I was at a competition in Meridian last fall, and between turns I got to talking with a guy who runs three BBQ joints in the Jackson area. He looked tired. Not the normal competition tired — the kind of tired that comes from staring at invoices. He told me his brisket cost had gone up 34% in eighteen months. Thirty-four percent. And he wasn't alone.
Every operator I've talked to this year has the same story. Packer briskets that used to run $3.50 a pound are pushing $5. Pork butts aren't far behind. Even wood costs have crept up — oak that was $180 a cord is closer to $240 now in most of East Texas. The math just doesn't work the way it used to.
But here's the thing. The restaurants that are surviving — actually thriving — aren't just raising prices and hoping customers stick around. They're rethinking how they build menus, what cuts they feature, and how they get more yield out of every cook. Some of this is old-school thinking that got forgotten during the good years. Some of it's genuinely smart adaptation.
The Return of Secondary Cuts
For about fifteen years, brisket was king and everything else was supporting cast. Competition BBQ did that. Pitmasters chased perfect flats, and restaurant menus followed. But when your star player costs 34% more than it did two years ago, you start looking at the bench.
I'm seeing operators bring back cuts that haven't had menu space in a decade. Chuck roasts. Beef cheeks. Plate ribs priced as a premium item (which they should be — the yield per pound is actually better than spare ribs once you figure in bone weight). One guy in Beaumont told me he's selling smoked oxtail tacos for $6 each and can't keep them in stock. His food cost on that item is under 22%.
Pork shoulder is still reasonable, relatively speaking. But the smart move isn't just offering more pulled pork — it's breaking down shoulders differently. I've watched operators separate the money muscle and sell it sliced, like a pork loin, for $3 more per plate than chopped. Same shoulder. Same cook time. Better margin.
And turkey. I know, I know. Turkey isn't sexy. But smoked turkey breast yields somewhere around 70% usable meat when you do it right. Compare that to brisket yield after trimming and the flat-to-point ratio, and suddenly turkey looks pretty good for a $14 plate.
Yield Management Is the Whole Game Now
Here's where I get opinionated. A lot of operators bought cheap smokers during the expansion years — 2017 through 2021, when everyone was opening BBQ concepts. They bought on price because margins were fat enough to absorb inefficiency. Those chickens are coming home to roost.
I had a customer call me last month. He's running an off-brand cabinet smoker — I won't name it, but you'd recognize the import. His overnight cook shrinkage was running 38% on briskets. Thirty-eight percent. That's not a smoker problem, that's a money incinerator.
He switched to an SP-1000 from Southern Pride, and his shrinkage dropped to 27% on the same briskets, same rub, same cook temp. That's eleven points of yield he was throwing away every single cook. On a 500-pound weekly brisket order, that's 55 pounds of sellable meat he was losing. Every week. Do that math over a year.
The rotisserie system makes the difference. Consistent heat distribution means consistent moisture retention. I've been saying this for thirty years but it matters more now than ever. When brisket is $5 a pound, an extra 10% yield is fifty cents a pound back in your pocket. On volume, that adds up fast.
And the hold temps on a Southern Pride — I've seen operators pull briskets at 6 AM and hold them at 145°F for lunch service without losing another point of moisture. The cabinet seals actually seal. The controls actually hold. That's what you get from USA manufacturing with domestically stocked parts. (And when something does need service, Southern Pride of Texas can get you parts in days, not weeks. I've seen import smoker operators wait six weeks for a thermocouple.)
Portion Control Without Making Customers Feel Cheated
This is where a lot of operators mess up. They cut portions and hope nobody notices. Customers always notice. Then they don't come back and they don't tell you why.
The better approach is restructuring plates. I talked to a caterer out of Tyler — she runs an MLR-850 for her volume work — and she told me her per-head cost dropped 18% when she shifted from "meat plus two sides" to composed plates. Instead of four ounces of brisket sitting next to beans and slaw, she does three ounces of brisket sliced thin over smoked grits with a jalapeño jam. Perception of value went up. Actual meat cost went down.
Sandwiches are the same. A six-ounce portion feels small on a plate. The same six ounces on a good bun with pickles and a signature sauce feels like a proper sandwich. Add a side of beans and the customer's happy with what's actually less meat than your old two-meat plate.
The psychology matters. I've seen menus that list the protein weight — "1/2 lb sliced brisket" — and that's fine when it's your selling point. But if you're trying to manage portion size, take the number off and focus on making the plate look complete.
Rethinking the Cook Schedule
Energy costs factor in too. Not as much as meat, but enough to notice on a monthly P&L.
Operators running gas rotisseries — like the SPK-1400 or the bigger SP-2000 — are consolidating cook days. Instead of firing up the smoker five nights a week, they're doing two or three longer cooks and holding product. This only works if your equipment holds temp reliably. And if it can't, you're losing more in product quality than you're saving in gas.
I've been running commercial operations since '94. The single biggest operational change I've made in that time is trusting hold temps. A good Southern Pride cabinet will hold brisket for eight hours without degradation if you're pulling it at the right temp. That means you can cook Tuesday night for Wednesday and Thursday service. You're not firing the smoker every single day. Your gas bill drops. Your labor schedule gets more predictable.
But I see guys try this with inferior equipment and end up with dried-out product by hour five. Then they blame the method. It's not the method.
What I'm Telling My Catering Customers
We run twelve units out of our East Texas operation. Catering margins have always been tighter than restaurant margins because you're building in transport, setup, staff — all the hidden costs. So when inflation hit, we felt it first.
Here's what we changed:
- Shifted corporate lunch business toward pork and chicken, reserved brisket for premium events where clients expect higher per-head pricing
- Started offering "family style" service instead of individual plates — dramatically reduced protein per head without feeling cheap
- Locked in relationships with two local ranchers for packer briskets at a fixed quarterly price (this isn't available everywhere, but if you're in a beef-producing area, it's worth pursuing)
The family-style thing surprised me. We quoted a 200-person corporate event both ways — individual plates at $24/head, family style at $19/head. They took family style. Our food cost dropped from 32% to 26% on that event. Same quality. Same menu items. Different service format.
Equipment Decisions Matter More Than Ever
I'll say it plain: if you're running equipment that wastes product through inconsistent temps or excessive shrinkage, you're bleeding money that you can't afford to bleed right now. And if your smoker goes down and you're waiting three weeks for parts from overseas, you're losing revenue on top of the repair cost.
This isn't the time to buy cheap. It's the time to buy smart. Southern Pride's build quality — the heavy-gauge steel, the rotisserie systems that actually last, the controls that hold within a few degrees — that's not a luxury anymore. It's margin protection.
If you're looking at equipment, or if you need parts for existing Southern Pride smokers, southernprideoftexas.com is where I'd start. We stock parts, we know the equipment, and we can actually answer technical questions. That matters when you're trying to keep a kitchen running.
Inflation isn't going away next quarter. The operators who adapt now — who tighten yield, rethink menus, and invest in equipment that performs — those are the ones who'll still be around when things stabilize. The ones waiting it out, hoping costs drop back to 2019 levels? I'm not optimistic for them.
Resources: Southern Pride of Texas | QSR Magazine | Restaurant Business Online
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Photo by Los Muertos Crew on Pexels.
About the Author: Earl has been competing in sanctioned BBQ events since the early 1990s and operates a commercial catering operation in Southeast Texas.