Hot holding with Igloo cooler

[SmoothBoarBBQ]

Hey All,

Recently I started a thread about low and slow brisket cooking which kind of turned into a thread about hot holding and warming cabinets. I ordered a holding cabinet but learned that using any of these holding cabinets on food trucks / trailers, or in a residential area, voids the warranty. So I went back to the drawing board and did a good test today with hot holding a pork butt in a cheap Igloo cooler. I pre-heated the cooler with about 1 gallon of boiling water about an hour before I put the pork butt in. I double wrapped the pork butt and put it in a tray, and then into the cooler. Using the Thermoworks Signals I monitored the ambient temp and the internal temp of the pork butt. I have to say I'm pretty surprised at the result.

I held the butt for 8 hours until the temperature of the pork butt hit 145°. The ambient temp started at about 155° and after 8 hours it was down to 118°.

My purpose in this test was to gauge the feasibility of using coolers for long hot holds and I think it showed very positive results. My intent is to use the money I was going to spend on a holding cabinet to buy a couple of Yeti (or similar style) coolers for long term hot holding. The cheap Igloo did great, but I don't mind investing the money in a more solid piece of equipment.

[kevinstaggs]

That's a smart use of process and $. Well played.

[jmedder]

Very interesting and I was following along on the other thread. I'm glad you said "(or similar style)" on the cooler you choose. There's several "cooler shootouts" available online so I would say explore those, results may surprise you. I wound up with a yeti-style but not yeti brand cooler and could not have happier saving the money and still having an extremely high performing cooler. Good Luck moving forward and glad you've shared!

[Hoss]

I read a review on coolers and holding ice.Coleman Extreme won.There were 5 coolers in the test.Yeti and Artic were included.

[SmoothBoarBBQ]

Thanks for the input guys. I'll take a look at the Coleman Extreme and see what they have to offer.

[blake]

Did you fill the dead space with towels or newpaper? JMO but no need for the high dollar cooler, go with a cheaper one, but with a decent lid (where most of the heat loss occurs).

[mjpmap]

I’ve used igloo for hot holding mostly for personal use & for just a couple large (200people)cooks. I put a large beach towel in the bottom under the meat pan and a second towel on top. No need to preheat the cooler and holds for a really long time.

[toys4dlr]

You might also keep an eye on ebay, and restaurant auctions. I picked up a half sized Cvap for 400 bucks on ebay, it was local, a easy pick up and a bargain of the year.

[smoke ninja]

You fill up a cooler with multiple pork butts or briskets and it will hold all day with that much thermal mass. I've heard of old school guys who held bbq in a cardboard box. No chit.

[SmoothBoarBBQ]

Originally Posted by blake

Did you fill the dead space with towels or newpaper? JMO but no need for the high dollar cooler, go with a cheaper one, but with a decent lid (where most of the heat loss occurs).

I did not on this particular experiment because I wanted to see how well a large cooler with a small piece of meat would keep the meat at or above 145° internal temp.

As for coolers I'm also thinking about a couple Cambro's and using the camwamers. I have a great Cambro right now which can hold a ton of meat, but the door is a tad bit warped so the door doesn't seal perfectly.

As for cheaper coolers with a decent lid can you give a recommendation? Outside of the higher-dollar coolers most lids seem to be uninsulated or barely insulated. This is fine in moderate weather but when it gets hot or cold those shoddy lids can really be a problem.

[SmoothBoarBBQ]

Originally Posted by toys4dlr

You might also keep an eye on ebay, and restaurant auctions. I picked up a half sized Cvap for 400 bucks on ebay, it was local, a easy pick up and a bargain of the year.

I have been keeping an eye out for a while but so far no dice. I found an Alto-Sham but it was selling for $1K (half size) and wasn't functional at the time of the sale. So far what I see in those restaurant auctions is a ton of overpriced garbage...lots of beat up stuff.

My concern with going with any kind of warming cabinet is the power requirements as it relates to a mobile business. My trailer has a decent power box, but the panel is full and I don't have anymore room for a 20amp breaker. I have the AC on a 20amp and the refrigerator on a 20amp, so I really can't sacrifice one of those slots for a holding cabinet.

I looked around at quite a few different holding cabinet manufacturers and all of them say the warranty is voided when using on mobile equipment, outside, or in a residential setting. I'll keep my eyes peeled on restaurant auctions and see if maybe I can get a great score in the future. I think the coolers will work as a stop gap until that time, or until I build a new trailer.

Thanks for the advice.

