What to charge for on site cooking?

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bigwheel

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Shoot them a price of 2 bucks a lb. raw weight. Thats fair to all. Tell em you supply everything to cook it including the wood (less they want to give you free wood etc) but you aint no serving wench. That be their job. You cut it and they take it from there. If they dont like it tell em to vesa mi coola. Thats french for telling em to *ss your buttocks. Tack on an extry 200 for making em drag your pit out there as opposed to cooking it at home and bringing it out hot like everybody else does. Tell em you expect a big gratuity also. That tips like bartender 20-30%. That should cover all the bases..get at least half the money up front. So if they stiff you on the other half you still got some pocket money. Smart thinkin.

bigwheel
 
$200 Pit fee, $30 - $35/hr to babysit the smoker. They cut up, serve, all that stuff. Just you and your machine. Seems fair. The Brides dad's on the hook, right? Or maybe trade for a side of Beef :D

Should add that while I want to cater, haven't done so yet. Remember, advice is worth what you pay for it :LOL: So my lawyers tell me :shock:
 
What are they asking you to cook?

How long will you need to be on site to cook it?

How many are they thinking of serving?

Do you need more staff to cater the whole shebang?

I would look to $30 - $35 an hour for each hour you are there and setup, a 10 hour cook would start at $300.00 minimum, if you need more staff $50 per person for a short days help.

You need to work it of what info you have or can get, maybe you pay the hired help and hand the rest back as a wedding gift, maybe they are really good friends and you don't want to charge them, but that's not the feeling I am getting in which case make it a realistic price for a realistic job.
 
How much is your time worth? How close are you to them? I only cook for free if it is family. Woody
 
With those sorts of numbers you are looking at a $500 - $650 cost to them and if you are paying $50 to your other worker you are in for $450 - $600 less gas, charcoal, wood.

For an drive over the night before, (assuming a mid afternoon wedding and intention to eat late afternoon), set up and cook all day, clean up and drive home, $400 - $550 isn't unreasonable in my book.

I put the drive over the night before because I hate having to start so early on a day, and feeling the travelling is all an top too, when you crawl out of bed in the morning, the other thing is if you get there in daylight and have the chance to settle your self by setting up then as well, when you get there in the morning, you can get right on to firing up the cooker and getting going.
 
Whatever you agree on for a price..... take it in trade/I.O.U. for their beef.

Unless you HAVE TO get the cash (need money badly)....TAKE THE BEEF TRADE.

You'll work out way better...you gotta figure.... If they pay you say $400 total (just a number) how much beef can you buy with that $400?

Now I could only imagine that "their cost"/expense for that same amount of beef should be considerably LESS.... common sense kinda should say that you'd end up with wayyyyy more beef on a trade/barter????? no?

Plus if you do the pit & time for beef trade... I think you'll be more likely to say "The Beef and Tips"......and both you and them won't feel odd about putting a big $ TIP $ jar out front.
 
Smokey_Joe said:
Whatever you agree on for a price..... take it in trade/I.O.U. for their beef.

Plus if you do the pit & time for beef trade... I think you'll be more likely to say "The Beef and Tips"......and both you and them won't feel odd about putting a big $ TIP $ jar out front.

I like the idea of take it in trade for the beef, but this is the clients daughters wedding and maybe it is just me, I don't much like the idea of a tip jar for catering a wedding, it feels a little tacky to me.
 
SoEzzy said:
Smokey_Joe said:
Whatever you agree on for a price..... take it in trade/I.O.U. for their beef.

Plus if you do the pit & time for beef trade... I think you'll be more likely to say "The Beef and Tips"......and both you and them won't feel odd about putting a big $ TIP $ jar out front.

I like the idea of take it in trade for the beef, but this is the clients daughters wedding and maybe it is just me, I don't much like the idea of a tip jar for catering a wedding, it feels a little tacky to me.

Tacky is walking around asking people for tips... business is business... If they don't have a problem HIRING him, and he doesn't have a problem GETTING PAID for services...(cash or trade) then tipping shouldn't be an issue in a container by the cooker.

I have a family friend that owns a limo.... we use him some times for ballgames, concerts and trips to casino.... I have no problem tipping him on top of his fees..and believe me....HE HAS NOOOOOOOOO PROMBLEM SLIDING IT IN HIS POCKET... it's just how certain industries work...and catering is one of them.
 
Smokey_Joe said:
I have a family friend that owns a limo.... we use him some times for ballgames, concerts and trips to casino.... I have no problem tipping him on top of his fees..and believe me....HE HAS NOOOOOOOOO PROMBLEM SLIDING IT IN HIS POCKET... it's just how certain industries work...and catering is one of them.

But if you went out to get in the Limo and you had to move a TIP JAR out of the way to sit down, how much would you want to tip him and would you pass the jar around for everyone to shell out?

I have been happy to get tips in the past, I am still happy to get tips in the future, but if someone asks me for a quote on a job, I give them the quote for the job, I don't build a gratuity into the price, they get the price, if they like what they had and they want to tip me, that is outside of the price.

I get your point and it is all a matter of personal choice, if I was doing the gig, I would be happy to take trade for the cost, but I wouldn't put out a tip jar, not for this sort of gig, it's just me and it is just my opinion.
 
bigwheel said:
Shoot them a price of 2 bucks a lb. raw weight. Thats fair to all. Tell em you supply everything to cook it including the wood (less they want to give you free wood etc) but you aint no serving wench. That be their job. You cut it and they take it from there. If they dont like it tell em to vesa mi coola. Thats french for telling em to *ss your buttocks. Tack on an extry 200 for making em drag your pit out there as opposed to cooking it at home and bringing it out hot like everybody else does. Tell em you expect a big gratuity also. That tips like bartender 20-30%. That should cover all the bases..get at least half the money up front. So if they stiff you on the other half you still got some pocket money. Smart thinkin.

bigwheel

I never thought of gratuity till Bigwheel mentioned it...and it doesn't seem a bad idea to me either...but like you say...whatever the person feels comfortable with...

The more I have thought abought it...I'm going to take a 20 lb. propane tank and lay it on it's side, weld on some legs, a snout, some ears and a curly tail and paint it pink.... then cut a slot in it's back like a BIG piggy bank.
I think I'll make it and put it beside cooker whenever and wherever it's cooking....I sure won't feel tacky watching anyone drop something in it, after just footing the bill for that 180 lb. hog spinning around in there at the next family gathering.
 
Well I just sorta yankin some chains on the gratuity deal...but ya know we did quite a few custom meat cooks..bring it to em hot at the scene of the alleged crime. Got several nice tips like that..totally unsolicited. Think maybe if you bring it to em hot they think you be like the pizzer man. The pizzer man always gets at least 20% at my house. Now I always advertise free home delivery. Doubt you get a tip if you charge em to lug it over there. Just guessing of course.

bigwheel
 
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