What Would YOU Charge? (Texas Brisket Edition)

MaskedMarvel · May 2017

Greetings friends,

I recently was asked to fire some butts for a party. My BGE is pretty legendary in that circle, and someone else caught wind that I'd cook for others and asked if I'd do some Texas briskets. Ten. Ten of em. They supply the meat. Everything else is mine.

A local place will will do a dropped off rubbed and trimmed brisket for $60.

Im not going to go that low. What do you think?

muchas gracio amigos
8-Damien

johnnyp · May 2017

What hourly salary do you make at work? (Don't answer that, just think about it) That's probably about where you value your time. If they're supplying the meat, charge them for your time + supplies (rub and lump...maybe bourbon)

The Cen-Tex Smoker · May 2017

How many eggs do you have? You will be cooking for a week to pump out 10 briskets on even a few eggs. Do you have a
larger pit?

For your reference- You can pick uo a whole franklin to go brisket for $110. They are roughly 4-5lbs

MaskedMarvel · May 2017

One large with a two tier and a medium. I figure I can do three full size packets at a time...

honestly, I'm not really that interested in doing it except from a merit badge standpoint.

Good info about the franklin brisket thanks. Mines better, so I'll charge more.

DoubleEgger · May 2017

What about $6-7 per pound? Brisket at most places around here is $15-20 per pound. I think that's reasonable considering you've got costs for lump, chunks, foil/paper, drip pans etc.

Go buy the briskets yourself at Costco and charge them $15/lb.

Photo Egg · May 2017

I would be afraid of the quality of the brisket they brought me.

clintmiller · May 2017

$15/pound (weight after cooking, not before) seems reasonable to me. Good restaurants charge about $20/pound.

Around Christmas, I auctioned off a cooked brisket in a charity auction. To put a value on the brisket, I figured 15 pounds before cooking goes down to 7-9 pounds after cooking. Then at $20/pound, I put a value on the brisket of $150. That's what it ended up going for in the auction.

Spaightlabs · May 2017

What will you do if someone says they got sick from your cooking?

What if the meat you get to work with isn't cared for properly either before you get it or after you deliver it and someone falls seriously ill or dies? (See CA Gas station nacho cheese death from botulism).

Doesn't matter if you did everything right, anyone can sue anyone for anything and you are going to be defending this on your own as your homeowner's insurance is not going to cover you for a commercial enterprise.

Insurance guy and pessimist regards,

GS

Foghorn · May 2017

Keep in mind that restaurant prices are based on weight AFTER cooking and trimming.

If it were me, I'd look at the workflow and try to set the price point at something reasonable. Maybe $20/brisket and tell them that you can only do 9 because you can cook 3 at a time.

At $60 per "cook" you're not really making any money, at least not on an hourly basis, but that's what I'd probably do. That's why Aaron Franklin charges more and cooks over 100 briskets every day (6 days a week). And it's the pulled pork that really has the best profit margin...

SoCalTim · May 2017

Photo Egg said:

I would be afraid of the quality of the brisket they brought me.

My thinking exactly, must be Select. No bueno

The Cen-Tex Smoker · May 2017

I would charge $150 per and hope they told me to get lost

lousubcap · May 2017

Local market here charges $12/lb for the finished product as a benchmark. Of course as has been mentioned, nailing a brisket is quite dependent on the quality of the going in cut. You must have quite a following to get an initial shot of yen briskets.
Wherever you land be comfortable with it up front-"no lookin' back, somethin' might be gainin on ya." Credit to Leroy "Satchel" Paige.

MaskedMarvel · May 2017

i would be covered under the restaurant insurance - but a really great point there @Spaightlabs

i might go for $100 each -- it's a catering they're doing. Something tells me they won't give a grand up for me..

20stone · May 2017

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

I would charge $150 per and hope they told me to get lost

While I get accused of Jonesing people, @The Cen-Tex Smoker gets sucked into cooking tonnage like you describe more than anyone I know. I would heed his advice.

If if you had a rig that could even bang out half at a time you'd have a fighting chance, but w 10, you'll have to store some in the cooler for 24 hours, undermining your rep. Unless you can size up your capacity, I'd try to duck out

MaskedMarvel · June 2017

Thanks for everyone's input. The restaurant never followed up after my $100 per.

lousubcap · June 2017

Thanks for closing the loop. Many don't follow-up.

The Cen-Tex Smoker · June 2017

MaskedMarvel said:

Thanks for everyone's input. The restaurant never followed up after my $100 per.

You scored man! Congrats. Sometimes the best deals are the deals we don't do. I ran in to something like this today in my real life on a much bugger scale. I politely passed and smiled all the way to the airport.

MaskedMarvel · June 2017

I'm going to do one for the FOH staff for Saturday, I think. Picking it up in the morning.

Next time they ask ---$200!!!!

tjv · June 2017

ah, customer will supply the meat. the one method some folks think will get them cheap bbq because they see it in the store at $2/lb and $15/lb on the menu. cant' will on those deals cause these folks have never smoked meat.

t

CTMike · June 2017

I will never cook meat purchased by someone else. There's no guarantee that it was handled/stored in accordance with food safety guidelines. Not worth the risk.

westernbbq · June 2017

It is analagous to taking cheap replacement parts to your mercedes mechanic and expecting the high standard when repairs are completed....

No thanks

DoubleEgger · June 2017

westernbbq said:

It is analagous to taking cheap replacement parts to your mercedes mechanic and expecting the high standard when repairs are completed....

No thanks

Not really. You have no idea that the people were going to buy cheap/inferior meat. The concern is in the handling of the meat in regards to food safety, proper temp storage etc. it's more akin to buying a replacement part for the cars electronics and leaving it in the back of the truck during a storm.

westernbbq · June 2017

DoubleEgger said:

westernbbq said:

It is analagous to taking cheap replacement parts to your mercedes mechanic and expecting the high standard when repairs are completed....

No thanks

Not really. You have no idea that the people were going to buy cheap/inferior meat. The concern is in the handling of the meat in regards to food safety, proper temp storage etc. it's more akin to buying a replacement part for the cars electronics and leaving it in the back of the truck during a storm.

Well you dont know either way without having the ability to test the meat for things like parasitic contamination and knowing the temerature it was stored at from the time the meat was proccessed to the time it gets delivered to your door.

Too risky

Biggreenpharmacist · June 2017

Pretty much a combination of everything with the main one being you simply didnt have the equipment to do it right anyway. Saved yourself a gigantic headache is what you did.

MaskedMarvel · June 2017

I hear you guys, but for the record --

this is brisket that would have been ordered through the restaurant where I work, and would have remained in the cryo until i pulled it out.

20stone · June 2017

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

MaskedMarvel said:

Thanks for everyone's input. The restaurant never followed up after my $100 per.

You scored man! Congrats. Sometimes the best deals are the deals we don't do. I ran in to something like this today in my real life on a much bugger scale. I politely passed and smiled all the way to the airport.

Absolutely....and yet, we still sign up to cook at EggFests

What Would YOU Charge? (Texas Brisket Edition)

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