Dave thought this would be better as a new thread.
I thought this might be a good discussion since Barbeque is so dependant on the Quality of the grade and the handling of the meat we use as the primary ingredient
First we must look at what bone creep means or could mean to a cut of meat: (all or a couple may apply depending on the meat.
1.) not a top grade animal
2.) sick younger animal not up to full maturity culled off
3.) animal mishandled in the finishing feedlot
4.) animal not housed properly
5.) packing house that is trying to make more money by having more trim to make sausage
6.) packing house with an insane set of butchers
7.) ungraded or worse No-Roll meat
For caterers it has specific problems it as to the catering.
We make money based on bidding a price to feed X amount of people. If there is bone creep yield is going to be lower, I am going to need to feed more racks, profits are out the door.
So we look to bone creep to tell us if we are getting screwed by the supplier and packing house. I reject a lot of cases at delivery. If the cover is not there it goes back. Do this often enough and the warehouse starts to figure out not to try and pawn the crap cases off on me. That means someone else is getting them. But not me.
When you get to selling Q in the $28 to $45 dollar per plate range you are dealing with a sophisticated consumer. When they see bone creep they immediately think you charged them for Choice and purchased Select or No-Roll and tried to screw them. Not a good deal and you will lose the client forever. Not something I am going to do.
The reason it happens is generally from new caterers. Most enter the business having had everyone in their family tell them how good their ribs are and that they should open a place up. Since their only really claim to the food business is "My mom, wife, kids, friends, whatever, say I make great ribs" they start on their merry way by undercutting the price of an event to get it.
They do it because they see they can get ribs on sale for 99 cents per pounds and the local market. However, damn few know how to go through the ribs and pull out the No-Roll that would have made grade, or find the graded meats that were not ruined by the packing house. So they pick up all the ribs on sale for 99 cents per pounds and put on a catering. If it is family and friends and connections like that, they get away with it for a while.
Then they run into the event they bought because my price was high and they know they can get ribs for 99 cents a pound. Only I train my clients about the meat I cook and serve. So they show up, they have bone creep, they have no more business.
Don't get me wrong, they could go do utility catering and make a living and no one would care. When you are in the $8 to $16 dollar per plate range, most won't care about the food quality unless it is down right unedible, they just want their people fed on the cheap and know it is going to be cheap food. But good. I am NOT saying that cheap foods can not be good. I am saying that cheaper foods will never satisfy a $45 per plate barbeque dinner. Can never ever do it. The people paying these prices understand the food and what they are getting. It just does not look like that to those not deep into the food business.
The short answer would be caterers hate it cause we beat our competitors up with it badly and can not have it happen to us.
A Caterer (not a utility caterer but a dining caterer) that has bone creep shows:
They don't understand meat selection
They don't understand packing houses
They don't know how to specify the products they cook
They don't give a crap about quality of what they turn out
They have a poor understanding of animal carcasses
They have no pride in presentation
Which I know sounds harsh, so pick as many emoticons as you need to understand I am not picking on anyone, I just want the information out there for those interested.
Originally posted by DDave
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First we must look at what bone creep means or could mean to a cut of meat: (all or a couple may apply depending on the meat.
1.) not a top grade animal
2.) sick younger animal not up to full maturity culled off
3.) animal mishandled in the finishing feedlot
4.) animal not housed properly
5.) packing house that is trying to make more money by having more trim to make sausage
6.) packing house with an insane set of butchers
7.) ungraded or worse No-Roll meat
For caterers it has specific problems it as to the catering.
We make money based on bidding a price to feed X amount of people. If there is bone creep yield is going to be lower, I am going to need to feed more racks, profits are out the door.
So we look to bone creep to tell us if we are getting screwed by the supplier and packing house. I reject a lot of cases at delivery. If the cover is not there it goes back. Do this often enough and the warehouse starts to figure out not to try and pawn the crap cases off on me. That means someone else is getting them. But not me.
When you get to selling Q in the $28 to $45 dollar per plate range you are dealing with a sophisticated consumer. When they see bone creep they immediately think you charged them for Choice and purchased Select or No-Roll and tried to screw them. Not a good deal and you will lose the client forever. Not something I am going to do.
The reason it happens is generally from new caterers. Most enter the business having had everyone in their family tell them how good their ribs are and that they should open a place up. Since their only really claim to the food business is "My mom, wife, kids, friends, whatever, say I make great ribs" they start on their merry way by undercutting the price of an event to get it.
They do it because they see they can get ribs on sale for 99 cents per pounds and the local market. However, damn few know how to go through the ribs and pull out the No-Roll that would have made grade, or find the graded meats that were not ruined by the packing house. So they pick up all the ribs on sale for 99 cents per pounds and put on a catering. If it is family and friends and connections like that, they get away with it for a while.
Then they run into the event they bought because my price was high and they know they can get ribs for 99 cents a pound. Only I train my clients about the meat I cook and serve. So they show up, they have bone creep, they have no more business.
Don't get me wrong, they could go do utility catering and make a living and no one would care. When you are in the $8 to $16 dollar per plate range, most won't care about the food quality unless it is down right unedible, they just want their people fed on the cheap and know it is going to be cheap food. But good. I am NOT saying that cheap foods can not be good. I am saying that cheaper foods will never satisfy a $45 per plate barbeque dinner. Can never ever do it. The people paying these prices understand the food and what they are getting. It just does not look like that to those not deep into the food business.
The short answer would be caterers hate it cause we beat our competitors up with it badly and can not have it happen to us.
A Caterer (not a utility caterer but a dining caterer) that has bone creep shows:
They don't understand meat selection
They don't understand packing houses
They don't know how to specify the products they cook
They don't give a crap about quality of what they turn out
They have a poor understanding of animal carcasses
They have no pride in presentation
Which I know sounds harsh, so pick as many emoticons as you need to understand I am not picking on anyone, I just want the information out there for those interested.
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