How much should I charge to smoke 6 briskets?

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six30two
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How much should I charge to smoke 6 briskets?

Postby six30two » Mon Apr 16, 2018 10:19 am

A neighbor recently asked me how much I would charge to smoke 6 briskets if he bought the meat and brought it to me. Is there a standard price per pound that people use to do this? Or some other way to figure it? Other than my time, my other expenses are really just rub, fuel, and foil products.

Thanks in advance for sharing any experiences you guys have doing this.

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Re: How much should I charge to smoke 6 briskets?

Postby rms827 » Mon Apr 16, 2018 10:28 am

The obvious (and smart alec) answer is "It depends how much you like your neighbor". :mrgreen: And on a more serious note, how many runs you'll have to do it in. Big difference in how much of your time is going to be eaten up if you have to do one at a time vs having a big cooker that can do all 6.

At the very least I's say recover your costs for materials used. Restaurants (by my understanding) generally go by a cost multiplier on what it costs to produce a plate of food. So, I'd say figure out what your fuel, seasoning, foil, etc... is going to cost and then you can multiply by whatever you think your time is worth.
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Re: How much should I charge to smoke 6 briskets?

Postby TX1911 » Mon Apr 16, 2018 10:34 am

For me, it depends on whether or not I'm already cooking. If the pit is already running, I don't ask them to pay for anything, but they usually bring me a bottle of whiskey. If I am starting it just for them, use your judgment, but determine your supply and fuel cost, at a minimum.
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Re: How much should I charge to smoke 6 briskets?

Postby Rambo » Mon Apr 16, 2018 11:05 am

What The Counselor said. Many times I Invite Friends and Family to bring meat when I crank up the big stick burner. If someone has asked you to do this they’re obviously an aquantance of yours. If it’s a solo Smoke just for them I’d ask them to give me how ever much charcoal, seasonings, other supplies necessary; if they’re good folks they’re gonna flip you a twenty or Case of beer/ bottle of Crown
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Re: How much should I charge to smoke 6 briskets?

Postby Red Farr » Mon Apr 16, 2018 12:28 pm

....since you're not a pro $25 an hour plus expenses....if you burn wood it's gonna cost, charcoal's less....you'll be out there several hours.....buy the meat yourself, all the same weight, size and shape
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Re: How much should I charge to smoke 6 briskets?

Postby limey » Mon Apr 16, 2018 9:15 pm

10 per brisket plus a brisket for me for neighbors. For a friend while I have my pit going no charge.
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Re: How much should I charge to smoke 6 briskets?

Postby txsmkmstr » Tue Apr 17, 2018 7:34 pm

I've gone the route of commercial joints - charge by the pound for fully cooked product. I supply everything (quality control) and they're not paying for trimmed fat. Of course, the price per pound turns a lot of folks off, which is just fine by me. Let them price out commercial Q and decide for themselves.
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Re: How much should I charge to smoke 6 briskets?

Postby bondobill » Tue Apr 17, 2018 8:30 pm

six30two wrote:A neighbor recently asked me how much I would charge to smoke 6 briskets if he bought the meat and brought it to me. Is there a standard price per pound that people use to do this? Or some other way to figure it? Other than my time, my other expenses are really just rub, fuel, and foil products.

Thanks in advance for sharing any experiences you guys have doing this.

-632

If they are good neighbor's..... I wouldn't charge them a nickel
If they be bad neighbor's :dont: ...... I'd tell them to eat "dirt"

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Re: How much should I charge to smoke 6 briskets?

Postby Papa Tom » Tue Apr 17, 2018 8:59 pm

For multiple briskets like that I used to charge $1/lb my cost is pretty much the same for 1 or 5 briskets so in the end I come out.
Understand though I have had set and forget cookers Old Hickory and pellet so I never had to babysit.........except for that one time the controller went nuts on the pellet cooker with 80 lb of brisket inside causing not one but two grease fires... :angryfire:
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Re: How much should I charge to smoke 6 briskets?

Postby Red Farr » Tue Apr 17, 2018 9:11 pm

....consider this....someone has asked you to cook for them...if you screw it up your name is mud....now maybe they know good brisket from bad maybe not and they're neighbors.....smart money says no....but they think you can do it...so you say yes....so if your cook is that good why not get paid for it.........
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Re: How much should I charge to smoke 6 briskets?

Postby rus_bro » Fri Apr 20, 2018 8:15 am

Any update? Kinda curious what rout you went as im sure ill be in the same boat soon.

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Re: How much should I charge to smoke 6 briskets?

Postby Swamp Donkeyz BBQ » Sat Apr 21, 2018 2:00 pm

About $3/lb if they buy the meat.

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Re: How much should I charge to smoke 6 briskets?

Postby Txdragon » Sun Apr 22, 2018 10:10 pm

rms827 wrote:"It depends how much you like your neighbor"


That is the absolute BEST answer here. You will NEVER be able to pay for your time on cooking. Especially BBQ. If you were to charge basic minimum wage per hour to do this, they'd be paying around 400 dollars just for you to cook up 6 briskets. I would charge 10 each plus supplies.
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