Got it today at Fed Ex and i have to say they are really cool to work with they gave me a small crew of men to take it out of the trailer carefully and it was very easy to roll out with 4 of us. I just got home and fired her up and in about 20 minutes i got up to temp. There are a few knicks here and there and one of the tabs inside the carosel is broke off but i think it will be an easy fix if i can find someone who can weld. It was packed quite well and scratches were kept to a minimum. There was a load lock that sat on the front of the trailer and rubbed off the powder coating pretty good but i will figure that one out one way or another. A few other misc. things but all in all after all the horror stories i had heard about these shipping and arriving with damage i was very happy. I am leaving for 2 weeks tomarrow so i am just going to run thru a few different temps to see what she runs like but so far so good. I plan on getting lots of pics on here because i had a hell of a time finding good trailer pics anywhere and of one like this i found none. Thanks for all of the advice along the way from everyone , i feel like a made the right choice and from what i see so far i am very impressed.


















FEC-500_0281.jpg (222 Kb, 23 downloads) FEC-500

Oh man, that thing is finer than frog hair!
Get the thing Dirty will you!
Looks great, I know you are having fun now.
Mop

Roger you have no idea how badly i want to cook this beauty but im leaving for kauai for 2 weeks tomarrow so tonight was my only time to have some fun with er before i split on vacation. ive been running since about 5pm and its 11:45 right now and im going to let er run the whole night and get some of the break in period done and over with , i just about have that grease on the metal smell burnt out right now but im just gonna keep going until morning. Temps seem to be fairly steady and heat recovery when i have the door open for 5 minutes is somewhere around 10-15 minutes to recover(better than i thought)ran as low as 160 and as high as 325 no problem and nailed the temp on bolth ends to with in just a few degrees. What i think is really cool is the fact i dont even have any meat in here yet and i always feel my 100 is much more accurate when i have a full load of brisket,pork butt,ribs and chicken. I am going to be going insane knowing i have to wait 14 days to get back and start playing with my new toy! I origanly had a FEC-300 and i gotta say this mofo is WAY bigger inside. However the 300 had its good points as well for sure so i want to make sure everyone understands i would say go either way they are bolth awsome cookers and the decision was a gut wrenching one for me to make. As far as powder coating over stainless steel was a really tough choice for me but in the end i just liked the WoW factor of the stainless....Even i was like "WHOA" when i got all the packing off. Anyways take care ya'all and if anyone has anything they would like to see upclose let me know and i will get some photos...

Take care ya'all see ya soon and check in here and there while im away>>>>>>>>

Yankee,


SWEEEEEET, I really like the looks of the SS.

I wish mine was all SS, it's awsome.


RandyE

Thanks for posting these photos! They are better than the ones on our website.

Hope you have a great time in Kauai and come home rarin' to cook some Q.

Great score. The 500 is a versatile pit to cook on. You are really going to love it. Finally got to meet you in Gilroy. I like to put a face with a name. Can't wait to see it. Are you cooking the Fairfield contest?? If so, I will see you there.

Congrats on the purchase. Like Donna said great pictures, next we need to see some with that bad boy full of meat. Happy Smokin!

I believe that Smokin Yankee needs to feel that his new Bad Boy in in good hands while he's away. I think several of us ought to head out to Stockton and baby-sit his new toy. Wonder how much we could turn out in two weeks...?

Great purchase!

Great Pictures.

Got my FEC 500 back in March for restaurant I am opening. Its been a long process, but just unwrapped it today. Have no idea how to operate it and the owners manual isn't. I have been smoking the old way for 30 years. Is there somewhere on the site I can get a service and parts manua and pictures of what is what on this beautiful machine.

Manual

Welcome to the group DavidR, congrats, although I would have had that smoker going day 1, I can't imagine waiting so long, but I understand business.

Besides the manuals, there is a LOT of practical knowledge in the forums. If at ANY time you have a big issue, call CS directly and immediately. If something shook loose during shipping or whatever, they want to help personally and direct.

Just ask, we'll help as much and any way we can.

Where you located?

Thanks.

I am in Las Vegas. Born and raised in Texas.

Congrats David, feel free to start a new thread and we can discuss any questions. Next time I'm in Vegas, let me know where you're at and we'll drop on by.

The restaurant is still under construction. Won't have electrcity until next week. Had to build the kitchen around the smoker because it is so big.
Got a question. The smoker from front to back is almost 8 feet. The smoker came with a plug on front that is only 3.5 to 4 feet long. Am I just to use an extension cord?

Codes will most likely want you to set a plug in box where the unit will be. Check with your contractor.