Meet Grillin N Chillin - Equipment Changes

Having finally found and purchased our used, but like-new trailer from down in Phoenix, it was time to make it truly ours.

On the agenda? Remove some equipment, add some equipment, get proper inspections and licenses, and MOST IMPORTANTLY - get the new wrap designed and installed.

We'd signed off on the grill truck concept so, even though the menu was still in flux, we knew we'd need a char grill. We did not need the 36" griddle that was there so we pulled it out (those babies are HEAVY!!) and slid a brand new 36" grill into its place.

Out with the old...

... and in with the new!

We also anticipated doing some open-faced grilled chicken sandwiches with melted cheese and possibly some cheese crisps or gratins.  So we had a cheese melter installed.

There were still a few small things we wanted to do inside but, by-and-large we were ready to cook!  

On to the wrapping project...!

Meet Grillin N Chillin: Buying our First Food Truck

It has been more than a month from our last lead, but eventually, Craigslist came through again. This listing was for a 16' "almost new" trailer crammed full of useful equipment. The owner had just lowered the price from $80k to $60k. Still well above what we wanted to spend, but I called the owner, anyway.

He told me lots about the trailer. It had been custom made for him in 2016 (less than 2 years ago) by a well-respected local (Phoenix) builder for $95,000(!!). Food Trucking was just something he had always wanted to do, but now he wanted to go back to his old job as a banker. He needed to cash-out his investors and could not carry. Another deal on it had just fallen through at $60k.

I told him we had cash but that his price was out of our budget.  He asked if we would be more interested if he could drop the price "significantly".  I said "Maybe" and that I would like to come down and see it. He said "sure" and we set up a time for a few days later.

In the meantime, I connected with the trailer builder Pat from Stratabella in Phoenix, who confirmed all the information the owner had given me.  He seemed genuinely nice and was very helpful, saying he'd be happy to check the trailer out and could do any modifications we might want to have made, when the time came.

We met as planned at the storage yard where the trailer was being parked. One tire was very low, but the outside looked in solid shape. 

He opened it up, and I was impressed. Lots of like-new equipment, plenty of refrigeration, good layout. 

I poked around, asked lots of questions and told him we were 100% serious and ready to buy, had been looking at other possibilities, but were also in no hurry.

He seemed eager to sell and kept pressing for an offer. I told him that his asking price was fair, but just not in our budget. I really liked the trailer, but it was out of our league. He still kept pressing, so I finally told him our budget was $40k. He looked like he would be sick. 

"You can't do any better at all?", he asked.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think we can".

(Sigh) "Well, I'll talk to my partners and let you know what they say."

So I left, a little shell-shocked that we were still in the running for this unit, and headed back to the ranch.

The next day, the trailer owner called. He said his partners just could not come down to our price. (I was not surprised). BUT, he said, if you can come up to $45k, we have a deal. (from $80k to $45k? Ok, now I WAS surprised!!)

"Wow. I don't know if we can swing that." I told him "Let me see if I can get Kathryn to go for it."

She said, "Yes". We'd already discussed the possibility of coming up a bit more, both realizing what a great deal it was.  When I called him back, told him we had a deal IF they could do it for $44k and he accepted!  So we made an appointment to go complete the purchase and take the title a few days later.

The transaction went fairly smoothly (banks can be so fussy to work with), and by noon we were the proud new owners of an awesome little almost-new mobile food kitchen. The whole search and purchase had taken less than 6 weeks!  I guess it was just meant to be.

On my way home with our new food trailer!

The Hunt for Our First Food Truck

The search started slowly. Just exploring the market, seeing what was out there. In all honesty, we'd only seen a few food trucks up close and needed to learn a lot more before committing to this new venture.

We'd been to a few food truck rallies and chatted up the owners, but they were usually too busy for much more than a short exchange. None of them had invited us inside for a look. 

We had decided that a trailer would work best for us. We already had a good towing vehicle in my F-350, and the thought of buying someone else's truck mechanical problems was not appealing. 

So, we started looking at online classified ads and regularly checked in with Craigslist. What we found was not encouraging. 

We found lots of old, really beat or empty shells of food trucks/trailers priced at about what we had hoped to spend for a turnkey rig. Most of the ones that looked good enough to consider were in the $75k and up range. Time for an expectational adjustment.

We found an ad for a local food trailer for sale, contacted the owner and made an appointment to see it. He said it was a 16-footer, which was in the size range we were looking, and that he wanted $45k, also in our range. We were excited!

