How do restaurants that sell slow smoked ribs (or anything else that takes
all day) deal with the fact that they take hours to make? I'm guessing they
cook a whole bunch and maybe reheat them on the grill just prior to serving?
I've always dreamed about having a bbq joint that served real bbq, there's
not much of that up here in Canada. If only I could get a smoker like these
http://www.belson.com/sshvs.htm
Cheers

Dirty Harry wrote:
> How do restaurants that sell slow smoked ribs (or anything else that takes
> all day) deal with the fact that they take hours to make? I'm guessing they
> cook a whole bunch and maybe reheat them on the grill just prior to serving?
> I've always dreamed about having a bbq joint that served real bbq, there's
> not much of that up here in Canada. If only I could get a smoker like these
> http://www.belson.com/sshvs.htm
> Cheers
>
>

They load up the smokers before departing the establishment for the evening.

Why do you think so many of them burn down in the middle of the night?
cheers ;-)

Dirty Harry wrote:
> How do restaurants that sell slow smoked ribs (or anything else that
> takes all day) deal with the fact that they take hours to make? I'm
> guessing they cook a whole bunch and maybe reheat them on the grill
> just prior to serving? I've always dreamed about having a bbq joint
> that served real bbq, there's not much of that up here in Canada. If
> only I could get a smoker like these http://www.belson.com/sshvs.htm

Ole Hickory and Southern Pride are good commercial pits.

Most restaurants don't do their own Q. They buy it frozen from folks like
me, then they re-heat it with in a variety of ways, sometimes finished on a
grill. REAL bbq places cook their own. Sometimes they cook ahead and put the
next days order in the cooler. They re-heat using a grill, a microwave, or
an oven.... or a combination of methods.

I did what a lot of other places do. I divided the day up into lunch ribs
and dinner ribs, with dinner ribs being the highest number sold. The lunch
ribs would go into the pit between 7 and 8 am and are pulled to an alto
shaam just before lunch. The dinner ribs would go into the pit at 12:30 and
pulled just prior to the doors opening for dinner service.

--
Dave
What is best in life? "To crush your enemies, see them driven before
you, and to hear the lamentation of the women." -- Conan


** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

"Dirty Harry" > wrote in message news:QQmlk.55680$nD.773@pd7urf1no...
> How do restaurants that sell slow smoked ribs (or anything else that takes
> all day) deal with the fact that they take hours to make? I'm guessing they
> cook a whole bunch and maybe reheat them on the grill just prior to serving?
> I've always dreamed about having a bbq joint that served real bbq, there's
> not much of that up here in Canada. If only I could get a smoker like these
> http://www.belson.com/sshvs.htm
> Cheers
>
>

Angelo's in Ft. Worth had/has a huge reputation for ribs. When all were sold
that were cooked that day - that's it, no matter, no more ribs.

Shawn > wrote:

> They load up the smokers before departing the establishment for the evening.
>
> Why do you think so many of them burn down in the middle of the night?
> cheers ;-)

That happened here in Austin a year ago. Somebody called int he
fire and the fire department convinced the caller that it was just
ribs and brisket cooking.

45 minutes later when a second caller was told it was just ribs and
brisket cooking, this caller woulen't buy it and was a tad more
insistent, "No, it's NOT ribs cooking, you dumbass!".

The building was a complete loss.

A couple weeks later the City offered a restaurant a "forgiveable
loan" of $250,000 to relocate a shitty little Mexican restaurant
because a hotel had bought the property and was going to tear it
down.

Did the City offer to reimburse the BBQ restaurant? Of course not.

-sw

"Dave Bugg" > wrote in message
...
> Dirty Harry wrote:
>> How do restaurants that sell slow smoked ribs (or anything else that
>> takes all day) deal with the fact that they take hours to make? I'm
>> guessing they cook a whole bunch and maybe reheat them on the grill
>> just prior to serving? I've always dreamed about having a bbq joint
>> that served real bbq, there's not much of that up here in Canada. If
>> only I could get a smoker like these http://www.belson.com/sshvs.htm
>
> Ole Hickory and Southern Pride are good commercial pits.
>
> Most restaurants don't do their own Q. They buy it frozen from folks like
> me, then they re-heat it with in a variety of ways, sometimes finished on
> a grill. REAL bbq places cook their own. Sometimes they cook ahead and put
> the next days order in the cooler. They re-heat using a grill, a
> microwave, or an oven.... or a combination of methods.
>
> I did what a lot of other places do. I divided the day up into lunch ribs
> and dinner ribs, with dinner ribs being the highest number sold. The lunch
> ribs would go into the pit between 7 and 8 am and are pulled to an alto
> shaam just before lunch. The dinner ribs would go into the pit at 12:30
> and pulled just prior to the doors opening for dinner service.
>
> --
> Dave
> What is best in life? "To crush your enemies, see them driven before
> you, and to hear the lamentation of the women." -- Conan
>
> ** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

