Custom Kettle Corn Trailers
Built in Sacramento for the fair circuit, festival lots, and farmers markets, then delivered ready to pop the first batch.
A kettle corn trailer is a different animal from a burger rig. The whole build orbits one big propane kettle, and almost everything around it is there to move popped corn off the burner, cool and sift it, season it, and bag it fast while a line stacks up at the window. 916 Concession builds these shells to fit how kettle corn actually sells: heavy steam and sugar in the air, big open serving windows, and a layout the operator can run solo or with one helper on a busy Saturday. We build any size, though the 7x14 is our most-ordered shell. Every unit carries the California HCD insignia under Title 25 with a three-compartment sink, separate handwash sink, and county-approved cleanable cladding, so it shows up ready for your health department, not flagged for rework.
The centerpiece is a commercial propane kettle corn popper, commonly an 80-quart or larger stainless popping bowl on a high-BTU two-burner system, frequently paired with an automatic paddle stirrer so one person can run continuous batches. Beside it sits a stainless sifting and cooling table, a perforated surface that drops crumbs and unpopped kernels while the batch cools to bagging temperature, which keeps the finished bags crisp and free of condensation. From there a seasoning and bagging station handles scoops, salt and sugar shakers, and bag sealing. Builds round out with the Title 25 three-compartment sink, a separate handwash sink, county-approved cleanable cladding on walls and ceiling, a heat-extraction hood over the kettle, and wide serving windows for open-air selling at busy events.
Kettle corn leans heavy on propane and light on electricity, which shapes the utility build. The kettle and burners run on propane, so the trailer carries a secured propane cage, typically sized for one or two large cylinders plus a backup, with regulators and a leak-checked line run to the burner. The electrical side is modest by food-trailer standards: lighting, the stirrer motor, the hood fan and roof vents, point-of-sale, and the water pump. A 100-amp panel with 20-amp circuits covers it with headroom, and many operators run off a generator since fair and market spots rarely offer shore power. Water is the standard mobile-unit setup tied to the sinks, with fresh and gray tanks sized so the operator clears health requirements for a full event day without a midday refill.
Where Kettle Corn Sells, And Who Buys The Trailer
Kettle corn lives on the event circuit. County fairs, street festivals, swap meets, farmers markets, fall pumpkin patches, holiday craft shows. The smell does the marketing, so a good spot and a clean rig is half the business. The people who call 916 Concession for these are usually first-time operators chasing weekend revenue, established vendors adding a second unit to cover two markets at once, and families who want a route they can run together. Most want to keep it simple: one popular product, big margins per bag, fast turns. The trailer has to load fast, set up in minutes, and let the operator sell out the front while the kettle keeps running behind them.
Building Around The Kettle, And Picking A Size
The kettle sets the floor plan. A commercial popper, often an 80-quart or larger stainless bowl on a 400,000-plus BTU two-burner propane system, needs clearance, a vent path overhead, and a non-combustible zone around the flame. Right next to it goes a stainless sifting and cooling table so a fresh batch can spread out, drop its crumbs and unpopped kernels, and cool before it hits a bag. Then a seasoning and bagging station near the window. We size the shell to your routine: a 7x14 fits one kettle, a full cooling table, and a bagging run with room to move, and it tows behind a half-ton. Going bigger buys a second kettle, more cold storage, or a prep counter. We build to your number, not a catalog box.
Two Approvals: The Unit Is Ours, The Permit Is Yours
There are two separate sign-offs, and people mix them up constantly. The first is the unit itself. 916 Concession builds your trailer to California Title 25 and gets it certified with the HCD insignia, the state plate that says the trailer is a legal mobile food unit. That is on us, and it comes done. The second is your county health permit, the operating permit that lets you sell in a specific county. That one is yours to pull, because it is tied to your menu, your commissary, and where you plan to work. We hand you a unit that is built to pass and county-ready blueprints to put in front of your inspector, but the permit application and the health department conversation are the operator's step.
Timeline And Getting It To You
A typical kettle corn build runs about six weeks from locked specs, and that window moves with inspection scheduling, which we do not control. We keep you posted as the HCD inspection lands. When the unit is signed off, we handle California DMV registration: the state issues temporary tags first, then mails your permanent plates, so you are legal to tow before the plates arrive. Delivery is handled by our in-house transport, the same crew we run with on every build, not a load-board hauler we found that week. We set it in your yard ready to fire the kettle. Need help spreading the cost? We work with third-party lenders and can point you to financing, though terms and rates come from them.
Build your Kettle Corn Trailer
Tell us your menu and timeline. 916 Concession builds the unit, sets the California HCD insignia, and provides the county-ready blueprints.
Prefer to talk? Call 7758951064.