merryck
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 477
Club RR Member Number: 9
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Restaurant refitmerryck
@merryck
Club Retro Rides Member 9
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Jan 19, 2020 23:24:54 GMT
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Not sure where to put this, but I'd like to document what I'm doing!
For the last 5 1/2 years I've run a gourmet burger restaurant with my brother. It started as a pop up to help him get out of working as a chef for other people as he was constantly working long hours for sod all pay. Previously I was a web developer, but now we both work long hours for sod all pay, but we do it for ourselves so it's ok.
It is, honest!
Basically we've saved a bit of money and want to bring the place back up to it's best. There's your usual repainting, filling holes, replacing light fitting, but I'm also wanting to build/install;
- Steel framed shelves - Steel framed counters with reclaimed parquet floor as inserts - A seating booth - Three tables for booths - Steel table frames with live-edge wooden tops - New light up signs for the front and side of the building - Repair or replace railings - Fit heaters to our outside space
There's more. I know there's more but I can't think what it is at the moment!
I've previously built quite a few things, our current counters, a pair of booths, a sign we have hanging out the front etc. I was going to post some photos of bits I've done previously to flavour the thread as this is currently in the planning stages, but I don't seem to be able to find any!
I'll take photos this time I promise!
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jpsmit
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,251
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Jan 19, 2020 23:45:11 GMT
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Oooo another interesting project! Doubly so as it will be funded out of sod all pay :LOL: Nothing says love like bringing yourself down to yours brothers level financially
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merryck
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 477
Club RR Member Number: 9
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Restaurant refitmerryck
@merryck
Club Retro Rides Member 9
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Found some photos of the smoker I built! Trailer being built; Oil drum fitted - this one is where the fire lives. Door in the front Top drum - this is where the meat lives. This curved door was a real ballache to get right. Working til late. Up early in the morning. Thought this would look cool - the grates welded together at an angle, set to look like a chevron. It was a terrible idea. Makes it really hard to use a spatula, luckily we mainly cook joints in this. All attached together! Chimney fitted, had to make up a collet for it. This chimney got stolen for some reason. I recently had to make up a new one! Test fire! Paint didn't take long to burn off. The inside was completely cleaned with an angle grinder to remove any interior coating. We use this whenever we can at the restaurant, but we also have an electric smoker which we use every now and then, it's a lot easier to control the temperatures, but this is a lot more fun.
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swampy76
Part of things
Posts: 692
Member is Online
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Have a look at a place v-ate in Lincolnshire for some ideas , they have a website and face book page
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jamesd1972
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,818
Club RR Member Number: 40
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Restaurant refitjamesd1972
@jamesd1972
Club Retro Rides Member 40
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Good luck with all this sounds like a good reason to do your own thing. Whats the 'theme' for the burger joint, sounds industrial / reclaimed from what you are looking to build. Nice to see a brat still in use ?
Quick question on that smoker trailer build - you sure you've got the indespension units mounted on the right sides? I thought they were usually trailing set up (wheels behind spring unit).
James
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Jan 20, 2020 14:58:18 GMT
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Nice, like it👍 Always liked a bit of Castrol brisket 😀
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merryck
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 477
Club RR Member Number: 9
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Restaurant refitmerryck
@merryck
Club Retro Rides Member 9
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Jan 20, 2020 15:55:49 GMT
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Good luck with all this sounds like a good reason to do your own thing. Whats the 'theme' for the burger joint, sounds industrial / reclaimed from what you are looking to build. Nice to see a brat still in use ? Quick question on that smoker trailer build - you sure you've got the indespension units mounted on the right sides? I thought they were usually trailing set up (wheels behind spring unit). James The food is American style burgers, big and juicy, they are amazing. Generally the interior is whatever takes our fancy at the time, currently it’s quite industrial/reclaimed as it allows me to make the most of the money we’ve got. If I can build it myself then I’m able to do a lot more on the budget we’ve got! We like to keep the space quite light and airy still though. It’s a hard balance. The Brat has gone to the great scrapyard in the sky unfortunately, was beyond saving and despite trying to give it away repeatedly no one wanted it. The trailer is far too tall to take anywhere and far too light for the suspension to do it’s thing, so it’s largely irrelevant, but they could well be wrong, it would make sense that they should be trailing, but I have to be honest it didn’t even occur to me at the time!!
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merryck
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 477
Club RR Member Number: 9
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Restaurant refitmerryck
@merryck
Club Retro Rides Member 9
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Jan 20, 2020 19:11:44 GMT
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So one of the things I need to be doing it making up some new signage. Obviously our logo has to be pretty dead on, so I've been looking at getting things laser cut/CNC'd, but it looks quite expensive. With the amount I'll be doing it makes sense to find my own CNC router - does anyone know how difficult it is to get into using one of these? I assume it's not just plug and play!
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dikkehemaworst
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 1,569
Club RR Member Number: 16
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Restaurant refitdikkehemaworst
@dikkehemaworst
Club Retro Rides Member 16
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Jan 20, 2020 22:21:39 GMT
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Do not know your concept , but the biggest hit in our hometown is this place, burgers-hoorn.nl/Owner has 30 years plus experience in pub and bars , so not bad to steal an idea..( maybe 2) Order at the counter as you wish , ( beautiful burgers by the way) and take your plate and look for a table. No table service , no delivery , no yelling commercials , just epic burgers with fresh buns from the bakers next door. If the website doesn't automatically translate , give a yell , i'll help you. best of luck!!
