BBQ Food Truck

[SmoothBoarBBQ]

Hey All,

So I've decided to have a food truck built so that I can be much more mobile with my business. I had a good consultation today with a highly renowned food truck builder in the Raleigh, NC area. Looking at a brand new 20' food truck (Ford V10 base truck) built from the ground up to be a food truck, rather than renovating / retrofitting some old POS.

So I'm working out the things I need for the truck and here's what I've come up with :

-refrigerator
-freezer
-fryer (for wings)
-3 bay sink
-3 bay steam table
-small oven with 2 burner stove
-small flat-top griddle
-FEC 120

I'm still torn on having a pellet smoker in the cooker, but my Johnson Cookers smoker isn't NSF-rated so as far as I understand I can't legally sell food to the public off of it. So I'll need the pellet smoker for keeping up appearances. Anyways, was looking for any tips / advice for things I'll need or want in terms of equipment.

My menu is relatively basic going with basic BBQ meat ; pulled pork, brisket, chicken, and a couple of sides like corn bread, baked beans, and coleslaw. Going basic to start off and see how it goes from there.

Any tips / guidance / advice would be welcomed. I was also looking into a food trailer but it seems like they are a bit more cumbersome and they will lock you out of certain venues / events due to their size.

Cheers everybody!

 

[medic92]

I assume you'll have a place to plug in for electricity when the truck is parked at home, otherwise keeping the fridge/freezer running could be fun.

I wonder if you really want a dedicated fryer too. Taking care of the grease, especially making sure it doesn't end up everywhere when you go mobile can also be a problem. If you get a four or six burner stove you could fry in a pot and not have to worry about the fryer becoming a giant mess.

Don't skimp on air conditioning, especially in NC. We have a single 15,000 btu a/c unit on our 16 foot trailer and during the height of summer with two burners going on the stove it couldn't keep the temperature below 95 degrees in the trailer.

I'd also question the need for a freezer if you're not storing long-term meats. We turn over our meat every week so we skipped the freezer on the trailer.

Also, don't skimp on cabinets. It's really nice to get to your location and have things in the same place you put them before you left. Bungee cords are also your friend.

I'm sure there are plenty of people who have had food trucks longer than six months that can tell you way more than I can and probably have ways around the potential problems I listed.

 

[pharp]

Hey All,

So I've decided to have a food truck built so that I can be much more mobile with my business. I had a good consultation today with a highly renowned food truck builder in the Raleigh, NC area. Looking at a brand new 20' food truck (Ford V10 base truck) built from the ground up to be a food truck, rather than renovating / retrofitting some old POS.

So I'm working out the things I need for the truck and here's what I've come up with :

-refrigerator
-freezer
-fryer (for wings)
-3 bay sink
-3 bay steam table
-small oven with 2 burner stove
-small flat-top griddle
-FEC 120

I'm still torn on having a pellet smoker in the cooker, but my Johnson Cookers smoker isn't NSF-rated so as far as I understand I can't legally sell food to the public off of it. So I'll need the pellet smoker for keeping up appearances. Anyways, was looking for any tips / advice for things I'll need or want in terms of equipment.

My menu is relatively basic going with basic BBQ meat ; pulled pork, brisket, chicken, and a couple of sides like corn bread, baked beans, and coleslaw. Going basic to start off and see how it goes from there.

Any tips / guidance / advice would be welcomed. I was also looking into a food trailer but it seems like they are a bit more cumbersome and they will lock you out of certain venues / events due to their size.

Cheers everybody!

Good luck on your adventure. Each state has different codes, but I think you will probably want to make sure you have a hand wash sink in addition to the three bay. As far as the smoker, that also may very by state. In Arkansas they didn't care that it was NSF certified as long as it was clean and if they ever temped food off of it it was good. That being said they told me that they were much more "forgiving" when the appliance was NSF certified. I never had a problem though.
Again good luck!

 

[SmoothBoarBBQ]

I assume you'll have a place to plug in for electricity when the truck is parked at home, otherwise keeping the fridge/freezer running could be fun.

