Cambro Questions

[PBCDad]

I just ordered a real Cambro, this model based on the recommendation of PaulstheRibList. I'll be serving up some barbecue at a couple events this summer, so I thought I should look like I kind of know what I'm doing and not show up with the brisket wrapped in a towel inside a beer cooler I also provided the meat for an auction a few months ago, and towards the end of the night I'm not confident the internal temp was still above 140*, it had been in the cooler for 6+ hours at that point.

Questions:
It has slots for hotel pans of different sizes, and can fit (4) 2 1/2" pans, or (3) 6" pans, or (2) 8" pans. Spec sheet is here if anyone is interested. I'm not sure how different combinations of pans would work. What say ye, which size pans should I get? Should I get all full-size or some half-size as well? I'm thinking I can use half-size aluminum pans if I want to take smaller quantities. Are hotel pans all the same, or does brand matter?

Also, if I let a pork butt ride all the way unwrapped, do I need to wrap it in foil before putting it in the cambro, or is that not necessary?

Do I need to preheat the cambro before putting the meat in, or does the meat have enough thermal mass to heat up the air and then it gets kept at a good temp?

Since I'm making the investment anyway, I'm thinking of doubling this up as a cooler for when we go camping or otherwise transporting uncooked food. Has anyone used their cambro in this way? I would assume it holds cold temps as well as it holds hot ones.

Thanks everyone.

[Huskee]

I can answer the part about wrapping the butts before Cambroing- I say yes. The steam retention will help, and the juices will collect. Actually there'll be no steam to retain if you're simply cambroing under boiling temp. Only when you unwrap does it 'steam' from evaporative cooling, but still I would.

[SmokeyGator]

If it holds hot it will hold cold. The same principle applies. As for pans, it will be width that matters. If the pans fit in the slots, Bob’s your uncle. Depth only matters for the number of pans it will hold. Length only matters because too short means sliding around unleas you are careful to keep the box perfectly level when moving it (or you stuff void spaces with towels).

There is one thing about the cold however. The door opens on the side, so unless you keep the door facing up ice will spill out. So keep that in mind.

And lastly I’m not saying that what you got isn’t excellent for your intended use (truly it is, you have the best for a hot box) but have you seen Rtic coolers? I just picked up a 65 quart cooler, my dad has a 45 quart Yeti. They are EXCELLENT! I have used my 65 to keep stuff hot (using towles above and below the aluminum tray), but the real purpose of my Rtic is as a hurricane kit. I know that once packed with ice it is good for days. And with dry ice if I don’t open it much I can keep stuff frozen solid for a week.

[PBCDad]

Thanks for the rec on the cooler, I'll look into it if or current one gets damaged. I figure I'll be using this more for BBQ than for camping, plus I still have my cooler for now when I need it. No hurricanes here, just earthquakes and there's no advance warning for those.

[texastweeter]

Length only matters if... my wife used to lie to me like that....Actually a lot of this post could be pretty funny in another context. On another note, I use Yeti coolers as a cambrio. SmokeyGator nailed it on that one. So versatile.

[Razor]

Wow, RTIC is the bomb. Thanks for the heads-up! Something new to add to the list. :-)

[jfmorris]

The web page you linked to it says it keeps hot foods hot and cold foods cold for 4+ hours. So that 6+ hour brisket scenario would still be a concern. But you will look more professional with it for sure, and I think 3 full size steam table trays would hold a lot of hot wrapped meat.

[PBCDad]

I figure if the meat starts out at 190-200*, I'll have much longer than 4 hours before the danger zone, assuming I'm not opening and closing the door

[PaulstheRibList]

Dude, I'm so proud!!!

I have a pile of them and love using them. Let me see if I can respond to all your cool questions:

I end up using the foil pans almost exclusively. I started out like you are thinking, with a combo of 2.5 and 6" hard pans. They get all wonderfully greased up with our delicious bbq, and Boy, are they hard to clean in a home sink! Hard to clean in anything other than a huge 3 part sink with nice 140 degree water! Buy a couple 2.5 and a 6, and use them in combination with foil pans. Sometimes the foil pans will give and not hold on the side rails, so the hard pan prevents trouble in that situation.

