BBQ Math: How to determine the price you'll charge for your brisket

I worked at a BBQ place 20 years ago and this is how the owner broke it down for me as well. A third for food costs, a third for labor, a third for overhead and profit. A lot of people that get into a restaurant business do it because they like making food, not because they want to learn how run a restaurant. You can't base your prices on your competitors, you have no idea what type of meat they're using, are their kids working for free after school, do they cut corners, etc. Price your stuff so that you can still be in business in a year. I've seen a lot of new BBQ places around here start off with a $9-10 plate and then after a month it's $14 because they underpriced it and lost their shirt the first month. But that price shock can drive off customers who think they're getting gouged.

I agree 100% with your math. A restaurant having to charge $28 a pound for something I truly love is exactly why I make my own at home and don’t own a restaurant. 😜

No idea why this was recommended to me by Youtube but I really appreciate this. It's a nice thing to have people giving away trade secrets like this for the betterment of others. Further, I was very surprised by the amount of loss. At 14 pounds initially, I figured you'd end up around 8 so that was interesting.

I ventured into this as an at home meat smoker during 2020. Lost my job temporarily and I knew everyone liked my meat. So I started smoking it for profit... I probably only sold less than 10 things.... but the price point was very astonishing to me. To even recoup my costs, I had to charge way more than I wanted to. The price per pound seemed WAY too high. But do you know how many people complained or tried to negotiate the price?? ZERO! No one cared. They were paying a premium price for a premium product. They had asked me in the past to smoke meat for them, and suddenly I had the time to do it. Luckily, I'm fully employed again, and smoked meat is back to being a hobby!

We always use our trim for our sausage blend which helps with the cost of sausages. Best thing to try to implement with your products is zero waste if and when possible. Another thing we do is use drip pans under our briskets when smoking and use the drippings for gravy and aujus stock.

This is one of those videos that ought to be shown in cooking classes (HomeEc) in high schools. Great video!

Thank you for making this calculation simple to understand.

A local BBQ place on island is charging $40 per lb., and it sucks! I left never to return! My solution was simple... Prime brisket was on sale at Costco last week for $2.99 per lb. I got a 14.3 lb brisket for $43! I smoked it on my Weber and it was beyond amazing, especially with it costing the price of 1 lb. of local ripoff meat @$40! Brisket should NOT require financing! Great video! I should show it to our crappy overpriced BBQ joint guaranteed.

This looks like the start of a great series. I know the same priciples can be applied to most smoked meats but, I think it would be entertaining to see you perform the same activity with Boston Butt, Whole Chickens (and pulled), Chicken Wings, and Ribs (baby back, spare, and St. Louis).

Thank you!! These videos help us consumers understand so much more about your business. Yet some people still think your overcharging us and driving away in a Ferrari

Straight forward and simple to understand. Thanks for the advice and info.

Thank you for making a video on the topic of catering and pricing! Very informative

Good explanation! Would love to see more restaurant insider videos like this!

Thank you sir. You are doing a real service to eveyone putting out content and knowledge like this.

Great video, really enjoyed that you walked through the logic of it all, make a lot of sense, and really shows the fairness of it all. Win win for the pit master and the customer.

Fanstastic video. Thank you for your transparency. I am trying to get into the catering business and BBQ is my thing. This has helped me immensely.

Great content...just found you excited to learn more.

I commend you for your efforts in teaching us about how brisket is sold. I am not a pit master but I have barbecue at home and I understand that cooking bbq is dedication. Best of luck and God Bless.

This was eye opening great info.

Hey Brandon, great video, finally someone has kept it simple and practical, Love your videos man, greetings from southern Australia