OK I am taking the plunge..placed my order today

Roy of Tarheel Smokers does pretty good with two Fec-100s.


But, I personally think the WSM/FEC-100 combo you have right now is pretty effective on the comp circuit from what I've seen.

Congratulations Ron. I think you will enjoy it. I have never looked back since I changed from WSMs to an FEC.

Back on FirehouseBBQ, we found it more effective to use two ourselves. But that does not mean that the setup is right for everyone. Try it by itself or with a WSM. The biggest part is getting your cooking process down to fit the turn-in times.

Best of luck to you. If you need some help at a contest, let me know. Be happy to help.

quote:

Originally posted by ron in boaz:
What should I do?

Relax. The hard decision was buying. Now the fun begins.

Oh and read all the FE forum. LOTS of starter info there.

quote:

Originally posted by ron in boaz:
expect?

More sleep.

A little learning curve. It has a few lessons to learn for new owners, but only a couple. OH, don't forget to buy pellets. Someone actually did call CS once about "how come I'm not getting any smoke" CS asked "what kind of pellets you using" customer replied "what are pellets for?"

LOL

quote:

Originally posted by ron in boaz:
try?

What's your favorite. I'd do ribs (trimmed spares for 4 hours at 275). Or a Pork Butt

quote:

Originally posted by ron in boaz:
Do you need 2 FEs to compete effectively? I can't wait to get started.

Not, you don't, but I do. It's a timing thing. Think about your contest time and temps. If you can cook everything at the same temp, no problem. But if you cook butts and brisket at 225 and ribs at 275 and chicken at 325 you can't do them all together.

Welcome and enjoy!

It is agreat question needing 2 fe's or not. I have competed with 1 FE in 2007 and done fine, The trick is timeing. You must find that happy medium to get it all done. This year we do have 2 units and it will help ( I think). What I had to do was ask myself is the cost of a 2nd unit going to justify the wins. I got lucky and recieved my second with a GC win and this was the prize. So other than that I would still be cooking with 1.

You also do a Fast Cook don't you David?

What's your timing, temps with one cooker

Until last year, I cooked on only one FE. I managed to do alright with just one cooker at the Jack in '06. 2 cookers does give you more options. Especially with the IQ4 board.

Scottie

Congratulations, Ron! One FEC should be plenty for Top Chick. I wouldn't change a thing on your chicken...

I cooked most of my contests last year with 1 FEC and a BWS Fatboy. Used Fatboy for ribs & chicken, FEC for big meats. But I've cooked many contests with just one FEC too.

I have done several contest doing a fast cook. I will start a 5:00 am to start my briskets and butts pull them at 11:00am have my ribs in a 7:00 am and chicken in at 10:00 am and never take the temp above 250 degrees.
However I do think that the slower cooking in the other comps produced a better product and we will be doing it the 1st half of this year.