Thanks Dave, as someone who's done this you're a guru to me :-) How did you
estimate how many ribs to cook? Did you usually sell out? The thing I'd be
worried about in the area I'd eventually try this in is that the people
might not deal with the idea of being "sold out." The City I'm moving too
has a population of about 17,000 so it's pretty small. Also if you didn't
sell out of ribs for the lunch would you reheat them for the dinner? I was
thinking that if I did it, I'd probably try the same thing and cook a lunch
batch in the morning and a dinner batch in the afternoon. Guessing there'd
be some leftovers I'd probably reheat on the grill and sell them for lunch
the next day.

On Aug 3, 6:35*pm, Denny Wheeler >
wrote:
> On Sun, 03 Aug 2008 18:32:16 GMT, "Dirty Harry" >
> wrote:
>
> >How do restaurants that sell slow smoked ribs (or anything else that takes
> >all day) deal with the fact that they take hours to make? *I'm guessing they
> >cook a whole bunch and maybe reheat them on the grill just prior to serving?
> >I've always dreamed about having a bbq joint that served real bbq, there's
> >not much of that up here in Canada. *If only I could get a smoker like these
> >http://www.belson.com/sshvs.htm
> >Cheers
>
> I'm now waiting for Dave B, among others, to weigh in on this.
>
> --
>
> "Every single religion that has a monotheistic god
> winds up persecuting someone else."
> -Philip Pullman
>
> -denny-
> (not as curmudgeonly as I useta be)

Denny,
There's no easy answer. I don't think ribs just don't hold up well
over time; even if they're done right, they're served less than an
hour after they're ready; and that might even be pushing it.
Reheating over a grill or in an Alto-Shaam, or a salamander will bring
them up to temp, but something is lost; like moisture and testure in
most instances. So many times I've bellied up to a bar, ordered a 1/2
slab, and they take a pre-cooked (sometimes smoked) selection of ribs
and plop them onto a hot grill, then off to the side for saucing. Can
be great as bar food with a Mexican beer, but certainly not the best
Q.
Hunks of meat like brisket and pork are much more forgiving when
placed in a holding pattern.

If I knew the answer to holding Q, and not wasting any, and serving
great quality Q, I'd probably be in the restaurant bizness. Better
yet, become a consultant. No personnel headaches to put up with.

Pierre

Dave Bugg > wrote:

> I did what a lot of other places do. I divided the day up into lunch ribs
> and dinner ribs, with dinner ribs being the highest number sold. The lunch
> ribs would go into the pit between 7 and 8 am and are pulled to an alto
> shaam just before lunch.

How did you cover them, if at all, in the holding oven?

ONe place here wraps them completely in plastic wrap and when they
take them out they have to hold them over the sink when they slit
them open because of all the 'soup' dripping out. Ugh.

-sw

Sqwertz wrote:
> Dave Bugg > wrote:
>
>> I did what a lot of other places do. I divided the day up into lunch
>> ribs and dinner ribs, with dinner ribs being the highest number
>> sold. The lunch ribs would go into the pit between 7 and 8 am and
>> are pulled to an alto shaam just before lunch.
>
> How did you cover them, if at all, in the holding oven?
>
> ONe place here wraps them completely in plastic wrap and when they
> take them out they have to hold them over the sink when they slit
> them open because of all the 'soup' dripping out. Ugh.

That's what makes the expense of an Alto Shaam worth the dollars. I don't
cover them at all. The alto shaam produces no air movement at all, keeps the
humidity at the proper level, and has the warming elements buried within the
insulated walls, floor and ceiling so it keeps the interior of the cabinet
warm without any hotspotting.
--
Dave
What is best in life? "To crush your enemies, see them driven before
you, and to hear the lamentation of the women." -- Conan

Dirty Harry wrote:

> How
> did you estimate how many ribs to cook?

Guessing at first, then looking over the weekly order reports as time went
on. Anything that we didn't sell, we would quick chill, wrap in foil, and
place in the display cooler for customers to purchase for re-heating at home
for 40% off.

> Did you usually sell out?

Not always.

> ....Also if you didn't sell out of ribs for the lunch
> would you reheat them for the dinner?

No.