Unfortunately, the trailer was cramped and in rough shape (service window falling out, plumbing not working) and had limited equipment included in the price. He also said that it was his partner who wanted to sell (he was reluctant) so maybe they wouldn't sell.  Fine by us as we could avoid telling him we really weren't interested, anyway.

Then there was a 21' trailer in Chandler with some equipment (already sold), and another 14' one that was basically the shell of a food trailer ($21k), no thank-you!

The next opportunity came in a Craigslist post. A newer (5 years old) 20' trailer, bright yellow and nicely outfitted, asking: $65,000. It was in Las Vegas, but we could travel for the right deal. Unfortunately, it had also been sold when I called.

The hunt continues...

Food Truck? Trailer? Tent? Cart? How to decide.

There are a lot of food vending options and once you have made the commitment to going mobile, you need to make that first big decision: Which is the best choice for me? Truck? Trailer? Tent? Cart? 

One could probably write a book on the subject, but it all boils down to: What are your resources? What are your markets/venues? What is your menu? Do you have a personal preference?

Food Trucks

Although the term has become generic in describing the whole gamut of mobile food vendors, it specifically describes any self-propelled food selling vehicles on wheels. They can sell prepackaged, ready-to-eat snacks and foods, or be fully equipped full-service mobile restaurants. 

They can be tiny, from the size of a food cart married to a motorcycle, or as large as a city bus...

  ..but are usually somewhere in between, from 14 to 32 feet .long and 7 feet wide is common.

Pros

• 100% self-contained.
• Easier to park than a trailer
• Faster to set-up and break-down than a trailer.

Cons

• If the truck mechanically breaks down, you are pretty much out of business until fixed.
• Less working space per linear foot than a trailer (usually narrower plus cab takes up space)
• Food trucks are the most expensive to get into, especially if you already have a good vehicle for towing a trailer.

Food Trailers

Food Trailers are food trucks without the self-propelled option.  They need to be towed between venues and into position by another vehicle.  They range in size from tiny up to 53 feet long.  Most trailers are 8.5 feet wide.

 

Pros

• If tow vehicle breaks down, you can still get to an event with a loaner/rental, etc.
• More working space per linear foot (usually wider and no cab taking up space) than a truck

Cons

• Needs a separate tow vehicle
• Most difficult to park
• More work & time to set-up and break-down tan a truck.

Food Carts

Food carts are small, usually specialized mobile food serving kiosks.  Think of ice cream, hot dogs, popcorn, or pretzels (although there are street-vending carts doing much more elaborate preparations).  They are hand-pushed or loaded onto a truck or trailer for transport between locations.

  

Pros

• Lowest entry cost
• Easily maneuverable and suitable for indoor or outdoor events.

Cons

• Need a vehicle to transport between distant locations.
• Very limited in menu scope.

Food Tents

Just what they sound like.  Temporary structures which can be a simple 10x10' pop-up to larger and more elaborate configurations.  Full outdoor kitchen set-ups often require a large box truck to transport all the components.

 

Pros

• Inexpensive start-up costs.
• Flexible configurations for different situations

Cons

• Some health departments do not support them.
• Some venues do not allow them.
• Untenable in inclement (especially windy) conditions
• The most set up and break-down work & time.

Conclusion

One of the best comparisons I've seen comes from an experienced food trucker Eddie Little Bear from his post on a food discussion group...

"In my opinion - and this is just my opinion, based on having worked tents, trailers and trucks - tents are best for quick pop-up events, like farmers' markets. Trailers are good for bigger multi-day events, like county fairs and music festivals. Trailers also have the advantage of being available in larger sizes than trucks, allowing for more options in your menu. Also, if your tow vehicle breaks down, it's not too hard to rent or borrow one to get your trailer to an event. Trucks are best for hunting down the "lunch trade", working multiple markets during a given week, possibly even creating a regular "circuit" (Mon in the XYZ parking lot, Tue across from the theater, Wednesday at the microbrewery, etc.). Trucks have the advantage of being able to move fast to get to where the customers are. So, before you buy, think about what venues you are looking at getting into." 

Oh, and yes!  There are even Food Boats and who knows what other concepts creative food entrepreneurs have come up with (or will)!

Food Truckin', a Shift in Menu Direction

My original vision of opening a fried chicken truck was fading.  The specialized equipment we had found we needed to accomplish our goals seemed impractical to install in a truck or trailer and I didn't want to just do fried wings, or tenders, or patties. By the time we figured all this out, we (and here I should probably start saying "I" as Kathryn was busy with our real job of running the dairy) had already caught the food truck bug.  Big-time.

