Get a real Cambro, or a Yeti (which serves dual-purpose)?

[scottranda]

I'm still building my wishlist for Christmas and birthday (which is soon after Christmas).

I've been thinking about this for a while, and still not 100% sure which way I want to go.

Should I get a real Cambro to rest the meat?

Or, would a very well insulated cooler (like a Yeti) do the same thing... PLUS it would double as a drink cooler

Would one perform better over the other?

Could a Cambro serve as dual-purpose too?

[Nate]

Check out RTIC coolers... per the reviews they seem to be as good as Yeti at 1/2 the price.... I eventually want a real cambro one day too.

[Danjohnston949]

Nate, Thanks for the Link to RTIC Coolers! I have been using upper end Igloos so far! Always keep my eyes open for better!
From a Backyard Cremator in Fargo ND, Dan

[Nate]

Danjohnston949 , You're welcome sir. I haven't pulled the trigger yet myself & am using cheap wal-mart coolers but I seldom need ice storage for day. I, like scottranda , am considering one for a birthday or christmas request. Don't know how much better they are than high end Igloos

[CandySueQ]

The vertical orientation of a Cambro is hard to beat for full sized pans. Likely would have to get a very large Yeti to hold a pan. I have a Yeti, for the carry weight versus useable space, it's not worth it to me. I've used a Carlisle (Cambro knock off) for years now. You can put a pan of ice in the top and use it to chill. I don't like using coolers as a holding bin.

[DWCowles]

If you going to get one you just as well get the real cambro instead of wasting your money the other junk.

[CandySueQ]

Yes, there are "fitage" issues with the doors on the Carlisle!

[Jerod Broussard]

Years ago I got my dad a 120 quart Yeti that he leaves at my house. I have a Cambro.

I have never considered using the Yeti. Guess it would take a ton of briskets to need it.

[fzxdoc]

How many briskets does your cambro hold, Jerod Broussard ? Or pork butts? Basically how much meat can you get in there?

I would think that a medium-sized Yeti would hold several wrapped briskets, pork butts, chuckies, etc.

I've considered a Cambro, but since I only smoke at home and have 3 ovens in my kitchen, I have no need for one. Or a faux cambro setup for that matter. One of the ovens goes as low as 150, the other two at 170, so they work fine. Even though one or more might be otherwise occupied, there's usually always one available for meat resting.

Plus I'd have to store the Cambro in my garage, which I try hard to keep uncluttered. That takes some vigilance (the husband effect) and a ruthless commitment to toss out whatever we don't use. Truth be told, I'm more of a storer-of-stuff than my husband is. Guilty as charged.

All of this said, I would like to have a Cambro, and I would like to have an SnS. But I don't need them. I just want to use them. As soon as I get a good rationalization worked out for them (or David Parrish releases an SnS that exceeds what the WSCGC can do without one) I'll probably get them. MCS is on a slow simmer in the back of my brain all the time.

Kathryn

[Jerod Broussard]

Pretty sure the base model will hold 5 briskets. Nevered maxed out on butts.

Jealous of your 150 oven.

[Steve R.]

If you are determined to get a Cambro or Yeti, I'd definitely go with the Cambro. Yetis are way too expensive to be practical as a drink cooler, when an Igloo, Coleman, etc. will get the job done for 99.9999999% of users at a fraction of the cost.

[EdF]

I've got one of these - not bad: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...ag=amazi0a8-20

[Breadhead]

The wheels are cool and a place for adult beverages in the lid shows they know their customer.😎

[Steve R.]

I have a similar Igloo model. Heck of a cooler right there.

[Thunder77]

Yetis are some of the most ridiculously expensive things I have seen. I have seen their line of stainless steel water bottles, and tumblers at Dick's Sporting Goods. Astronomical prices!

[Potkettleblack]

My wife, who is fairly frugal, got an RTIC cup, which is comparable, maybe a tick in price below the Yeti. She is AMAZED with how well it works. Keeps ice in cube form for 24 hours. It's insane.

[Steve R.]

^ I am in no way questioning the quality and performance of the "high end cooler"industry. I just think it's overkill and a waste of money. I have never needed to keep ice cubes for 24 hrs, but maybe some people do. To each his/her own.

[SlushDeezey]

You would have a use for them down here in the hurricane zone when you can go two or three weeks without electricity.

[Histrix]

Get the Cambro or Carlisle food carrier AND get an RTIC cooler. I have an RTIC 65 and it is every bit as well made as a Yeti AND half the price.

The only drawback to the RTIC is that demand is so high that delivery times can be a few weeks so order now!

[scottranda]

Thanks for the definitive answer! Hahahaha! I think I may need to further ponder it.

[Danjohnston949]

Guest 👍 That Definately Settles That Question!👍 Next? From a Backyard Cremator in Fargo ND, Dan

[Breadhead]

I bought a RTIC type cooler at a garage sale for $5 a couple of years ago. It's been my portable cooler & cambro every since.👍 It's ugly as hell but I smile everytime I use it.

[Histrix]

How are you planning to use the Cambro type carrier? Just to hold cooked unpulled/uncut meats? Or are you looking to have trays filled with meats and sides ready to serve?

If you are not going to be using the carrier for ready to serve meats/sides and just want something to hold meat then get a cooler.

If you are going to get a cooler I don't think that Yeti products are worth the premium price they charge. They do not perform any better than many of their competitors products.

[David Parrish]

How many briskets does your cambro hold, Jerod Broussard ? Or pork butts? Basically how much meat can you get in there?

I would think that a medium-sized Yeti would hold several wrapped briskets, pork butts, chuckies, etc.

