Would appreciate your input "fundraising with smoke"

[GUS]

Folks.
My Daughter is about to leave her cub group to move into scouts, however I think due to funding issues & incompetence on part of some committee members finances could be a burden for anyone who steps into leaderships shoes.
Bluntly put, the hq is owned by our group , when a group folds all the monies from land, funds, kit etc go directly to scouting HQ, if you subsequently start up again you merely receive a grant of around £800 for kit, rent etc, so you can see why i'd like to try & ensure continuity...

Therefore as one of the very slack fundraisers I'm wondering what could be smoked & sold easily over the course of a few summer fetes (afternoon duration) & a couple of weekender's to bolster funds?

Garlic bulbs smoked, how much to charge (200g = 3 bulbs from Lidl) ..noticed that the ridiculously overpriced farm shop "visiting centre" charges £1.50+ per bulb.

Vanilla sugar ...we already do this vac sealed.

Any food sales have to hold basic hygiene food handling etc.

I've noticed the garlic firm implies it's smoked for 60hrs, do you reckon that is purely time smoked or in a smoker (there's always a difference when it comes to marketing) eg sitting & absorbing more residual smoke within the environment afterwards prior to packaging?

what would you pay,as a consumer for a nice sized garlic bulb? (this aint Borough market) ,..how many do you think would sell amongst a few smokey & sweet delights, & what would the "keep" time / window be for product saleability, to work out some numbers & costings.

How would you like a bulb packaged? ..paper bag? twist of greaseproof paper & wire tied?

For vanilla we seal (not vacuum) into vac bags having used 1 lb of caster sugar & "massage" it daily with a split, de-seeded pod, then add extra seed for appearance, use a dymo printer label with the logo et al on (less than a penny per label) & make a silver card belt for it, (free paper / card) & sell it for £3.50 or so.

obviously I'd love to be able to buy & smoke cheese but there is such uncertainty related to produce sales, i'd love to try a farmers market or similar with a gammut of goods & prove a point, but could not afford to swallow the outlay, nor would it be granted.

Sadly fundraising parents are non-existent so it's somewhat infuriating.

Idea's & costings from those who may have done similar in order that I can try & push the envelope (or fill it) as I'm sure some of you have done some charitable smoking previously, (the amount we seem to give away is charity in itself)

I reckon a local farming family I do pumpkin carving for would also sell (honesty pitch side of road) bulbs for me & collect the money or on a split basis!? ..slow burn fundraising however.

[onewheeler]

Smoked seeds? Our local farmers market has a bloke selling them for well over £3 for a bag. Looks like a mix of sunflower, pumpkin etc. Smoked nuts? Smoked salt? Anything not too perishable and cheap to buy in bulk. Worth having some free samples as well, as it makes people feel obliged to buy.

I wonder if smoked fudge would be nice?

Garlic takes forever to smoke to a decent degree of smokiness. I could believe 60 hours.

Martin/

[GUS]

Smoked seeds, yes, why did I not think of that!? ..that's why I asked though.

I've got to do some math for each & every item, & there is already a bit of a market for garlic bulbs which is why I thought of doing them don't know the lifespan though) but at 3 for 80p it's worth looking at a £4.80's (18) worth to start with & see sold @ £1.20 that'd be £21.60 do-able in one long smoke.

[NCPaul]

Smoked nuts, esp. almonds for me.

[GUS]

have been looking around at prices for bulbs, there is a really big difference
100g from lidl 79p

through to £1.99 at "Tossco" for 500g & a few variances inbetween, am curious as to what "value" garlic is?

currently have the samples on smoke accumulated hours of 80hrs using the usual 50 /50 mix , they smell smokey but am just going to bang away, as we all know, smokey outer doesn't mean smokey inner!

...which brings me onto storage, (i'm after some rationale here as usual) paper bags so they don't sweat screwed up & wire tied x2 to hopefully keep the smokey atmosphere working in?