You can put aluminium half pans in a full pan.

The hotel pans do vary in quality. I got from www.webstaurantstore.com, and they have a few grades. Some are thicker than other, but I'm fine with the less expensive ones.

Butt's uncovered are fine put into a foil pan and put a lid on it. No need to wrap.

Preheating is great if you don't have a full cambro full of hot food. Also good if you are going to pull the butts, which cools them, and then you end up with food that is in the danger zone (below 140 degrees). You have 4 hours once food is below 140. If you are putting in a full load of hot food, then the temp draw to heat up the cambro is not as critical.

You can certainly keep cold things in here as well. You, ever so wisely, purchased the genuine cambro model. They hold temp like a bandit, hot or cold. They are not waterproof, however, so if you put a bag of ice in it, there will be some leaking out of the melt.

You are going to love this!!!

paul

[PaulstheRibList]

The 4 hours is their guide for food safety. As you can see from the temp chart, if you put a full load of 190 degree food, it is still at 179 4 hours later. The safe zone is above 140, so you have more hours yet to hold and be above 140. I won't tell you how long I've filled up cambro's with pork butts pulled at 200. Mainly because I don't quite remember, but it was over 8 hours, and they were still above 140 when I opened to put them in the CVAP. #GoCambro

[Jerod Broussard]

Even though they can hold hot and cold, don't put ice cream and a hot brisket in at the same time......won't work.

[Nate]

Thank you for clarifying this.... I was beginning to think cambro's were some sort of food wizardry....

[PBCDad]

You just saved me from a catastrophe! 😝

[Nuke em]

Yeah...the brisket will get cold

[Frozen Smoke]

I have 2 stackable ones on a dolly so I can roll them around. Mine are the Carlisle brand not Cambro but same thing. Only time I can use foil pans is if they are on the bottom rails supported by the floor otherwise they fold in half from the weight if I'm putting brisket or pork butts in them. I have full, half and third size pans and use them all at given times. Craigslist can be a good source for these.
T
The only time I have trouble cleaning hotel pans is if I put them in the smoker. The bottoms get a nice grease layer on them from sitting on the racks and are a pain to clean so I no longer put them in the smoker. As far as clean up after food has been in them is no problem but a large sink is a big help. A laundry sink works.

So when I pan pork butts or brisket on the smoker they go in foil pans. When ready to go in the Cambro or Carlisle in my case I set the entire foil pan inside the hotel pan cover with foil and then put them in the Carlisle. I actually let pork butts rest in there overnight and pull the next day. They are still plenty warm the following morning. Believe me I don't need the bear claws to pull them they literally fall apart.

I've never used mine to keep stuff cold but they will. They actually make a plastic ice thing you can freeze that fits in the bottom of the unit to keep it cold without any of the mess of melting ice. Actually now that I think about it I did transport cold salads once. I put a couple of frozen half gallon jugs of water in the bottom to create the cold and it worked quite nicely. Love these things and consider them to be one of my essential tools.

[CandySueQ]

Pan Liners!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00192BO7Q/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[PBCDad]

Cool, I'll look into the plastic ice thing. Great to get validation that this was a good decision

[Thom Emery]

For the cold hold we used to put a block of ice in a pan and fill the remaining shelves with cold food
now I have a pair of the ice inserts that fit exactly in the cambro shelves

remember the more food you pack in the cambro the longer it stays to temp
I’ve laid it on its back and filled it completely with wrapped pork butts
they were very hot 6 hours later

[PaulstheRibList]

Ice Inserts!!! #MoreStuffForMeToBuy

[PaulstheRibList]

Ice Inserts!!! #MoreStuffForMeToBuy

[GadjetGriller]

Well my experience with mine. (it has room for 3 rows top to bottom) I got 2 full sized hotel pan W/ lids and 2 half size w/lids. In mine the slides are tight enough if you put the top on and side it in the top is held closed tightly and steams up fine. keeping the meat moist and hot. I've left a Brisket in for 6 hours and it was still at 150ish when I pulled it out. I'm very impressed with mine. Its a Styrofoam model. The airgap one you got is nicer so I figure you should have the same results!