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merryck
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 477
Club RR Member Number: 9
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Restaurant refitmerryck
@merryck
Club Retro Rides Member 9
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I’ll check it out, thanks! I’m always looking for a new burger place to try out, I think they call it ‘competitor analysis’!
In other news, we’ve just made it into the finals of the National Burger Awards, which is great, this will be the third time! That makes us one of the top 16 in the country!
The final takes place in Feb, need to have at least part of this refit done by then!!
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Jan 21, 2020 13:05:00 GMT
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Just catching up with this thread, it sounds awesome! Where are you based?
Any tips for building a smoker? I have a drum style bbq but I prefer smoking so I was going to build a separate tank for the heat (I was thinking gas bottle?)
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1966 Ford Cortina GT 2018 Ford Fiesta ST
Full time engineer, part time waffler on Youtube - see Jim_Builds
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merryck
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 477
Club RR Member Number: 9
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Restaurant refitmerryck
@merryck
Club Retro Rides Member 9
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Jan 21, 2020 23:08:34 GMT
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You just have to be conscious of where the heat and smoke will flow. Mine has a large baffle in the bottom of the top part which is a sheet of steel that forces the smoke to flow from the back of the barrel to the front, then back again to get to the chimney.
This means the entire grill gets smoked, without it the smoke would just flow across the back end and the front wouldn’t get touched.
I also have a lot of heat coming straight up from the lower barrel, which means this smoker can only be for hot smoked food.
I drew a diagram when I built it, I’ll see if I can find it!
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Paul Y
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,948
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Just catching up with this thread, it sounds awesome! Where are you based? Any tips for building a smoker? I have a drum style bbq but I prefer smoking so I was going to build a separate tank for the heat (I was thinking gas bottle?) Jim, Have a look at the backyard Brethren for plans and ideas on smokers. www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/ real friendly lot a very enthusiastic. I made a UDS about 10 years ago and it makes fantastic direct smoked brisket, chicken etc. Easy to make and great fun to experiment with. P.
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merryck
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 477
Club RR Member Number: 9
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Restaurant refitmerryck
@merryck
Club Retro Rides Member 9
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I couldn't find my diagram, or even my sketchup which is really annoying, but here's a quick one showing the flow of smoke through my smoker. I'm not sure how you'd build a smoker using a barrel BBQ and a separate gas cylinder as the smoking chamber, but I guess it would be the same principle. I've seen people using them just placed on the floor next to the other smoker and pipes connecting them as chimneys. Maybe I'm too stuck in the thinking of a wood burning stove, but that doesn't look like it would work to me. It must do, as quite a few people do it!
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jpsmit
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,251
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Jan 22, 2020 13:12:08 GMT
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Just catching up with this thread, it sounds awesome! Where are you based? Any tips for building a smoker? I have a drum style bbq but I prefer smoking so I was going to build a separate tank for the heat (I was thinking gas bottle?) Not an expert by any stretch but, I have a cheapish store bought unit - One key is making sure doors and lids are tight - Mine was not a good seal and I could never get it warm enough. I got a movers blanket which I throw over the whole thing - so much better!
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Jan 22, 2020 14:55:50 GMT
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Just catching up with this thread, it sounds awesome! Where are you based? Any tips for building a smoker? I have a drum style bbq but I prefer smoking so I was going to build a separate tank for the heat (I was thinking gas bottle?) Not an expert by any stretch but, I have a cheapish store bought unit - One key is making sure doors and lids are tight - Mine was not a good seal and I could never get it warm enough. I got a movers blanket which I throw over the whole thing - so much better! That's the problem with the one I have which I why I was tempted to have a go at chopping the lid to get a better seal and add a separate heat source. The other option is a store bought smoker which probably won't be much better!
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1966 Ford Cortina GT 2018 Ford Fiesta ST
Full time engineer, part time waffler on Youtube - see Jim_Builds
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jpsmit
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,251
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Not an expert by any stretch but, I have a cheapish store bought unit - One key is making sure doors and lids are tight - Mine was not a good seal and I could never get it warm enough. I got a movers blanket which I throw over the whole thing - so much better! That's the problem with the one I have which I why I was tempted to have a go at chopping the lid to get a better seal and add a separate heat source. The other option is a store bought smoker which probably won't be much better! you can buy stove door rope seal really inexpensively off amazon and various other places
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merryck
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 477
Club RR Member Number: 9
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Restaurant refitmerryck
@merryck
Club Retro Rides Member 9
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Jan 23, 2020 12:46:40 GMT
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Yeah decent stove rope is important. Never managed to get the glue to work too well so I made some clips for mine to hold it in place!
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Jan 23, 2020 13:14:32 GMT
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Another one bookmarked. I really must stop this but, well, I love burgers.
Our local one is Zarks. Pretty good as well.
There was one called, originally, "Burger Bar" in Makati and was top dollar, my daughter's favourite. But it got taken over by an outfit that call it, "Eight Cuts". "5hite" would be more accurate.
Good luck with the refit.
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Last Edit: Jan 23, 2020 13:16:05 GMT by georgeb
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