Or what?

plus realistically what is the lifespan of a smoked garlic bulb? & how long should it sit to ponder before being used for imaginary culinary expert "cheffing purposes"

[GUS]

Well have cracked one bulb open & removed a sample clove, it seems to have taken on some penetration beyond the skin at first sniff, cooking tonight with a handful to see if it's valid or for impressionable foodies...

Basic lasagne / spag-bol it is then!
Thank goodness we are al garlic fiends (including our dogs)

I've still not found any sources on the web with regards to how much maturation this product should have in order to mellow or not (in combination with storage).

[wheels]

With garlic, I'm for "longer is better" smoking. As to maturing, I doubt that the commercial guys give them long at all.

I always try to get garlic bulbs with large cloves: is it just me, but the Chinese bulbs seem to have very small cloves?

Phil

[GUS]

Yes, the maturation aspect in a sprouting product is something to ponder! ..spect i'd get a cagey sales pitch response from a commercial seller, but I'll have to rootle around.

[GUS]

Well, i'm either a numpty & covered the lasagne flavours entirely with the 3 peppers or, my suspicion that smoked garlic is more in the mind than the palate & therefore a bit of a con!?

Having given an estimated 100hrs of smoke we tried it out last night, garlic, no smoke despite being able to smell smoke on the clove separate from the bulb by the "ill of nose" who it must be stated had not handled the garlic previously, so no transferrence from the bulbs outer leaves to fingers.

So unless I drown it in a bucket of smoke, is smoked garlic a "pretty" & fashionista based (but ultimately pointless) kitchen accessory that the likes of jocantha likes to brag about using just because it's deemed "cheffy"?

I'm annoyed & flummoxed, anyone help out this cynic as to where it / I went wrong or what it needs partnering with a big red marker? ..garlic was there, peppers, no smokiness.

(damnit)

[wheels]

Apart from long term storage, is there any reason not to smoke peeled cloves?

Phil

[GUS]

I can't see why not though thinking logically, the product is a wistful, wholesome, "complete natural packaging" golden brown, aromatic product sold as the smoked bulb, therefore to sell individual cloves you'd need to know the dry out time under seasonal conditions & storage which I imagne would be faster than an occasional proper cook would be prepared for in ths convenience packaged world.

Not to mention the transfer of ingredient in vac sealed bags, & additional costs, faffing around (if as a money raiser, compared to simply at home use).

can see a multitude of samples with a moisture meter, which lets face it a m/meter prong is going to be damaging in itself in terms of gashing the product & hastening it's useful shelf life, unless you are prepared to run a multitude of samples, (easily done but a ppita).

[saucisson]

I think the biggest issue, as we have identified, is that it's very easy to smoke the bits of the garlic you're going to throw away. I wonder if the key is going to be long term storage to allow the smoke to then permeate the bulbs?

[GUS]

What are you thinking a muslin type cloth that's been used for nuts / salt or similar, with a pretty tight weave?

Bare, peeled cloves, smoked & wrapped then in a paper bag to allow breathing?

How does a cling wrapped garlic clove / bulb fare anyhow? (open question)

[GUS]

All this does make me wonder how long for crushed / minced garlic to take smoke enough for same day use, but that doesn't exactly help with the initial fundraising aspect of this thread, which now perhaps needs some moderation, cos I think we can lop off the 1st 4 posts & simply re-title the thread tbh (easier in a search too possibly)

[derekmiller]

Hi Gus.

You set me pondering. I smoked a garlic bulb last September and put it into a sealable plastic bag.
So last night I opened it, the smoke aroma hit me immediately, so pleased. Broke off a clove and peeled it, could still smell smoke, still pleased. Used it in some cooking and couldnt taste a thing, not so pleased.
Went and peeled another clove, washed my hands and couldnt smell anything. Seems like only the skin has taken the smoke and not the garlic itself.
Glad I didnt give this away...
Derek.