I'm no dreamer. I'm a pragmatic. I knew that all those simplified and romanticized versions of the easy and glamorous life portrayed on movies and reality TV were not reality at all. I'd worked in restaurant kitchens for a long time so had a good idea of the life. Still, there was some undeniable appeal to the idea. I still wanted to give it a go.

Having all but completely scrapped the fried chicken menu idea, we started to discuss other options.  Maybe something a little healthier than fry-fry?

What about grilling? People think of grilling as healthier than frying. I'd been a restaurant line grill cook for years and was very comfortable cooking the style. It is, in fact, the style of cooking we primarily do at home.

There were plenty of menu possibilities with grilled foods. Nearly every cuisine and culture in the world has grilled foods among their specialties. And talk about history - people have been grilling food since we were living in caves!

Yep. Grilling might work well to base our menu on, so I began thinking of our new food truck concept as The Grill Truck. 

Researching all the possible different grilled foods out there was great fun.  I loved many of the foods and combinations I was learning about. I even came up with a catchy name for the truck (because you HAVE to have a catchy name for a food truck, right?)...

"Grillin N Chillin"

Pretty cool, right?

This was going to be fun!

Fried Chicken Truck or Bust? The Adventure Begins

After coming home from a trip to Phoenix with a bee in my bonnet about starting a new food truck business - a FRIED CHICKEN food truck business, we both knew we had a lot to learn to see if it was even a possibility.  

It sounded like a fun idea, and we knew about running food businesses and cooking and serving professionally, but what did we really know about food trucks?  It turns out - not much! All we really knew about them was that food trucks were an up-and-coming "thing", hugely popular in some parts of the country, and growing more popular almost everywhere.  

We knew nothing about their specific popularity in Arizona, or locally, about regulations for them, costs, etc. I hadn't even eaten from a food truck since my college days in Providence, RI in the 1970s, where Haven Brothers was the go-to spot for the late-night crowds.

So we immersed ourselves in the Internet as a start. We joined food truck discussion groups. We collected food truck web sites. We trolled food truck chats.  We bought several (actual paper) books about food trucking. We spoke with the few food truckers we could find in the area.  Yes, we even watched the movie "Chef" (finding it highly unlikely, despite our naïve state) and traveled across the state to attend food truck festivals. We learned a lot about food trucking - and liked what we learned.

Next, it was time to explore the world of Fried Chicken Food Trucks.  

What we learned surprised us enough for us to question the very basics of our venture's premise. The first thing we learned was that there just aren't that many mobile fried chicken food trucks out there.

Oops, this truck is now out of business!

There are plenty of trucks that serve wings, tenders, boneless breast sandwiches, or "pregurgitated" chicken patties, but very few doing bone-in fried chicken pieces.

Why is that? Was the market just not there?  Was there some barrier to making fried chicken on a truck? Or... was this a great opportunity for us to fill a need?

It turns out that the main barriers are space, timing, weight, and cost.  Conventional deep frying techniques can't keep up with peak demand without having a huge bank of fryers going all the time (no room for that on most trucks).  Then you have to balance keeping the fried chicken as fresh as possible out of the fryer without making people wait so long they get irritated.  And also without keeping so much fried up that it gets old and dry under a heat lamp and goes to waste.

It is possible to make dynamite fried chicken with a regular deep fryer (or even just a good heavy frying pan), BUT, at about 35 minutes per batch, it is all but impossible to do it in the quantities we wanted, or at the speeds we needed to achieve success. And then we learned something new.

Could the solution be as simple as a piece of equipment?? 

We learned that quick-serve fried chicken specialty restaurants almost universally use highly specialized, very expensive, computer-controlled, and VERY heavy pressure deep fryers. Invented and originally patented by Harland David "Colonel" Sanders of KFC fame himself, these fryers allow them to produce super-moist, perfectly crisp fried chicken in large batches, in about 9 minutes!

Pressure-Fryer. Price: $13,000,

48# oil capacity, empty weight: 640 lbs,

chicken capacity: 14 lbs.

Unfortunately for us, pressure fryers and food trucks are not a great match.  Ignoring the price (which is about 20 times that of a conventional deep fryer), the size and weight both make it a tough sell for the cramped quarters of a mobile kitchen.  We could not see ourselves going this route.

Another dissuader? When KFC, world-renowned for their on-the-bone fried chicken and originators of the pressure fryer, opened their first food truck, they opted to offer just chicken breast patty sandwiches, not whole pieces.  Who are we to argue?

Yes, there are a few successful real fried chicken trucks out there working every day, and more power to them! But, from everything we could learn, their methods would not work for the truck and the venues we were envisioning.

So.  Where does that leave us?  Time to re-evaluate the whole concept, I guess.