Been busy catching up on my winter smoking. In the last week, I smoked 46 pounds of Jerky (raw), 96 pounds of bacon (that I cured in our fridge) and 18 racks of BB ribs. The MRS is glad to get her fridge back. The FEC worked like a champ.
I was having some flare out problems so CS Customer service replaced my cast iron firepot with a rolled steel one. Not one flare out since. I conducted five overnight smokes on low temps (158). I had the smoker run for 35 hours straight at one point and not a problem.
I've been burning some BBQ Delight 100 percent hickory pellets (not pellet fuel) Great smoke flavor, but perhaps a little strong for the jerky. I let one batch of jerky go all night on 155 degrees and the next morning it was good and dry, but quite smoky. Can you believe I actually oversmoked something on the FEC - funny I know!
Oh, I ordered some stainless steel racks. A VAST improvement. The plated ones were getting pitted/rusty after nearly a year's use. The SS racks are a lot easier to clean. I think they should come standard with the FEC.
Great machine.
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