I wonder if you really want a dedicated fryer too. Taking care of the grease, especially making sure it doesn't end up everywhere when you go mobile can also be a problem. If you get a four or six burner stove you could fry in a pot and not have to worry about the fryer becoming a giant mess.

Don't skimp on air conditioning, especially in NC. We have a single 15,000 btu a/c unit on our 16 foot trailer and during the height of summer with two burners going on the stove it couldn't keep the temperature below 95 degrees in the trailer.

I'd also question the need for a freezer if you're not storing long-term meats. We turn over our meat every week so we skipped the freezer on the trailer.

Also, don't skimp on cabinets. It's really nice to get to your location and have things in the same place you put them before you left. Bungee cords are also your friend.

I'm sure there are plenty of people who have had food trucks longer than six months that can tell you way more than I can and probably have ways around the potential problems I listed.

Some fantastic points and great feedback about the larger stove versus a dedicated fryer. As for the freezer I'm still not sold on it because like you suggested the turnover really wouldn't necessitate it. The Food Code is so vague and the code here in North Carolina doesn't even mention food trucks, so the equipment necessary to be a legal mobile food vendor is ambiguous.

Thanks for the reply and I welcome any further advice if something pops into your mind.

 

[mcyork28]

How picky are they with the types of smokers that can be used? I imagine this will vary by state and county.

 

[SmoothBoarBBQ]

How picky are they with the types of smokers that can be used? I imagine this will vary by state and county.

This is the million dollar question. haha The builder I'm thinking about working with stated that everything inside the food truck needs to be NSF compliant, so that's why he suggested the FEC model pellet smoker. I've done some looking around I see where he's coming from with this mentality and it makes a good amount of sense in terms of staying ahead of changing food codes.

As far as I've been told (but can't independently confirm) I won't be able to sell food out of a food truck which has been cooked on my non-NSF smoker. At least not legally anyway, so this is why I'm looking at the FEC 120. I was also looking at an Ole Hickory but I don't want to deal with even more propane and I kind of resent having to using propane to operate a charcoal cooker. haha

 

[mcyork28]

Which Ole Hickory were you looking at? Didn't realize they required propane.

 

[pharp]

This is the million dollar question. haha The builder I'm thinking about working with stated that everything inside the food truck needs to be NSF compliant, so that's why he suggested the FEC model pellet smoker. I've done some looking around I see where he's coming from with this mentality and it makes a good amount of sense in terms of staying ahead of changing food codes.

As far as I've been told (but can't independently confirm) I won't be able to sell food out of a food truck which has been cooked on my non-NSF smoker. At least not legally anyway, so this is why I'm looking at the FEC 120. I was also looking at an Ole Hickory but I don't want to deal with even more propane and I kind of resent having to using propane to operate a charcoal cooker. haha

Have you called the state health department? When I was planning/building mine I found a guy at the state level that was very helpful.

 

[SmoothBoarBBQ]

Have you called the state health department? When I was planning/building mine I found a guy at the state level that was very helpful.

I have not, but I'll give them a call tomorrow and see if they can offer a bit of guidance. Thanks for the tip... my local health department has been a source of frustration. I opened my business last year with the intention to sell food directly off the back of my offset smoker, but obviously that's not legal.

I had been told so many different things by different people in the same office that I was confused ; need to have pressurized hot water on demand, all screened in, fully roofed and covered area, base of the smoker needed to be fully covered ie full metal flooring all sloped properly for drainage, etc. Each time I went back with a sketch of the proposed layout of my smoker I kept getting told I would need to add something different each time... so I was frustrated beyond all belief and haven't been able to sell.

Sounds like going to the state might be the way to go, thanks!

 

[Cook]

The state folks can help, but they will refer you back to your county.

The rules pertaining to food trucks is there for your perusal...you just have to know where to look for it. Here it is... 15A NCAC 18A .2600 ... Google that.

I would think that a renowned food truck builder would know the code...he IS building to it every day...

 

[Cook]

Yes you need a hand sink...i would be surprised if any builder would send a truck out without one. Your smoker, ideally, needs an ANSI certification (NSF...whatever). You can try to get a variance from your county to use your current smoker...

