Holding bbq for service

[ryangary]

I am thinking off adding a smoker to my restaurant and adding bbq to the menu. My question relates to holding bbq after it has been smoked and sliced(brisket),or pulled(pork), and ribs and pulled chicken. Is a hotbox the best way and how to avoid it from drying out, and how long will they hold. Also for ribs and half chicken is it best to grill or flash under a salamander. Any help appreciated.

[woodburner]

great topic.

Not a restaurant owner, but a somewhat accomplished bbq cook at home, a few comments.

I'd spend my money a very good pit, one that could cook and hold. Slice brisket to order, offer pulled chicken unless you want to spend extra time and money crisping the skin, on halves or quarters. Many people dislike a skin which is not crispy and think it's not cooked properly.

Pulled pork can keep many hours in a Carlisle hot box, keep moist with some vinegar type sauce.

I hope you get many suggestions here.

woodburner

[woodburner]

Following up with some other information, we had a long discussion regarding the opening of the Dinosaur BBQ in NYC a while back, should prove to be good reading.

Dinosaur Thread

We did discuss the pit used at the NYC location, which is the following,

The Oyler - Manufactured by J&R Manufacturing

woodburner

[ryangary]

Great reading, thanks woodburner. The logistics right now is my biggest concern. I love bbq and want to do it justice. The smoker is a big investment and any help on how best to keep bbq moist and juicy after smoking would be greatly appreciated. I am only familar with cooking foods a la minute with little or no precooking (except for braises).

Edited April 25, 2006 by ryangary (log)

[bandregg]

You might want to make sure that the local government doesn't have any problem with a commerical smoker. Even here in the South most cities won't allow them because of air quality regulations.

[ryangary]

Thanks Bandregg that was the first thing I checked. I think I am the first person to ask such a question because it took forever to get an answer. I guess not much of a bbq awareness up here.

[HKDave]

For holding cooked meat (BBQ or otherwise) you've got a narrow temperature window. You've got to keep it above 60c / 140f or your health inspector will be unhappy, but if you go much higher you'll continue to cook the meat further. Even at 60c, the meat will keep cooking, albeit very slowly.

So you need something with very even low temperature control, that also won't dry the meat out. There is relatively specialized piece of equipment called a holding cabinet that does exactly this, usually by having heating elements in all sides of the cabinet, and no fan. One of the better known brands is Alto-Shamm, see here:

http://www.alto-shaam.com/product.asp?category=3

Another approach, if you've already got an oven that will hold steady at 60c (some combi ovens will do this pretty well), is to wrap the cooked bbq in cling film and hold it in that oven. Obviously, check your holding temperatures regularly.