thinking about buying a FEC 100.

I don't think you can go wrong with the FEC 100. It will do it all. It takes a little learning, but once you understand it's basic principles, you will be one of the best cooks in town.

I received mine in December and have already prepared hundreds of pounds of Sausage, jerky, pork butts, briskets, bb and SL ribs, steak, hamburgers, bacon, snacks sticks, chicken...... The list is endless. Some of my big loads include 90 or so pounds of pork butt/briskets and another load of 40 racks of SL ribs at one time.

20 pounds of pellets will smoke over 30 hours at 250 degrees. I smoke many of my items a lot lower which uses significantly less pellets.
As far as cleaning, tinfoil the grease slide, bottom and firepot roof and cleanup is very simple. All I ever do is clean the racks and change the tinfoil and vacuum out the firepot after about every 20 hours.

I did get a probe with it, but have not really used it yet.

Moving it around is easy if you're on level ground as it is on very sturdy castors. I need to take it to work next week so will have to see how it does in the back of my truck. It is very heavy as you can tell by the shipping weight. Make sure you get a cover for it. You can leave the cover on when you smoke and it works perfect in all kinds of weather.

I’ve heard some complaints about the ‘lack of smoke’ but Good pellets = good smoke flavor. I just ordered some 100% hickory to do my homemade bacon with. Also, the FEC produces Clear smoke which is different than white or grey smoke. The clear smoke shoots right thru the meat, making nice smoke rings, giving me wonderfully colored Jerky, sausage and ribs. It is not unusual to have my ribs pink all the way thru from the nitrates from the pellets. And as you will find out, people go crazy over this kind of product. Good luck!

Sparkie what do you smoke with now? The FEC produces a "cleaner" smoke vs a stickburner. Pellets will produce more smoke at lower temps; less smoke at higher temps due to the fact that pellets are the fuel providing the smoke AND heat. There are ways to increase the level of smoke flavor.

You can easily smoke 80-100 lbs of meat per load. Poultry is always recommended for the lowest rack to prevent cross contamination of dripping juices.

The nice thing about CS products are they take the stress out of making a "poor decision". That is, if you're not satisfied in the first 30 days, they will refund your money if asked. I like the thought of buying an American made product and second to none customer service.

I use a mak 2 star now and love it. I need more volume but I can cook 16 racks of ribs in it.

Gotcha...so you're already familiar with pellet grills. I'd venture to say you'll get an increase on smoke profile with the FEC.

Using the rib racks, you can smoke a minimum of 40 racks per load.

I have had my FE100 for 3 years. I bought a pallet of pellets from Fast Eddie (didn't want to run out ..... When I smoke I like to have it fully loaded. 16 butts at a time...4 turkeys....30 racks of Babybacks (bought another rib rack to do 40)...Friends bring over lamb, mountain oysters, chickens, cornish hens, pheasant, deer....you name it....what better excuse to sit around, visiting and drinking beer .