 

[SmoothBoarBBQ]

The state folks can help, but they will refer you back to your county.

The rules pertaining to food trucks is there for your perusal...you just have to know where to look for it. Here it is... 15A NCAC 18A .2600 ... Google that.

I would think that a renowned food truck builder would know the code...he IS building to it every day...

Thanks, that came right up and explains it in perfect detail. I'm not much of a trusting person and especially so when the person is trying to sell me something. So I just wanted to make sure what the food truck builder was saying is actually true, and not them just trying to raise the price on me. :grin:

Yes you need a hand sink...i would be surprised if any builder would send a truck out without one. Your smoker, ideally, needs an ANSI certification (NSF...whatever). You can try to get a variance from your county to use your current smoker...

Hand wash sink is mandatory everywhere so I didn't think it needed to be included in my equipment list, but thanks. That's a good idea for the smoker... I'll have to look into that. Much appreciated for the responses. Cheers!

 

[Pork Floyd]

What about holding cooked food above 140 degrees until it gets to the steam table?

Some kind of ultra sham or hot holding cabinet.

 

[toys4dlr]

Some sort of hold hold like a Cvap or other with be necessary. A half size can double as prep area. How hung up on wings are you, as that typically will require an ansul system on the truck. and more expense. But call you local health dept to discuss your plans. Good Luck

 

[SmoothBoarBBQ]

What about holding cooked food above 140 degrees until it gets to the steam table?

Some kind of ultra sham or hot holding cabinet.

Some sort of hold hold like a Cvap or other with be necessary. A half size can double as prep area. How hung up on wings are you, as that typically will require an ansul system on the truck. and more expense. But call you local health dept to discuss your plans. Good Luck

Hey Brethren,

I forgot all about a hot holding box! haha Thanks for the reminder and the Cvap looks like a quality piece of gear.

I'm not 100% sold on the fryer... seems like it might be more of a pain than it's worth. I generally like to smoke wings to be honest, but I know there's definitely a market for fried wings out here in the south. I think it might make more sense to go with a 4 burner stove rather than a fryer.

Good advice guys (or gals) and thank you very much.

 

[16Adams]

A good coarse grind sausage. Honestly, probably Just me but would not stop if there wasn’t sausage. Not the bologna texture sausage, honest sausage. If that’s logistically not possible every day, perhaps Sausage Saturday. There is a top 50 Texas Monthly BBQ Restaurant here where I live. Thursday only they have green chile Mac N cheese. I’ve never had their Mac but they’re always packed on Thursdays.

 

[quamdar]

I don’t have any food truck experience specifically but my first though was you need some sort of appetizer like moinks or fattie slices. Get a few extra bucks from the sale when people get them with their entrees. At least that’s my little bit of sales experience, add ons can really add up.

I look forward to seeing some finished pics and best of luck!

 

[Beentown]

Some fantastic points and great feedback about the larger stove versus a dedicated fryer. As for the freezer I'm still not sold on it because like you suggested the turnover really wouldn't necessitate it. The Food Code is so vague and the code here in North Carolina doesn't even mention food trucks, so the equipment necessary to be a legal mobile food vendor is ambiguous.

Thanks for the reply and I welcome any further advice if something pops into your mind.

Call your HD. They will give you all the answers you need. Also, have them email you specifics after the phone conversation. That way you have it in writing.

Ours approved our Humphreys and Shirley.

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[SmoothBoarBBQ]

Which Ole Hickory were you looking at? Didn't realize they required propane.

I was a bit confused reading up on the different models. I'm looking at the CTO or possibly the CTO-DW and neither require propane to function, but they are setup for propane (or natural gas). For a full on "Set it and forget it" system they use the propane to keep the wood and fuel on fire for temperature and smoke control.

Unfortunately their website is very poor and has so few details about the cookers. I spoke to a sales rep this morning and he said they are currently working on a whole re-model of the website to be much better offer more information.

 

[zmhill]

I'm just excited for this thing to open up in Raleigh. Good luck with everything!!

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