Food warmer q
 

has anyone used there smoker(mine is a uds) as a food warmer. i was thinking to have it about 190* for holding whole butt's and brisky. any thoughts would be awsome. thanks.

I would keep it lower then that, more in the 150 range if you are just trying to keep it serving hot. 190 may dry it out. I have done it with a spice but I much rather using warming ovens or cambros or even coolers.

IMO....you can't keep a drum low enough temp to use as a warmer.

thanks for the info. that is what i thought too. i just dont know if the hd will like the cooler idea. i use it all the time for personal use. thanks again.

My understanding with my health department was that they check the temp of the food. They don't want anything to be between 35f and 140f because that is the "danger zone" for bacteria. I have kept food warm on the uds before but I totally take out the fire basket. The temp stays high enough for a couple hours after the heat is gone as long as you aren't opening the lid all the time. I also picked up some chafers. I found a great deal on some for around $35. I ordered 3 since that is what I was figuring to spend on 1. I don't want to violate any rules so PM me if you would like the link.

One thing i can GUARANTEE you, the HD will not let you use a drum as a warmer!!!

For that matter, most won't let you use a cooler either.
Must be NSF or UL approved warming device.

If for personal 140-150 is fine. If for serving to the public, check your county health department. These vary..alot. Some places require as high as 170 holding temps.

You can purchase disposable chafers at Wally World for a paltry sum of about $8 apiece. Maybe worth it for a one time use.

we have a couple of those that came w/ spoons & everything.:-P
i'd stick w/ chafing dishes -electric if you can because sterno will eat your profits up if doing long periods or dailyuse.

I recomend Cambro boxes vs Chafers (disposible or Electric). Keep meat whole as long as possible as will hold high temp.

The other option is to Smoke & pull / slice meat and get a comercial vacuum sealer and seal in 1 - 2 gallon bags, then freeze. At the event, keep frozen bags under ice until 1/2 hour prior to need and then submerge in boiling water or 1 hour on 225' smoker and then dump into electric chafer. Key here is to keep thickness down to 1" or less on bags. I get 2 1/2 lbs of pulled pork in a gallon (14" X 16" vacuum bag. The other issue is bag seams splitting so I seal all 3 closed sides of bag with vacuum sealer's thermal strip prior to filling.

Hope that helped....