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11 replies

2nd cook on new FEC-100 (Questions!)

FM Former Member
Hi everyone,

I'm a new FEC-100 owner and today is the first time I'm really going to put her to use, I did a quick ribs and been cook after letting her burn in but nothing big.

Nevertheless I got nominated to cook for our family get together tomorrow and have some last minute prep questions.

Any help or tips would be greatly appriciated.

The plan is to cook 10 butts, 70lbs worth in varying sizes. I've got some specific questions below.

1) How clean should I be looking to keep this thing? I cleaned the grease drain, and drip pan (drip pan and bottom was foiled) but didn't clean the grates.. how often do you guys scrub the grates? before each cook? Also, overall how much cleaning do you do after each cook?

2) I read that when cooking large loads the best idea is to reverse pyramid and to make sure there is room around each butt so that air can circulate.. given I've got butts in varying sizes, should I put the big boys at the bottom close to the firebox?


3) Does the FEC tend to cook things faster than less insolated cookers? I'm use to cooking on two Traeger 075s and I could pretty much count on 8-9lb butts taking 15 hours or so. Should I be expecting them to get done quicker than that? (Planning to run 225 for an overnight cook)

4) I need to pull the butts off and have them in the coolers around 1pm ET, I was thinking of starting around 10pm tonight and probably wouldnt do first check till 7am.. think thats risky with this cooker? or should I start them later?

5) Any other general tips and ideas would be appriciated Smiler
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FM Former Member
WHY do people wait for the big day to do their first big cook? That's the first thing I warn against. The 2nd is never wait until the weekend to really work her out.

You haven't really used it, so you might want to baby sit it to make sure. Problems, if they appear, are usually in the first couple of cooks.

But, we'll try to help.

Answers:

1) The butts will leave chunks after you pull them, so I just turn the temp up, let them crust, the use a brush to clean the grates. I wash them as needed

2) I load the bottom shelf last and put your biggest butts on the top shelf (it will be hotter); yes leave air flow, you'll get better bark. I would keep the back left corner open, it's key to airflow and don't shove them against the walls unless it's packed.

3 & 4) It's not faster, your traeger just loses too much heat so they take longer. Put them on at ten. Should start pulling them around 7 to 10am, depending on weight.

tips:

start the smoke sometime today, set it at 225 and just let her go. You want to see how stable the temps are before you run it overnight and make certain there are no issues. Turn it on, say 4 or 5 and if it runs stable through to 10, you'll be able to sleep all night.
FM Former Member
Smokie,

Thanks for the feedback.. I did run it 5 hours with no food and the temps were stable.. then cooked 5 hours on it the next day and temps were stable and I didn't have any issues.

I was planning on getting the cooker going before putting the butts on anyway.. going to throw a spiral ham on there and then leave it going until cook time.

Thanks for the feedback on the back left corner.

I think I'm ready to go.. and I've got a backup plan if something catastrophic happens.. its called 30lbs of vacuum sealed butt in the freezer Smiler I'm not too worried though.

Wish me luck and pics later tomorrow.. Happy Easter everyone.
FM Former Member
Sounds like you're as ready as you can be.

Just make sure, during the first 10 min or so, that it starts and the temps go up. I always start mine a hour before, just to make sure everything is a go (I never leave my smoker until it's smoking) Sometimes an ignitor won't ignite and that way you'll know. Never start it and walk away.
T tomMember
I guess you've done spiral cut hams on the smokers before,as they dry out almost instantly. Eeker

Smokin's experience is about the same as ours.

We also like to see it running stable after about an hr,before we load it and head to bed.

We like to get large loads into the hotbox early,as they will still be too hot to handle after eight hrs.
FM Former Member
BTW, forgot to tell you guys. I ended up buying a case as Sam's and got .89c per pound! I was pretty stoked!

Thanks again for all the tips!

BTW, I've been thinking of trying to attend a BBQ class for some time, does anyone have any recommendations? I live in Virginia Beach, VA so the closer the better.

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