> I was thinking that if I did
> it, I'd probably try the same thing and cook a lunch batch in the
> morning and a dinner batch in the afternoon. Guessing there'd be
> some leftovers I'd probably reheat on the grill and sell them for
> lunch the next day.

Or you could do what I did with the leftovers.

--
Dave
What is best in life? "To crush your enemies, see them driven before
you, and to hear the lamentation of the women." -- Conan

Pierre wrote:

> Reheating over a grill or in an Alto-Shaam, or a salamander will bring
> them up to temp,

An Alto Shaam could be used for re-thermalizing, but it's really designed
for extended hot-holding.

--
Dave
What is best in life? "To crush your enemies, see them driven before
you, and to hear the lamentation of the women." -- Conan

Denny Wheeler wrote:
> On Sun, 3 Aug 2008 12:17:37 -0700, "Dave Bugg" >
> wrote:
>
>> I did what a lot of other places do. I divided the day up into lunch
>> ribs and dinner ribs, with dinner ribs being the highest number
>> sold. The lunch ribs would go into the pit between 7 and 8 am and
>> are pulled to an alto shaam just before lunch. The dinner ribs would
>> go into the pit at 12:30 and pulled just prior to the doors opening
>> for dinner service.
>
> I suspect many (like me, till I googled it) won't know what is an alto
> shaam.
>
> Brand of holding oven, yes?

Not just a brand of holding oven... it is THE brand of holding oven :-)
I've not used anything else that comes even close.

--
Dave
What is best in life? "To crush your enemies, see them driven before
you, and to hear the lamentation of the women." -- Conan

On Aug 3, 9:05*pm, "Dave Bugg" > wrote:
> Pierre wrote:
> > Reheating over a grill or in an Alto-Shaam, or a salamander will bring
> > them up to temp,
>
> An Alto Shaam could be used for re-thermalizing, but it's really designed
> for extended hot-holding.
>
> --
> Dave

Dave, I like the words I pick up in here. Re-thermalizing. Sounds
like a plating process.

Pierre

"Dirty Harry" > wrote in
news:QQmlk.55680$nD.773@pd7urf1no:

> How do restaurants that sell slow smoked ribs (or anything else that
> takes all day) deal with the fact that they take hours to make?

Given that a great many BBQ chefs only cook their ribs 3-4 hours, its
not that hard to start cooking at 7 or 8 to be ready for lunch. I also
know several chefs who wrap their ribs in foil about an hour shy of
being done, and then finish on grill or in oven when needed.




--
Ask Me Why I support Stem Cell Research
http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/faqs.asp

Nunya Bidnits wrote:

> So it has electric (I assume) heating elements, and humidity control,
> and nothing dries out? Not even any surface drying?

None. Nor does it make the surface soggy.

> How does it do that?

Magic, combined with heavy insulation coupled with completely even and
gentle heating, and no hot or cold spots. There is absolutely no air
movement.

> The only holding units I have used are Cambrios, nonelectric models
> that just work through tightly sealed insulation. Wrapping even in
> loosely in foil in the Cambrios will result in a lot of accumulation
> of runoff juices. Not a bad thing with the brisket, in competition,
> since they were injected, and the defatted juices are saved,
> refigerated or frozen, and used for a later injection. But the
> Cambrios can't perform the way you describe the Alto Shaam.

Cambrios are a different animal..... their like colman camping coolers on
steroids. They work with insulation alone, or in some cases with hot or cold
packs. There is no humidity control so that the steam will condense on and
around the food. They were designed mainly for catering and banquet
operations. An upside for the Cambrio is that it will cost a fraction of the
money as an Alto Shaam.

Here's a pdf of the model I have. http://tinyurl.com/5dcran
or
http://www.shortorder.com/files/docu...-STD__Spec.pdf
--
Dave
What is best in life? "To crush your enemies, see them driven before
you, and to hear the lamentation of the women." -- Conan


** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

"Denny Wheeler" > wrote in message
...
> On Sun, 3 Aug 2008 12:17:37 -0700, "Dave Bugg" >
> wrote:
>
>>I did what a lot of other places do. I divided the day up into lunch ribs
>>and dinner ribs, with dinner ribs being the highest number sold. The lunch
>>ribs would go into the pit between 7 and 8 am and are pulled to an alto
>>shaam just before lunch. The dinner ribs would go into the pit at 12:30
>>and
>>pulled just prior to the doors opening for dinner service.
>
> I suspect many (like me, till I googled it) won't know what is an alto
> shaam.
>
> Brand of holding oven, yes?


they make electric smoker versions as well (he quickly ducks his head as a
lump of wood or charcoal is tossed his way . . .)