New Cambro


 
M

Mike Taylor

TVWBB Member
I just purchased a Cambro and my son and I will be doing a KCBS event in a couple of weeks. We will be using two 22.5 WSMs. What is a reasonable amount of time we can hold pork butts and brisket in the Cambro and still be competition worthy? Should they be wrapped in towels as well as foil? I plan to preheat the Cambro according to the instructions.

Thanks
 
I don't preheat mine and have no problem holding them 2 to 3 hours. I did have them finish way early once and after 5 hours in the cambro the brisket had gotten tough. Didn't seem to bother the butts tho.
 
I've had butts in my UPC400 that were hot to the touch after 6 hours. I also had briskets in at one point, but no matter. Either way, they'll keep for a lonnnnng time :)

I have the Camwarmer, but if you have an extra 2-1/2" pan you can wrap some ceramic bricks (I got some from Home Depot) or stones in some foil, place in an oven or your cooker for awhile, and put them into your Cambro. They'll help maintain the heat. I do that when I need something to stay hot for 10 hours...
 
use it with caution. Don't preheat, vent your meats a bit before throwing them in there. They will continue to cook
 
I did a ton of food for a party last year. I put a tray of boiling water in the bottom of each of my Cambros, and everything stayed hot all night. Is boiling water frowned on at a comp? I couldn't find anything in the KCBS rules.

Brett.

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Brett,

ie KCBS Rules... Not that I know of. FWIW, many teams on this coast (grin) do the same (water). In fact just recently on the CBBQA forum, one of the teams recommended this to a new team.

Bob
 
Thanks Bob,

In another thread, people were talking about sterno in the cambro constituting additional cook time that's not over wood or coal. I tried to find anything written but failed.

Mike, sorry about hijacking your thread.

Brett.
 
Brett,
That portion of the rules I know... Only wood and charcoal. This leave out such things as propane (except for starting the coals), natural gas, electricity and Sterno ! Reading the rule on this can be a little confusing. Your best bet is still a hot pan of water as the bottom 'shelf', depending upon distance between bottom shelf runners and the actual bottom of your Cambro.

From the 2013 Rules and Regulations :
6) Fires shall be of wood, wood pellets or charcoal. Gas and
electric heat sources shall not be permitted for cooking or
holding. Propane or electric is permitted as fire starters,
provided that the competition meat is not in/on the cooking
device. Electrical accessories such as spits, augers, or forced
draft are permitted. No open pits or holes are permitted,
except at the election of the contest organizer. Fires shall not
be built on the ground.

HTH
Bob
 
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So it seems like there is a consensus on the Cambro being able to hold food for 4 or more hours but caution against the Brisket possibly drying out.

On the other hand, opinions vary on pre-heating vs. not. I've placed a wrapped brisket under towels in a cooler on a cool morning and had it lose 30 or 40 degrees of temp over a couple of hours and then had to scramble to throw it back on the smoker to warm it back up so we'll probably err on the side of caution and preheat as some have suggested.
 
I've actually never had one dry out in the Cambro, but I have had one be overdone to the point that I couldn't get it to hold together for nice slices. If I plan to let it rest, I will pull it at 190 and put it straight into the Cambro, typically fairly close to the top slot. This way it's no hotter than 190ish but it stays there for a lonnnnng time :)

Ryan Taylor said:
So it seems like there is a consensus on the Cambro being able to hold food for 4 or more hours but caution against the Brisket possibly drying out.

On the other hand, opinions vary on pre-heating vs. not. I've placed a wrapped brisket under towels in a cooler on a cool morning and had it lose 30 or 40 degrees of temp over a couple of hours and then had to scramble to throw it back on the smoker to warm it back up so we'll probably err on the side of caution and preheat as some have suggested.
Click to expand...
 
For several comps I would put the big meats into the cooker at about 3:00 on Friday. That way it finished up around midnight. Then into the pre-heated Cambro (still foiled and internal temp probes still in place). About an hour before turn-in times all of the meat was still at around 143-145.

So they will very definately hold the temps.

Russ
 
Russ Sylvester said:
For several comps I would put the big meats into the cooker at about 3:00 on Friday. That way it finished up around midnight. Then into the pre-heated Cambro (still foiled and internal temp probes still in place). About an hour before turn-in times all of the meat was still at around 143-145.

So they will very definately hold the temps.

Russ
Click to expand...

Wow, you are holding them for 12+ hours with no drop-off in quality? Seems like it would start to get tough to pull/slice at those temps. That's awesome though. Makes for a nice night's sleep.

Since you need them to keep the temp for that long but you still have to guard against carry-over, how long do you let it vent before you stick it in and I'm assuming you're in the "no preheat" camp?
 
Brett, your Goes Anywhere is the first that I have seen built into a table.
Very Interesting.
 
I've not noticed any dropoff. In fact, because the brisket and butts are sitting in their own juices (partially), I believe they are actually soaking up more liquid after the cook as they rest down. It does make it very nice to not have to wake up in the wee hours to a potential bad surprise.

I don't get any extra sleep cooking early & holding, I actually loose sleep. The meats don't get done until around midnight, and I have to get up around 4:30 for the ribs. Doing it the more traditional way, I could put the meats in early, go to bed, and get up at 4:30. Of course I did have to get up at some point to foil.

For pre-heat, I've been just using a pan of near-boiling water sitting on the bottom of the Cambro. But I think that putting two brisket and two butts in there that pre-heating really isn't needed. The water condensed all over the interior also makes a big mess to clean up as everything becomes wet. I do however remove the pan right before putting the meat in.

That all having been said, I think I'm going to go back to cooking overnight and finishing up by about 6:00. Even though I don't think there's much if any fall-off in quality, I think I'm convincing myself that more freshly cooked just has to be better.

Russ
 
Bob H. said:
Brett, your Goes Anywhere is the first that I have seen built into a table.
Very Interesting.
Click to expand...

I had been wanting to do that for years. It finally happened when my wife insisted that I do something with the Cambros that were sitting outside the back door. That table is built high so I don't have to bend over while working.
 
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