cambro help

I don't think you need to heat it up, depending how large it is.

I don't know much about Cambro's, but you might post the model you purchased. It might make a difference in the advice you get. Just trying to help.

I don't have a cambro, we use a Carlisle, but they serve the same purpose. I heat mine up with a pot of boiling water only if it's cold out (like maybe below 50). If the the ambient air temp is warm, the hot food itself going into the holder will heat and keep it warm.

I'm not sure if it helps or not, but when the holder is empty and the I am putting the first tray of cooked food in, I always put it in the top slot - so the heat coming off the top of the tray hits the ceiling and hast no where else to go. Just using the logic of heat rising I guess.

The vent you have is to release steam, should the food be so hot that it steams itself and make stuff soggy. I don't have one on my Carlisle, but it's never been a problem for me anyway.

I know of one of my friends pre heating his Cambro, and it actually kept cooking his brisket. It turned out well over cooked after holding. I never pre heat mine, and it holds temp with no problem.

I don't preheat mine. When the meat comes out of the cooker, its wrapped, so I just slide it right into the Cambro.

leave the gasket off the door and don't seal it otherwise the meat will steam. I hold 2 butts and 3 briskets this way for 4-5 hours at contests and meat is hot.

Unless it's really cold (below say 40*) I don't pre-heat mine for contests. I love to use them both before and after turn-on... Before to rest the meat and after to hold it until I can properly cool it...