Sampling at my butcher shop

[eugenek]

Hey guys, I got the opportunity to do a sampling at my local butcher shop yesterday. It was a really good experience to cook on a slightly bigger scale and also to get feedback from customers on my ribs. As I've mentioned in other posts, he ordered some Mexican short ribs recently to see if it the quality was good enough. Good stuff but I thought the taste and texture were definitely grassfed. My butcher also thinks they get more exercise down there due to the terrain which may contribute to it's lean quality.

The cook was a nightmare with the winds that occurred overnight and into the day. That combined with trying to manage 10 slabs (more ingredients, more wrapping, etc.) and worrying about the final product was really stressful. Thank god for the crutch to provide some stability and to pull me through!

I served bite-sized portions with a dill pickle chip on the side. My co-worker stopped by to take some pics. A fun experience overall and it sounds like we'll do it again soon!

[Guy]

Eugene is that you with the goatee and the shades. And I assume the guy next to you is the butcher. Good job.

[David Parrish]

EVERYTHING about that day is awesome. Eugene, thank you for sharing this.

[eugenek]

Thanks PB, appreciate the stamp of approval! Guy, that's me alright.

[David Parrish]

Well deserved. Who's the little girl assisting you?

[Dr ROK]

Looks like it was some fine eats. I bet you got plenty of great feedback. Did you use the trailmaster for the cook?

[_John_]

It all looks great. Get any useful feedback?

[Huskee]

Cool post! Beautiful photography!

[eugenek]

That's my 10yo daughter, she was a great help! I think we had around 50 people stop by the table and the feedback on the ribs was overwhelmingly positive. In addition to talking with folks, I was able to collect some info from a survey form they filled out. I'd be happy to share some high-level findings once I go through the data.

[David Parrish]

That's awesome. I have a nine year old boy myself. He'd have gotten a kick out this kind of thing. I can only imagine you had a great father daughter day.

Can't wait to hear back on the collected data

[_John_]

Is there a background post to this or something? Curious how all this got started.

[eugenek]

Hey John, the last few times I brought samples over to him we talked about setting up outside of his shop to sell some ribs. He basically donated those box of Mexican ribs for me to try out so I told him I could use those and hand out samples. It was a good chance for me to put on my catering hat and a way for him to promote his shop with some activity outside. I just tried to throw things together during the week and bought a table, a chafing dish, put some drinks in an ice chest, etc. I didn't actually sell anything, though, because it's not legal here in LA County.

[jmott7]

Looks great, eugene. Let me know next time. More than happy to help.

[Marauderer]

Great job Eugene!! I am really proud of the way everything came out. And, what a learning experience.

[eugenek]

Thanks guys, the sample size was pretty small (16) but it was still interesting to analyze. Here are a few findings:

- "Grass-fed" and "organic" were the top 2 terms when shopping or consuming beef
- Top expected barbecue sides were coleslaw, baked beans, and pickles
- Most of those who ate out for dinner typically spent over $30 for their meal
- Almost all preferred to pay a flat-rate vs by the pound for their barbecue

I'm sure there are so many factors I didn't consider but I thought it was a good start.