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16 replies

Giving it up

FM Former Member
The last 9 or 10 months have been a real hoot. I/we have damn near worked ourselves to death and had hoped to find an "easier way" of doing things to save some wear n' tear on ourselves. We purchased a CS250 back in Feb. to take some of the work load off of me. It is a neat product and cooks a pretty decent rib. The problem is Q. I have worked hard at trying to get the Q that our customers are used to from it and at this point I am going to have to say that it can't be done. We can't get the same flavor from it and my biggest quam is that since it holds so much humidity, we can't get the butts to "drain" properly. What I mean is that the meat is holding too much moisture resulting in "Greasy Q."--we HATE greasy Q-- We have found that if we tear the cap on the bottom of the meat and wrap it in foil and put it in a holding oven for a few hours it will drain. But, it is still greasy Q.
All this said, it looks like I will probably be selling my CS and going back to cooking on a fire pit. It is alot more labor intensive, but the end product is MUCH better.
Keep your eyes peeled--we will post a For Sale post here or in the Open Forum when we actually come up with a plan. Anyone that is interested in purchasing it feel free to PM me or E-mail me and I will discuss it with you.

Bummed out in Arden!
Zeb
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FM Former Member
Zeb,

One of the things that I found that works for me is the insert strainer for my steam table/full chafers. It allows a couple of things that I have found to work well once I have pulled my pork.
1. My meat does drain, and does not have to sit in any drained grease making something that at one time resembled shredded bacon.....
2. The steam from the grease that goes through the pan still adds additional flavor, and moisture is still shared with the meat preventing dried pork shoulder.
3. aroma, when the grease in the bottom is warmed (note, not high high temp....dont want burned grease), it adds to the experience by sending a delicious smell that blends well with the smoker aroma.
4. Clean up is MUCH easier when cleaning out my chafing dishes, no stuck on meat to the bottoms, hot water (185...lol, can ya tell that the safe serve class is still fresh in my mind?), does a great job of breaking down the grease.

I hope that this helps you some, afterall, I have to try to help out my "Carolina Connections"....besides, I am heading back home to Mt. Airy in a couple weeks, and planning a trip down to Arden...looking forward to shooting the Sh** with ya.

Take care....

Rob
FM Former Member
drats!!!!
DO NOT COVER IT!!!!!!
put it in the sm and cook.
now this does 2 things.
clean up is a breeze (and as you know i am working 7 days a week and stareing at my anuual fla inspection)
but more importantly i have never had greasy stuff outta peggys sm150.
i think that it is due to the aluminum pan reflecting heat all the way around.
ya got my cell number
give me a call long about 8pm this friday
in the mean time give u2 and my ideas a thought before ya do something drastic
keep the faith (or as my old german chef said "arbecht mach frei" which loosely translated means work shall set you free. but he always said this near the ovens Eeker )
yer friend
jack
FM Former Member
Thanks for the input guys. The strainer in the bottom of a larger pan is one of the things that we have tried and it does work. The only problem is that it is something that has to be done AFTER the meat is cooked. With the open fire pits I have NEVER had to do this. The fewer the butts we cook at one time helps keep the humidity down in the cooker so we get a little better product, but still have to drain them. Don't get me wrong we are still getting better Q than anyone else around is cooking--so say the customers. But, it is still not my Q--and that is the real issue. That very fact cost me a gig yesterday.
Jack,
If I can remember and am still awake at 8 tomorrow I will call Big Grin
Rob,
Come see us! I'd love to shot the sh*$ witcha. We actually have a couple of "fans" in Mt. Airey. PM me and I will give you a Number so you can call when you get in NC so we can hook-up.

Thanks again!
Zeb
FM Former Member
Zeb,
The racks (the stainless ones) set in the bottom of the disposable aluminum pan. Try cooking the pork on the rack. Drain the grease at some point. The rack cleans pretty easy if you do it while it's still warm. I use them when I do chicken competition. They don't clean as easy after chicken as they do pork.

I'm sorry you are feeling bad. It will get better for you.

Peggy
FM Former Member
Steve(and everone else),
I have spoken to John @ CS and we are working on trying to get it to do what I want it to. So far we have atleast addressed the moisture that was causing "mushy Q." Now if I can get the right wood taste I will be satisfied.
Thanks for all the encouraging words!
Zeb
FM Former Member
Zeb,
Let us know how it goes.
And if you can figure out a way to clean out a refrigerator that's too full of meat to get our weekly grocery supply in.....
We need a bigger freezer or a less enthusiastic food supplier!
If you others have the same problem, the answer is "JUST SAY NO".
Peggy

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