Test Run And Newbie Questions.

Call me DJM for short and this is my first post here. I am New York born and a current resident in Florida and I am on the verge of getting involved in this business and have questions and here they are and thanks to all of you for answering them ....

I went to Sam's Club to check on prices for hot dogs and the cost of everthing that I should need for a bare bones roll out of a hot dog cart selling soda, bottled water and of course hot dogs on a public sidewalk (more on the cart in a minute).

I need your advice on how many dogs/buns/soda water to buy for thid bare bones test run.

Also what is your opinion of The American Dream Hot Dog cart seller. Are they a good company to buy a cart from?

Can hot chicken wings be kept warm in the steam pans in a hot dog cart? What about onion rings or french fries?

Thanks,

DJM

First off welcome. Second Fl. huh. Investigate city and county first to see if cart allowed and where. Palm Harbor,pinellas county. Apparently FL has issues on county and city. Search at the top helpful, full of info. Have some good local (FL) people down there on this site.

Thanks for the welcome and a search here has not turned up anything on pinellas county or permits as of now.

So I'll be calling the local chamber of commerce and see what they can tell me.

I can still use some help in getting a good idea of just how many dogs/buns/soda and water to buy for a bare bones test run.

Also, I still need your input on fries/onion rings and chicken.

Thanks,

DJM1

Well first off on second question. No not believe you can do chicken on a cart. All that you get from state on what you can sell. Chamber of commerce do not know if they can answer questions. City, which ever town you are going to be in, code on area you want to set up. County for the county reg.s. Lot of hoops in that state but can be done. Scroll down and read the posts about moving consession trl. Spud has some input there on that one post. Lot of posts lately about Fl.

Do not know where you want to go but try on friends and family. Practice with the equip. Get to know the cart first and how to hold proper temps. A couple practice's and go from there. Good first day depends on where you are set up and how much work you want to put into it. Could sell 1-100. Nobody can answer that.

Sorry but holding fried items isnt good. Have you ever ha McDs fries these days they used to limp when they cooled off(a little mealy but they could hancle a hentle reheat. No if they sit 15 min under the lamp they get so rock hard I cant eat them at all! Onion rings would tend to mushy and soggy due to the moistuer in fresh onion. And wings either dry or get rubbery. Starting out, make a plan and stick with it every way you can! Customers will alwats offer their 2 cents but have no concept of the dynamics involved. Dogs, drinks and chips and work from there would be all i would tr.
britt

Can hot chicken wings be kept warm in the steam pans in a hot dog cart? What about onion rings or french fries?

Warm? Yes. You can keep anything warm with a heat source (except ice cubes). That does not mean it is allowed on a cart. How do you think you will fry these items? In advance, and at a seperate location? BAD IDEA! Other than the fact that it would most likely not be legal, fried foods are tempermental. You fry, when/as they buy...or you do not fry.

Good? No. Warm is not the only factor for fries, rings, and wings.


Ok, now erase all this information from your mind. Your homework assignment is to get the regulations, codes, permit information.

Then, a cart.

Then, a menu, test run, practice on family & friends (from the cart) After you have a permit, license, insurance, commissary (if need be) etc.

You cannot do a true test run, without a permit, or license and without a cart. You could do a test run with family & friends, for product selection without a cart. That would just be called a barbecue.


Welcome to Roadfood!

For a shorter cook time on fries, blanch them. You can blanch fries in hot oil and then refrigerate for several hours or freeze. I used to do this when I owned my concession trailer. You need to cut them, soak them in cold water first and rinse, blanch and then refrigerate or freeze and finish cooking when ordered.

Hello. I am new here, as well as to the hot dog cart business. My wife and I just started Tuesday of this week. We purchased our cart from Joel at American Dream and have been pleased. The unit we bought is the Malibu. It is a very small cart but we had no real alternative due to size restrictions in our central business district. There has really only been two issues with the cart so far. One was two small plumbing leaks, repaired with a simple twist of a screwdriver and a dab of silicone. The other is that the steamer pans get so darned hot even on low that we have to cycle the heat on and off throughout the day to keep things from burning. I have read that this is not an uncommon problem with many carts however.

The ice well in the center of the cart works surprisingly well. I never thought I would be able to keep ice in that thing all day being that close to the heat source, but it works like a champ.

We also had the grill added to our cart. It works flawlessly. After simmering the dogs, all it takes is 30 seconds on the grill to sear in perfection LOL. Bottom line. Joel is a nice, knowledgeable fella. He sells a nice cart IMO. He was very accomodating, and I would purchase from him again.