Farmer Makes Money With King Size Barbecue

Farmer Makes Money With King Size Barbecue FARM HOME Food 8-3-30 Ray Rutten has built what he thinks is the best pig cooker in the Midwest and he now has a good sideline business going renting out the cooker, or catering to company picnics, organizations, and clubs. The gas-fired pig cooker was built from an old 500 gal. fuel barrel. Its three rows of grates hold up to 35 chickens, two hogs side-by-side, or as much as 400 lbs. of beef. Key to the design are water pans that hang on chains below the grates. The pans hold water that generates steam which, in turn, speeds the cooking process and keeps the meat moist. The pans also catch drippings from the meat, preventing fires. "It's as good as any commercial barbecue, yet cost only about $500 to build," Rutten told FARM SHOW, noting that, besides barbecuing, he uses the cooker to smoke meat by adding sawdust to the LP-heated cooking briquettes at the bottom of the cooker for flavoring. The temperature in the cooker can be precisely regulated from 150? to 500?. The cooker is rigged for over-the-road travel with the LP tank mounted on the tongue. Rutten says he can also put griddles on top of the grates for cooking hamburgers, pancakes, eggs and anything else that needs a flat cooking surface. He rents the cooker out to large parties and caters parties himself, using his own special barbecue sauce recipe. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ray Rutten, Rt. 1, Osakis, Minn. 56360.

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.