[PBCDad]

Thanks everyone, this is really great information.

I plan on using the aluminum pans inside of the hotel pans so I can lift them out and pull the pork in the pan or cut something if needed, and I already have more dishes to clean than I have time for. I'm thinking I'll do as Paul suggested and get one 6" pan and four 2 1/2" pans to allow for the 6" + (2) 2 1/2" or (4) 2 1/2" pans in the cambro, unless you guys think three 6" pans would be better.

For cold storage I was thinking I would put a bag of ice into the 6" hotel pan in the lowest shelf, and that would mitigate some of the leakage. I had thought these were watertight, it is a little disappointing as none of the surfaces in my little car are horizontal. I'll just have to make sure there is plenty of room between any liquids and the pans they are in when I am transporting. I guess I could just put beans and stuff inside the 6" pan, should be plenty deep enough.

I think my cooler did okay keeping stuff warm enough for 4 hours, but I'm excited to step up my game with this.

​​​​​​​By the way Paul PaulstheRibList have you noticed that I'm slowly copying your BBQ progression? Start with a fine smoker, buy a Jambo, do a few small "catering" gigs, buy a cambro... If I start posting that I'm looking at trailers, watch out! :P

[PaulstheRibList]

Dude!!!!! Bring it forward @PBCDad!!!

[bardsleyque]

On the leaking part I've sometimes had grease/juices leak,you may want to put down something absorbent

[PBCDad]

Okay, another cambro question. The first cook is this weekend. My plan had been to cook starting eeeaaarrrly Sunday morning to serve by 5-5:30pm on Sunday. Through reading a different thread, I'm wondering if I should instead cook on Saturday and leave the meat in the cambro for a full day, refreshing the bottom pan with hot water as needed.

I don't want my brisket to turn to mush. I've been reading on other sites that I should cut the foil above the brisket to let it vent in the cambro, and that optimal holding temps are around 150 degrees. So should I pull the brisket, vent the foil, let sit on the counter for an hour, then into the cambro, filling with 160-170 degree water every few hours? Frozen Smoke you said you leave pork butt overnight and they fall apart - I don't want my brisket to fall apart, have you ever left a brisket in for that long?

Sorry guys, I just don't want to mess this up and I'm new to the super-insulated cambro.

[Frozen Smoke]

PBCDad the pork butts fall apart because they are at a internal temp of 205 to 210 when I put them in the Cambro. I don't cook briskets to that high of a temp I usually take briskets to 190 or 195. If I'm going to cambro a brisket for overnight and serve it the next day I might take it to 180 or so as it's going to continue to cook in the Cambro. Cover the pan and put it in the Cambro. Don't think i'd vent as if your holding it that long you want to keep as much air off it as possible. I've never used hot water as a heat source in my Cambro I felt the hot pans and meat created enough heat and the Cambro will hold the heat well. But I'm always putting 2 to 3 hot full pans in mine at a time. But that's not to say there is anything wrong with pre heating the Cambro with hot water it certainly is not going to hurt anything.

I would slowly reheat the brisket in a oven or smoker uncovered at 200 or so before serving.
You're going to love that Cambro and will be happy for years to come you invested in it. Very useful tool.

[PBCDad]

Thanks Frozen Smoke do you think it would be better to take it to 180 and do the cambro overnight, or cook it the same day with a 1-2 hour hold?

[Frozen Smoke]

If you can cook the same day you are going to serve that's always the best choice. The reason I say 180 is to leave some room for additional cooking in the cambro and for reheating. Keep in mind temps are guidelines especially for brisket. I want the probe of my Thermapen to feel little to no resistance going into the brisket in several places. That can happen at at anywhere from 185 on up. Good luck PBCDad Dad I'm sure you got this. Keep us posted!