I've considered a Cambro, but since I only smoke at home and have 3 ovens in my kitchen, I have no need for one. Or a faux cambro setup for that matter. One of the ovens goes as low as 150, the other two at 170, so they work fine. Even though one or more might be otherwise occupied, there's usually always one available for meat resting.

Plus I'd have to store the Cambro in my garage, which I try hard to keep uncluttered. That takes some vigilance (the husband effect) and a ruthless commitment to toss out whatever we don't use. Truth be told, I'm more of a storer-of-stuff than my husband is. Guilty as charged.

All of this said, I would like to have a Cambro, and I would like to have an SnS. But I don't need them. I just want to use them. As soon as I get a good rationalization worked out for them (or David Parrish releases an SnS that exceeds what the WSCGC can do without one) I'll probably get them. MCS is on a slow simmer in the back of my brain all the time.

Kathryn

Curious what the SnS will do for the WSCG that would make it worth doing. What are your thoughts?

I get this request a lot so there must be something WSCG owners are hoping to achieve with the SnS.

[fzxdoc]

Well, David Parrish , ever since you came out with the SnS, I've been eager to play with it and see what it can do. The chance to do that with the kettle portion of the WSCGC is tempting. I'm not sure what it can do differently except possibly bring a heavier smoke profile to the food.

The WSCGC burns so efficiently that I don't see the thin blue/wispy white smoke for more than about an hour or two at the most during a long cook. I don't know if the same occurs with the SnS plus kettle combo.

As you know, I come from the PBC camp, which provides beautiful light smoke during the entire cook, partly from those dripping meat-basting juices. I don't know yet which, flavorwise, is the better idea. And, since the WSCGC is my first experience with a komado design, perhaps only seeing light/blue smoke for a short while is normal and the flavor still delivers the punch I'm looking for. I'll know more when I get a few more cooks under my belt. Everything that I've cooked on the WSCGC so far has been delicious.

That BBQ Maniac video with the head-to-head comparison of the SnS+Kettle vs WSCGC with pork butts got me thinking about a possible lighter smoke flavor from the WSCGC, is all. It's just one comparison, though, so more cooks would be needed to bear his findings out.

The second area that I have not yet perfected is getting a consistently good reverse sear setup going on the WSCGC and am wondering if the SnS could help with that. As you know, I'm all about reproducibility from cook to cook.

Again, this is mostly pilot error, since this is my first kettle since I left my daddy's house many years back. My years of reverse sear experience is all from my gasser. That Summit gasser is a reverse-searing machine. It works every time, consistently. The hot side is hot, hot, hot, just waiting for the sear, and the cooler side sits happily at 225-250 as the meat comes up to the right temp to start the sear. Grill Grates make this setup so easy.

I've done a couple of good reverse sears on the WSCGC, but am still chasing the ideal "hot enough and large enough area" needed to sear off a couple of Porterhouses, say, without blowing that 225 degree window needed on the other side of the grill for the first portion of the cook.

If I use fewer lit coals to maintain the temp at 225, then when I'm ready for the sear portion, precious minutes tick by as I try to get the pile of coals hot enough for the sear. That BBQ Dragon you suggested is probably in my future.

The final consideration is the water that the SnS brings to the table. I have yet to use a water pan for my WSCGC. I don't think I need one, but who knows. Maybe that bit brought by the SnS would be a good thing. Again, I'm used to the humidity level offered by a nicely loaded PBC. Of course I could always add a water pan to the WSCGC.

The WSCGC is such a well-thought-out smoker that it's difficult to know whether the addition of the SnS would bring a new feature or enhance an existing feature enough to make it worth the price.

Mostly, from my as yet limited WSCGC experience, I think that the SnS might possibly bring a nice footprint to the WSCGC for smaller cooks, providing a smokier flavor and possibly just the right amount of humidity. Plus perhaps it would help me solve that elusive reproducible reverse sear setup that I'm looking for.

Kathryn

[Breadhead]

fzxdoc ... "If I use fewer lit coals to maintain the temp at 225, then when I'm ready for the sear portion, precious minutes tick by as I try to get the pile of coals hot enough for the sear. That BBQ Dragon you suggested is probably in my future."

The BBQ Dragon is the answer for you going from the 225/250° baking step into the Warp 10 searing process... quickly.👍

On both my large BGE and my 26" Weber kettle & SnS, I start a small fire for the baking process. Then when my steaks reach 115/120° I pull them off the grate and blast my lump or briquettes with the BBQ Dragon. It only takes 60 to 90 seconds to get my fire to Warp 10 heat. For what I paid for the BBQ Dragon vs what benefit I get from it... It's a great value.👍

Smoke (thin blue) for more than 1 hour... I'm using @CeramicChef's smoke pot technique in my BGE exclusively now. I find that I'm getting better smoke flavor that way. Plus I've discovered that even though I can't see the smoke coming out of my top vent it's still smoking. After my last 6 hour rib cook I removed the smoke pot from on top of my small fire I used to smoke at 225° and exposed it to more air and it produced lots of gray smoke into the air. My assumption is that in the perfect cooking environment that thin blue smoke becomes invisible but it's still there.

[Breadhead]

The smoke pot for me was a major improvement over guessing where to put my wood chunks. I highly, highly recommend you try it.

[Obi-Dan]

Breadhead I read your comment three times before I realized it didn't say "pot smoke"

[Breadhead]

Well... Smoking pot is legal in Denver, where Peyton Manning owns 21 Poppa John's pizza stores.😆

My slogan would be... Munchies? You call-We haul.😆 We deliver!