Came to me too late for the previous post:
A good name for your biz would be: Jaunty Catering with “(JohnT)” in small letters underneath “Jaunty”. Think about it. 
They catch a LOT of off the books, out of home kitchen, caters, for a couple of reasons. Firstly there definitely ARE people doing a very healthy (undeclared) business out of their homes. Like lots of them!
They’re pretty easy to catch, as people like to talk about that great food they ate, ‘from this great guy who cooks out of his house!’ Also, because legit caterers follow the rules and don’t like people skipping them, as you can imagine. And because it’s home caterers who sometimes make people ill, often being not fully aware of health codes.
Unfortunately, the fines get levied whether it’s a big business or small. It’s NOT means tested. It’s high enough to be truly punitive, as it involves food safety. Something worth thinking about.
More typos. Sometimes I really despise Twitter and its refusal to do a simple 2-minute editing window.
About 7 minutes per side. As a general rule.
I think that might be state by state because I just got my cottage license to make and sell soft cheeses. The process included an inspector watching me lock the cats up and sanitize my tools and work area, but it wasn’t a real process or anything.
I’m seriously tempted to teach myself this. I’m going to have to think about getting a decent cast iron pan.
30 years ago, Kropotkinskaya ran a small catering business. The basic rule of thumb then, gleaned from books and other caterers and the like was to figure your food cost, then multiply by 3-4 for your final bill. I am sure that formula has changed to keep up with, oh, the cost of housing, say, and so you’re easily in range. And this was not “high-end” catering, and there were no ice statutes of boys peeing vodka.
You might want to skip the cilantro in the corn. Many people can’t stand the taste of it, and the corn is a big component of the meal. Either that, or poll each participant first.
Also, you want most of the chix pieces to be around the same size. If the first 6 people grab 2 or 3 of the bigger pieces, the last 4 people will be stuck with a couple of wings. I’d leave out the wings altogether.
(I worked in catering for 4 years)
I was debating that very point re: the cilantro with someone. May leave it out, tbh.
As far as the chicken is concerned, J wanted three whole chickens, including wings (which I cut into drummettes and the other). ¯_(ツ)_/¯ But that is good advice, if I do this again.
First three pieces are ON!
2nd pan is for the wings/legs (if needed).
7 minutes are up. I turn the breasts over and, because they are so large, turn the heat down a notch. When I turn them back around (on the bone side again) I’ll turn the heat up… and thus I don’t burn these things.
When I turn the chicken, I sprinkle more breading on it (until the final turn, of course.)
On these thick breasts, I turn them for 4 minutes on their side, so the center gets some direct heat (the reduced heat, like the meaty side).
Like I said in my recipe, I also do this by sense of sound. If it’s too loud, need to turn the heat down.
The first piece is officially done. I take the temps of these breasts at three different points and I’m not upset if the thermometer ends up at 170, 180.
I vastly prefer thighs to any other cut for fried chicken. I find them much moister and tastier. What does an expert think?
I prefer breasts and wings myself as it’s merely a matter of taste.
Working on thighs now. One thing about cooking lots of chicken is that your flour mix gets wonky as the flour gets removed and some of the spices (like coarse salt and other grains) aren’t picked up as well (hence the sprinkling above).
When this happens, just add more flour and some seasonings (not a lot).
Looks absolutely delicious, @JohnT! You are a man of many talents. 
Does Luna ever get a taste of any of this goodness? (It would have to be carefully de-boned of course.)
Lol, I got busy.
Update coming, got everything there on time and to much happiness. I even threw in a couple of extra legs for James later.
Remember when I said it was about heat management? Had this happen when I put in my first three thighs:
The oil cooled down (because of the chicken) and the way I placed my pieces meant the oil couldn’t fully circulate - that’s why the left side is bubbling TOO nicely and the right side is… not.
Just reposition the pieces so the oil can circulate and you’ll be good. But look out for this and don’t let it sit there for minutes on end - that way lies greasy chicken.
Success!
Now all 6 breasts are done…
Let’s talk about these thighs.
Split thighs, I do not have the hip attached to these. Note that many of these have that extra flap of skin - unroll that thing and make sure every inch is breaded and that it is not placed in the oil where it is underneath the piece, but to the side of it.
Just makes for a better product:
Legs next:
Finished with the wings, the last one being pulled out of the oil 10 minutes before delivery. Time to spare!
(And no picture)
Was rather pleased at how the slaw came out. It tasted like slaw and everything!
With the corn, I followed the old southern dictum of what butter doesn’t solve, bacon grease does, with liberal doses of both being used to sautee the corn:
Biscuits… let’s just say it all worked out and we’ll talk about other, happier, things, OK?
The spread (more chicken and sides in other dishes, off camera):
Of course I couldn’t make my chicken without frying myself a batch. One thing to watch out for when cooking a LOT of chicken at one time is your oil. It will degrade, especially as flakes of skin and flour fall to the bottom. Therefore, if you cook a big piece late, it will look darker than usual:
Yes, @wolfpup, Luna gets her share. Potatoes, 2 legs worth of chicken (and the knee part too, a bit of bacon grease for potato flavoring and some shaved carrots. With cracklin’s!
Cleanup was fine, about a half hour, 45 minutes. I have a neighbor with a food truck and he let me use his grease trap for my oil (he enjoys my chicken too, but prefers the thicker breadings). (He also loaned me some gloves and a few hairnets, thanks @kayaker for the reminder.)
People always ask how I clean up the skillet, as if cleaning a skillet is a dark mystery. So here goes:
After I dumped the grease and wiped it off, I had this:
I had scraped the sides and put the dried cracklin’s in a bowl for Luna - I’ll sprinkle them in her food over the next day.
Then, I did this. But first…
Ok, gonna let you on a secret: a cast iron skillet which hasn’t been properly washed in years isn’t a family heirloom, it’s just a sign of nastiness. Just because grandma couldn’t read a damn science book does not mean we have to throw sense out the window.
The following may contain shocking, adult content. Viewer discretion, yadda…
Even the back…
Then you hand dry it off, immediately. Twice. Every sq centimeter, front, back, bottom, rim, handle, etc:
Then you take a paper towel, put oil on it (I use olive), and you wipe down the skillet… again, every centimeter, front, back, handle,
rim, etc. Don’t worry if you have too much because…
You take a second paper towel, completely dry, and wipe any excess oil off.
Done. Put away.
And this particular skillet I have had since the mid 1990s and always washed it this way. No one complains of soap taste ( 
), not in 30 years, and I don’t have to somehow make my nastiness a bragging point.
Delivery at 6pm, came home and cooked a batch of white meat, kitchen 90% done by 8:18pm with a little help from my friends:
Final load in washer, it is running, will give kitchen one final wipe down in the morning. And me?
Getting a shower and going to bed. I want to be up by 3am. Busy day tomorrow.
I would definitely take this advice to heart. (And TBH, as a customer I would not consider catering from home a plus.) Since you’re a fellow San Antonyan (hi, neighbor!), you might look into this option: Mod Kitchen. This page lists an hourly rate for caterers.
There’s also Ghost Kitchen in Los Patios, but I can’t tell if they offer an hourly option.
Best of luck!
Good morning!
Good morning.
Why did you want to be up so early?
I’m one of those Ben Franklin types. I don’t like to sleep, and I have what I jokingly call cocaine energy. Been rather depressed since the divorce, seems I’m coming out of it as I now have a lot of exciting things going on (including something here on the Dope (he sez mysteriously)). Can sleep later. 