Good day to all…
I have always loved to cook and entertain and in 1994 I started my own BBQ catering business in Olympia, WA. It was an immediate success and we grew to running 5 mobile wood-fired pits for 18 years until I was forced to sell to move to Texas to care for my wife’s mom who came down with lung cancer.
I was able to sell my business before I left (2012) and they are still operating under my name today. (Marv’s Marvlus Pit Bar-B-Q)
Today I have 3 ceramic smokers, a UDS (ugly drum smoker) that I built myself, a Louisiana Grill Pro pellet smoker, a FEC-100 (Fast Eddy) by Cookshack commercial pellet smoker that I kept from my catering business and this summer I bought a Santa Marie grill by Lonestar Grillz of Texas (built not far from where I live)…I think I am well covered in the BBQ area and today I cook for just my wife and I…

I wasn’t saying anyone SHOULD DO anything, I was just throwing it out there that many don’t realize exact costs involved in making something to sell prior to setting their retail price.
Trust me, I have given away for free more than my share of foods that I have prepared to friends, associates, co workers and many others all without a thought of my ROI. I love cooking (BBQ in particular) and enjoy the rush I get giving my creations to people that enjoy my efforts. And like most here, I can afford to do it so why not?

All of that being said, when I started my BBQ catering business, I treated it as such (a business) and a few of those same “friends” suddenly became offended that I would no longer cook at their events for free but when it was time for give a ways they were usually first in line…funny how many friends one has when you give a way free food…

I have had the Thermosorks MK4 (4 of them) for 10+years as I used them in my catering business. I kept one in each catering truck. They are not cheap ($75-$80 ea) so when I sold my business they were among some things I kept. The MK4 is also easily calibrated for accuracy.
I also have their SMOKE unit as it has the meat probe and the ambient probe as well as a unit that you can carry around (I wear it around my neck) with the SMOKE unit I also purchased the 12” meat probe for deep frying.
All of these units I purchased directly from Thermosorks
Oh and as mentioned, their customer service is outstanding to say the least

I also would add if you are looking to purchase equipment as in a grinder, get the most HP you can afford but bear in mind, the more HP the more it costs
As stuffers go, I had the water stuffer that worked great but takes a bit of planning ahead as you have to hook a hose up to it.
I purchased my grinder (3/4 HP) for a little under $500 from Cabelas and the stuffer I ordered on line.
I gave all of my sausage making equipment to my son in WA state when I moved to Texas because it was going to just be my wife and I and she is not a big sausage fan.
I must say though there is no shortage of sausage varieties available anywhere you go in Texas

sfred commercially processed hams are smoked under VERY controlled environment and smoking conditions and cold smoked up to 6 (SIX) weeks…they start from fresh meat.
In your smokehouse build a small fire (is starting with raw wood, burn down to coals) but I use lump charcoal, get it burning good and it will produce a light blue smoke (that’s what you want) then smoke your ham(s) 12 hrs @ 100 degrees…you will need to keep adding coals and adjust your temp/air intake to keep your smoker real close to the 100 degrees.
This process will add smoke without cooking it more.
When ready to eat, bring to internal temp of 135-140 degrees which will take 15-20 mins per pound at 325 degree oven

no_eyes_processor you can go ahead and crank the heat up when doing chicken as it doesn’t need the low-N-slow temp required of other meats as it is already tender.
I usually smoke/BBQ chicken pieces around 275-325 and takes about 1-1/2 hrs. Nice and juicy !!

Austin
For future reference, along with signing up with UPS Choice, I also signed up for USPS (reg mail) for same reason. But with the USPS they email you actual pictures of the envelopes of mail you are set to receive that day. Then they list packages arriving that day so you know what is coming on any given day.
The GREAT thing with the UDPS app is you can order stamps, FREE mailing boxes and then print out a shipping label and have to mail person pick the package up at any given address you list.
The FREE boxes all ship for one price (3 different sizes and 3 different prices) so no matter what you pack in it, it is one price and mailed PRIORITY MAIL.
For Christmas I mailed a medium box to my sister in Oregon that weighed 30 lbs even and cost me $21.50 to mail. Mail carrier picked it up at my house in Texas Monday evening and my sister got it Thursday…AND NO DAMAGE like some experience with ups

Our mail delivery person has been delivering mail to this address (same family owned for 150 years) for 42 years so yea, the family has gotten to know her very well and she takes good care of our mail