Real World Application Of FEC 500 or 750

ibspy,
get with your local authorities on what is required in you locale for fire suppression. where we are the fire marshall did not require us to mount a suppressor in our hood system since we have no fryers or griddles and he views the fec100 and sm150 as ovens.
our fec is pre-ul so does not have the drop ramp or auto shut down the ul rated one does.
our sm150 is of course ul and rest assured it will not only shut down but will sound an alarm on temperature overrun.
even though we are trailer mounted i am with the rig 2 days running and at no time in those 48 hours is either the fec or sm shutdown. as an aside even though we are trailer mounted the state of florida has a more stringent inspection system on us than a restaurant as we are inspected 3 times a year vs once a year for restaurants. our inspectors have never questioned the fact that we run overnite but we do live in the south and they are all familiar with the cooking requirements of bbq. i will say that in all cases every inspector loves the hold feature on the sm150 as the default is 140f and the state now allows steam tables to be set at 135f which we are all questioning. to me the fec's only true advantage is the 425f which allows us to do cornbread and biscuits both of which are big sellers. the chicken skin thing you read about is primarily a competition and not a sales issue.
i know from the times i have emailed fast eddy he is incredibly responsive. perhaps you could email this question to him. i would imagine that he would happily supply you with a list of 500 and 750 customers that you could talk to.
but again get with your state people for any final operational questions
hope it helps
jack
by the way we are currently in negotiations for a once was bbq place. if we are fortunate enough to get it both of my sm150's, one of which has the cookshack hood, and the fec will be moved from the rig to the joint. the whole reason i bought them was with an eye to the future and not being required to spend any additional money on smokers. the pit which is in the joint will be for show only. anticipated usage will be fec for ribs and chicken and sm's for pork and briskets. here that works out to 25% for fec and 75% on the sm's

Prisonchef....I appreciate the terrific insights into your experiences and operations with the FEC and SMs. Best of luck with the negotiations on the new site!!! I look forward to hearing how your move/transition goes down road...

Thanks again for your time, expertise and words of wisdom! ibspy

I'd call John Shiflet at CS and talk with him. A LOT of the owners don't come here and post, probably because they're too busy.

But John might be able to put you in touch with someone on the Left Coast that you might visit.

Smokin'

Smokin'....Thank you for the heads up and contact name! Much appreciated....ibspy

Smokin- how'd you know weve been busy? With temps pushing into the upper 30's we've been getting alot of outdoor work caught up on. Spring is wonderful!

Ibspy- I met Craig and Bob from Cactus Bob's a year ago at the Fiery Foods and BBQ Show, Eddy sent them to me to ask about my FE2000 (750).

They opened a BBQ place near Des Moines and cook with an FE750.

I asked them 3 weeks ago how it was working out for them and they said they can barely keep up with demand, and are possibly opening another place.

Here's their story:
www.dmcityview.com/archives/july/07-14-05/food.shtml

For the money, the FE750 is a better bargin over the 500.

Mnhogfarmer....Great article showcasing Cactus Bob's. Thanks very much for passing it along...
Sounds like you and the folks at Bob's are very happy with your FE750s which is good to hear. I appreciate you taking the time to post this information. Thanks again! ibspy