add up all the factors it takes to be in business i'e insurance, permits, equipment, etc. it may be difficult to make a profit based on catering for 25-75 people a few times a month. If however you can put together a business plan based on what you think your market will be and it works on paper then go for it!
 
Thanks for the replies everyone!

So since my first post, I've spoken with my local HD and they gave me good news! Where I live there are no requirements for permits/licenses to be a in-home caterer.

Meaning: I can set up in a persons home and cook for them and there guests. I can not cook from my home and deliver cooked food, and I can not go to a public place of business and cook for there - so no catering staff barbecues at a place of business and no catering birthdays at a church hall (or anything like that).

The reasoning there is no need for permits/licenses is because my local HD would consider cooking and serving in peoples homes no more dangerous than someone cooking in their own home and serving to guests.

I would still need to have basic liability insurance and the gentleman I spoke with at the HD recommended incorporating and registering for a tax ID to collect sales taxes. Better to be safe (and legit) than sorry.

HBMTN - this is something I've been wanting to do for years. I have a good day job, but being self-employed has always been my goal and bbq is my passion. The reason I want to go this route is because I can start very small and grow from there while keeping my day job.

One thing the HD corrected me on is the rules when it comes to mobile kitchens. They can be 100% self contained and do not have to report back to a "home base". This means that as I grow I can (in theory) purchase a small enclosed trailer, turn it into a licensed mobile kithen and be able to become a traditional caterer, but still cook from home (using the trailer) and deliver cooked meats to events.

Anyway, right now I'm working on the business plan with hopes incorporating and start taking clients in the new year.

Once I have completed the bplan I'm going to arrange a meeting with a local business development center (gov ran) to have someone else look at my plan and point out any obvious mistakes I miss.
 
You may want to check into marketing yourself as a personal barbecue chef/pitmaster at first or at least check into it to see if there are any rules that would make it better for you. Based on what you are saying I think that is the route I would go. I'd have a price the client pays me for my service and then I'd shop for the job and cook the food all on their dime and they simply write me a check for labor at the end. This takes away a ton of inventory, taxes (possibly) other issues as well. As a personal chef I would maybe even have them sign a waiver that they are responsible for the entire event/insurance and name you harmless in the event of issues and they accept responsability should any issues arrive. There is a name for this form but I'm drawing a blank at the moment.
 
jeffh said:
Thanks for the replies everyone!

One thing the HD corrected me on is the rules when it comes to mobile kitchens. They can be 100% self contained and do not have to report back to a "home base". This means that as I grow I can (in theory) purchase a small enclosed trailer, turn it into a licensed mobile kithen and be able to become a traditional caterer, but still cook from home (using the trailer) and deliver cooked meats to events.

Anyway, right now I'm working on the business plan with hopes incorporating and start taking clients in the new year.

Once I have completed the bplan I'm going to arrange a meeting with a local business development center (gov ran) to have someone else look at my plan and point out any obvious mistakes I miss.
Click to expand...

Good for you! You are exactly where I was a few months ago. My dream trailer is 30 - 33 foot long at a cost of 120-140,000 complete with a 1/2 bath.
 
HBMTN said:
You may want to check into marketing yourself as a personal barbecue chef/pitmaster at first or at least check into it to see if there are any rules that would make it better for you. Based on what you are saying I think that is the route I would go. I'd have a price the client pays me for my service and then I'd shop for the job and cook the food all on their dime and they simply write me a check for labor at the end. This takes away a ton of inventory, taxes (possibly) other issues as well. As a personal chef I would maybe even have them sign a waiver that they are responsible for the entire event/insurance and name you harmless in the event of issues and they accept responsability should any issues arrive. There is a name for this form but I'm drawing a blank at the moment.
Click to expand...


I agree with HBMTN. The business model you are talking about is a "personal chef" and not a "caterer". And he is absolutely correct in how he describes what you charge for. Your services. It does shift all of the things he mentions to the customer. You are basically charging for your time and expertise to cook "their personal property" (food). One thing we do is strongly suggest the product that they purchase. We know what brand/type of meats produce a great product and don't want to be trying to put "lipstick on a pig" (yes, pun intended) with some inferior meat they "got a deal on". We actually write this into our contract. If they purchase a different product the gig is forfeit. Our reputation is worth the loss of a cook.

We use the contract/waiver option as well. The form he speaks of is often times called a Food Waiver, Liability Waiver, Release of Liability, etc. A quick internet search will produce a number of examples. However, it would be prudent to contact an attorney that works in your area of service for advice to ensure that you are covered for all local and other government liability laws. Usually one can be written up for a reasonable fee.
 
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