Commissary Fees

Craigs list- Jacksonville Florida, March 19th somebody had a hot dog course of some kind listed. I just checked and the listing was still there, not so sure about the course.

what i find funny here in calif., is that i had to have my trailer approved/inspected by the state[through housing and community development] since i stand inside the trailer. and then again through the county health dept.[very redundant]
my trailer has everything in it that a commissary has, ie. sinks [4], hot/cold water, fridge, dry storage.
it is in effect a "licensed and inspected kitchen, yet i still have to have a commissary. i pay nothing for the use of the commissary.
they say it is to have a place to dump gray water[ can be dumped in the commissary toilet] and to get fresh water.[like the water at the commissary is somehow different than any other place in the city.]

i have on board a week of water storage, and i can do all my cleaning at/in the trailer during those slow times.
i keep the parishable products in the fridge and replenish as needed and i can store all the dry goods in the traier.

for some applications i can see where a commissary might be needed, but in my case, it isn't about anything except getting inspection money.
sometimes i just have to call bull****

If anybody is interested in the post I did about the hot dog course listed locally on Craigs list, click on business and search hot dog carts. The item they have listed is $35. I am in no way associated with this listing but am only supplying info for someone that may be interested in what may or may not be a deal. I think I can find what i want to know here.

We are using a local BBQ joint.  No fees.  David gets along well with the local inspector.  No food handling (none schedualed until next year anyway for current county/state).  Water temps are 160 on canned heat.  Inspector impressed over David's self-built cart and the temps achieved on 6 hr canned heat.  Over 35 folks inquired about hot dog carts in our small rural county last year.  Only 1 person actually followed thru on the deal.  David keeps tongs on top of the pan lid... spoons are in the respective condiment pans... ketchup, mustard, mayo & hot sauce are in squirt bottles capped off with pencil erasers.  Extra clean utensils and eraser caps are kept in a clean, empty 1/3 pan sitting at the back of the cold pan.  All foods are kept in "extreme" coolers (Ice will form on the sides of the soda cans). Inspector temperature probe (electronic) said coolers were at 34F.  Said we did not need a sneeze guard but David told him that we did & why WE thought we did (keep customers off the food).

djtomatoe has what our health dept calls a mobile kitchen.  If we had one, we would not need a commissary. We will probably end up building an approved kitchen in NM with 2 RV pads (Our daughter will do a hot dog cart there and wants to become a NM resident) and when we figure out where to settle down for the winters in TX, we will build an approved kitchen with 2 RV pads in TX.  Then we will all bounce back & forth following the sun... summer in NM.... winter in TX... living in RV's.  I dislike having to use a restaurant for a commissary and am uneasy depending on someone else to keep up standards that can shut my business down.

Originally, we thought we had to have a commissary for our unit.... We made a quick letter and canvased our area... we're in a more rural area where 'commercial kitchens' are not for rent.  We ended up striking a deal with a local bar/pub.  It was relatively inexpensive, but we found out we didn't need it anymore.

We tried stores w/ kitchens - like gas stations.

I found a rest. that said they would be my commissary for 100. bucks a month. I thought that was reasonable! But I didn't negotiate, because I needed one before I got too far down the road!!

What do you guys think about a fraternity house? I have a buddy who says their kitchen is commercial in size.

What is the health department looking for in a kitchen??