Which holding oven? Alto, CVAP?

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nullbitz

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Jim
I'm looking at picking up a holding oven for briskets overnight ~12hour holds at 150.

I'd only need capacity for 1 or 2 of them and currently looking at Alto Shaam, CVAP and looks like Cambro which has a holding option also. Anyone have any good opinions for the backyard holding oven make / model?

Looks like Alto is a dry heat which may need some humidity added and CVAP has humidity options built in.

note: I've already done the cooler route, looking for longer, heated holding times.

thanks!
 
This is something I've been looking in to as well, although I want a full size cabinet as I want to be able to hold multiple briskets and other meats at one time. I am serious enough about it that I already had an electrician come in and install a dedicated 20 amp circuit in my garage just for the holding cabinet so I am good to go. Actually, I had him install 3 separate 20 amp circuits in the garage... one for the holding cabinet, one for a dedicated refrigerator and one for a dedicated freezer so my other half can stop complaining that I am taking up the entire refrigerator and freezer but that's another story lol.

I have been looking at the Metro C5 cabinets and am debating between these two, the only difference being one has lip load slides and the other has universal wire slides. Not sure which is better. Both are also the low wattage version which uses a standard 20 amp NEMA 5-15P plug which is important as the standard version uses a 5-20P plug. I saw a Youtube video recently at Louie Mueller's BBQ in Taylor, Texas and could swear I saw similar Metro Style cabinets in the background at one point.. easily identifieable by their red outer insulation shell.

https://www.webstaurantstore.com/me...es-and-solid-dutch-doors-red/461C59CLDSL.html

https://www.webstaurantstore.com/me...es-and-solid-dutch-doors-red/461C59CLDSU.html

They do make several counter Hight versions as well such as this one:
https://www.webstaurantstore.com/me...nd-universal-wire-slides-red/461C53CLFSU.html

or even half size like this one:
https://www.webstaurantstore.com/me...re-slides-and-solid-door-red/461C55CLFSU.html

One important thing to keep in mind is that Webstaurant.com will tell you that you void your warranty if you are using the unit in your home and not in a commercial setting. That's BS. I talked to Metro customer service who advised they have plenty of customers that use it in their home and still have the warranty. Plus, if you had an issue, webstaurant is going to send you to Metro anyways.

I am having to hold off now unfortunately do to an unforeseen incident where the downstairs of my house flooded from a ruptured toilet supply line. Insurance is covering the cost to repair minus my deductible but since the floor is already ripped out I might as well do some upgrades which I was already planning since all of the flooring was very old and outdated... I just wasn't planning to do them any time soon but it doesn't make sense to wait now since the floor is already ripped out. So there went my holding cabinet budget for now.

In the mean time, I have been holding briskets in my regular oven with good success. Since my gas oven only goes down to 175 and is also hotter than it says (high by about 25 degrees) I have had great success using the dehydrate setting. I set it at about 125 which averages 150 per my Fireboard probe, and I put the brisket in a large foil pan wrapped in butcher paper soaked in tallow and then cover the foil pan with foil so it is totally unaffected by the dehydrate setting. It works like a charm. I've done this about 4 times now and it works perfectly. I actually just smoked a packer on Sunday, pulled it off at midnight, let it cool to 150 then used this method to hold it until about 6:30 last night for dinner. It came out amazing.
 
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I'm able to recalibrate my gas oven so when it says 170°F, it's actually 150°F. It lets me ±35°F and only takes a few seconds to do. I keep the instructions on my phone.
 
Electric smokers work well for this purpose. I use a Smokin-It model 3.5D.
 
I got a small used Alto Shaam in a restaurant equipment auction for about $300. There is no way to “add” humidity but there are small vents you can open to somewhat regulate it. I’m not too worried about adding humidity since it’s easy enough to wrap in foil or plastic wrap, or just cover the pan holding the food. It works well, can’t complain. :thumb:
 
we used cvaps in the restaurant. I kept the half unit when we closed. have you looked at a heated cambro, a little cheaper than a cvap
 
Markov said:
Electric smokers work well for this purpose. I use a Smokin-It model 3.5D.
Click to expand...


This. I use my Masterbuilt electric smoker to hold a lot of stuff, especially on holidays when i have the oven tied up. I usually set it to 180F if i want to hold something at 140-150F. You have to play around with it, but its usually not crucial if you hover in the 140-160 range for briskets or pork butts. But i would be cautious with something like a rib roast where temp swings above 130F is crucial. Were talking $350 vs $5000 your willing to spend. Is it really worth $5000 to have an exact hold temp?
 
smoke ninja said:
I hold one or two briskets with a countertop roasting oven at 150. way cheaper option than an alto sham or cvap for such little product
Click to expand...

I tried the turkey roaster after going through your thread on it and it worked for sure. Just took more tweaking that I was looking for. I calibrated all the temp settings to find where the 150 temp wound up being, once I added the meat it actually needed to be bumped up to maintain that temp since it was such a small space. The meat was losing temp and dipping under 150.

I'd also like some additional space for the occasional hour rib/pork butt hold if dinner timing is off.
 
sudsandswine said:
I got a small used Alto Shaam in a restaurant equipment auction for about $300. There is no way to “add” humidity but there are small vents you can open to somewhat regulate it. I’m not too worried about adding humidity since it’s easy enough to wrap in foil or plastic wrap, or just cover the pan holding the food. It works well, can’t complain. :thumb:
Click to expand...


awesome! any tips on settings or you just set it at 150 and that's literally it?
Whats your typical hold time?
 
nullbitz said:
awesome! any tips on settings or you just set it at 150 and that's literally it?
Whats your typical hold time?
Click to expand...

I usually set it at 140 or 145 - there is a temp fluctuation of about 7* +/- set point, I verified with support that this is a normal temp fluctuation range. Like many things that use resistance heat, the element cycles on and off. The heating element does wrap around the unit, so I've found the heat to be pretty even inside.

I don't own one but the turkey roaster method seems to be an effective and affordable way for holding meat. Obviously larger volumes of food would not work with that method though.

nullbitz said:
right now I'm eyeing up this one

Alto Shaam 750s

https://www.webstaurantstore.com/al...-mobile-holds-10-food-pans-120v/131750SA.html
Click to expand...

That's pretty similar to the one I picked up, although mine is a slightly older revision it seems.
 
CVAP is going to be the best option but also likely to be the most expensive. I've used them in a commercial setting at several facilities and they are extremely impressive.
 
A Metro heated/proofing cabinet will work fine...don't get uptight about "adding moisture". Your food will be wrapped (I'm assuming) & will hold in all the moisture you need. If you wrap in foil, adding moisture won't help anyway. If you wrap in paper, the grease will do much the same as the foil. Plus they are not heavy & can easy be rolled around.

I set at 145...keeps me above the 135 minimum, and not so high that it worries me.
 
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