April 30, 2021 update: The state of Utah has become the second, after California, to legalize home cooking operations. H.B. 94 was signed into law in the spring of 2021 to permit home chefs to sell to the public across the state.

Denise Blackmon learned to make gumbo from her mother, who learned it from a cousin from Louisiana.

“It’s literally just a list of ingredients, no measurements. I had to watch her make it over the years forever and I just know how much red pepper is supposed to go in and how it’s supposed to look,” says Blackmon, who runs a home-cooked soul food operation in Moreno Valley, California.

Blackmon, who launched Soul Goodness in August 2019, has seen her business grow substantially since California’s shelter in place order was enacted in March. She has gone from cooking two days a week to four or five, “and each time, I’m at my max,” she says. There are no soul food restaurants in Moreno Valley—an arid city located east of Riverside in Southern California—so her cooking has drawn a number of committed customers to Foodnome, the website that serves as a marketplace for her and other home cooks looking to sell meals in the region.

“I don’t just do fried chicken, but different kinds of fried fish, oxtail, gumbo, and smothered pork chops. You’re not going to get that at Coco’s or Applebee’s,” says Blackmon.

And her traditions go deep, as evidenced by feedback she’s hearing from repeat customers. “I had an older Black lady call me up and get very emotional. She thanked me and said my food tasted just like her mother’s,” she adds.

Although Blackmon had served platters of black-eyed peas and greens to large groups of friends, she had never worked as a professional chef before she clicked on a Facebook advertisement for Foodnome aimed at recruiting home cooks. The site helped her get her space in order, get an inspection from the local health department, and reach an audience. Within six weeks, she was catering a grand opening event for around 150 people.

Or perhaps you’ve figured out how to cook amazing barbecue and now you’re hearing things like, “you should do this for a business” or “would you cook for us at our family get-together?” but all you’ve got is backyard toys like a small charcoal grill and offset smoker?

Well, I’ve been there and done that… and I’ve learned that it is possible to feed quite a few people with my Meadow Creek SQ36 Smoker and BBQ26S Chicken Cooker.

In 2014 I had the privilege of cooking for two different local businesses. Since I’m just a backyarder, my equipment is small, and the kitchen I was using in our rented apartment was crowded. In spite of that, I was able to make a decent chunk of cash without investing in any more equipment.

This article is not about setting up in the town square every weekend to sell barbecue plates, although that could be a lot of fun and quite profitable. In my case, the clients were just paying me to cook their meat, which meant less commitment and work on my part. They provided the meat, prepared the sides, served the food, and cleaned up afterward, so all I had to do was help plan the meat menu, make sure the meat arrived on time, and cook the meat.

You should check with your local health department to make sure you are in compliance, but don’t get intimidated with the details. Even on a small scale, cooking for profit can be a great way to make some extra money, donate to charities, or simply fund your barbecue lifestyle.

Tips on getting started with cooking for profit:

1. Master the skill of cooking amazing barbecue. I’m gonna take for granted you have a decent smoker of some sort that will hold a consistent temperature and a fair amount of meat. Chances are you have some experience running it, but if you need help polishing your skills, study the recipes and tips in StoryQue magazine or a credible source online. The goal is to get so good at cooking barbecue that you get comments like, “You should cook for a business!”

Your cooking skills will help to sell your services. Because of other obligations in my business, I’m not sure when I’ll do more cooking for profit; but just these two events have brought me more people who want me to cook for their family gatherings or events. The key to selling your cooking is to master the skill of amazing barbecue.

2. Have friends that don’t know how (or like) to cook. This is pretty easy, actually. Most people’s everyday relationships are not centered on barbecue, but on community, family, business, etc. Everyone likes to eat, but not everyone knows how to make really good barbecue. These are great opportunities for you to shine.

3. Start with just the meat. Let your client provide all the sides and be responsible for serving and cleaning up the party. This is a simple way to cut out a ton of work on your part, while still making some decent cash and just focusing on what you are really good at—cooking barbecue. You can deliver the meat or have the client pick it up at your house, but either way, you pull or slice the meat and just provide instructions for heating it or keeping it warm.

4. Step it up a bit. In other words, you’ve just gotta do what you’ve done for a few people many times before, but on a slightly larger scale. Cooking for 100 people is not that different from cooking a Memorial Day feast for 10 people with leftovers—it just involves a little more meat and more pressure to get it done at a certain time.

5. Don’t over-extend yourself. Your smoker can only hold a certain amount of meat and your grill can only cook so much in one batch. It really comes down to having a plan. Figure out the amount of people you are cooking for, how much your equipment can handle, and how long each thing will take to cook.

Most good cooks and bakers have been told at some time that “you should be selling this,” but in the past, putting that idea into practice meant a head-on collision with food safety laws. Most states have now found a middle ground, passing “cottage food” laws that allow entrepreneurial cooks to sell food from home under clearly defined conditions. Those conditions vary among jurisdictions but usually include limits on the kinds of food you can sell and how much money you can make.

Research finds that people who eat home-cooked meals on a regular basis tend to be happier and healthier and consume less sugar and processed foods, which can result in higher energy levels and better mental health.⁴ Eating home-cooked meals five or more days a week is even associated with a longer life.

Those mental health benefits increase considerably when we eat home-cooked meals with other people. In fact, communal meals can make us feel happier even outside of meal times.⁵ That’s partly because social connections reinforced over meals can help us cultivate a sense of belonging and even reduce symptoms of depression. Sharing the joy of home cooking also preserves cultural knowledge and history as we pass recipes from generation to generation.

As if all that weren’t enough, home-cooked meals can also benefit the environment – and all of us, by extension – by saving money and reducing our carbon footprint.⁶ Home cooking gives us the opportunity to choose component ingredients over processed meals, which cuts down on packaging. Buy those ingredients from local farmers or grow your own, and you’ll make an even bigger impact on the environment by significantly reducing the amount of transportation required to get food to your plate.

By: https://www.livestrong.com/article/517636-homecooked-meals-vs-fast-food-meals/

When comparing the nutritional value of fast food vs. home-cooked meals, the meals that you prepare yourself are frequently much healthier. Fast foods and restaurant meals may be high in salt, artery-clogging cholesterol and calories. By preparing your own dishes, you can control the ingredients, substituting sugar-free sweeteners or low-sodium options and including more vegetables and whole grains. Choosing healthy fats for your recipes will contribute to the health of your heart.