[onemanlan]

Originally Posted by SmoothBoarBBQ

Hey All,

Recently I started a thread about low and slow brisket cooking which kind of turned into a thread about hot holding and warming cabinets. I ordered a holding cabinet but learned that using any of these holding cabinets on food trucks / trailers, or in a residential area, voids the warranty. So I went back to the drawing board and did a good test today with hot holding a pork butt in a cheap Igloo cooler. I pre-heated the cooler with about 1 gallon of boiling water about an hour before I put the pork butt in. I double wrapped the pork butt and put it in a tray, and then into the cooler. Using the Thermoworks Signals I monitored the ambient temp and the internal temp of the pork butt. I have to say I'm pretty surprised at the result.

I held the butt for 8 hours until the temperature of the pork butt hit 145°. The ambient temp started at about 155° and after 8 hours it was down to 118°.

My purpose in this test was to gauge the feasibility of using coolers for long hot holds and I think it showed very positive results. My intent is to use the money I was going to spend on a holding cabinet to buy a couple of Yeti (or similar style) coolers for long term hot holding. The cheap Igloo did great, but I don't mind investing the money in a more solid piece of equipment.

I know you said cheap worked for you, which is great, but I'd like to plug Igloo's BMX coolers as being decent Yeti competitors for much cheaper. They have a more expensive direct competitor called IMX which I really have no comment on. I've had my BMX for a couple of months & cannot say enough good about it. She's held many of briskets for me until the morning without issue.


Until you mentioned it I had never heard of holding-cab warranty void over location use like a residential area.

[SmoothBoarBBQ]

Originally Posted by onemanlan

I know you said cheap worked for you, which is great, but I'd like to plug Igloo's BMX coolers as being decent Yeti competitors for much cheaper. They have a more expensive direct competitor called IMX which I really have no comment on. I've had my BMX for a couple of months & cannot say enough good about it. She's held many of briskets for me until the morning without issue.


Until you mentioned it I had never heard of holding-cab warranty void over location use like a residential area.

Thanks for the recommendation. I was looking at those earlier and they look fantastic. I'm also heavily looking at Orca Coolers as they are 100% American made.

I also didn't even think about the warranty or power requirements as it's listed as 12 amps and 1440 watts, so shouldn't be an issue. Here's what Webstaurantstore.com sent me when they saw that my delivery address was my residential address.

"Unfortunately, the use of our commercial equipment is not intended for use in residential settings. These items are made to comply with commercial, not residential, codes and therefore can be inappropriate, unsafe, and not intended for use in a home environment. Commercial units often use more energy than residential units and are louder while running. Not only that, but placing these units in a home environment voids the warranty. "

I responded back that I was going to use it in my food trailer and this was their response.

"I do want to inform you that Avantco Equipment installed on a food truck or trailer will be limited to a period of 30 days from the original date of purchase." They did clarify that the warranty would be 30 days from date of purchase, though the manufacturer offers a 3 year warranty (which I had selected).

I also looked around at a few different holding cabinet makers and they all had a similar disclaimer about using their equipment in a residential application.

Good thing though as I think I can get the safe effect of hot holding for a lot cheaper.

[toys4dlr]

More importantly, if using on a mobile trailer. What does the health department say.???

Have you looked at a heated Cambro?? I have one and I use it when we have family gathering like Xmas, easter and such. Heated up and nothing in it, it holds right around 155.

Just another options, but owning a restaurant for 10 years, I first try to make the HD happy.

[KClandcruiser]

Originally Posted by SmoothBoarBBQ

Thanks for the recommendation. I was looking at those earlier and they look fantastic. I'm also heavily looking at Orca Coolers as they are 100% American made.

I also didn't even think about the warranty or power requirements as it's listed as 12 amps and 1440 watts, so shouldn't be an issue. Here's what Webstaurantstore.com sent me when they saw that my delivery address was my residential address.

"Unfortunately, the use of our commercial equipment is not intended for use in residential settings. These items are made to comply with commercial, not residential, codes and therefore can be inappropriate, unsafe, and not intended for use in a home environment. Commercial units often use more energy than residential units and are louder while running. Not only that, but placing these units in a home environment voids the warranty. "

I responded back that I was going to use it in my food trailer and this was their response.

"I do want to inform you that Avantco Equipment installed on a food truck or trailer will be limited to a period of 30 days from the original date of purchase." They did clarify that the warranty would be 30 days from date of purchase, though the manufacturer offers a 3 year warranty (which I had selected).

I also looked around at a few different holding cabinet makers and they all had a similar disclaimer about using their equipment in a residential application.

Good thing though as I think I can get the safe effect of hot holding for a lot cheaper.

I've had an ORCA 58qt for about 4ish years now and couldn't be happier with it. The only downside to it is the overall weight, which is a positive for insulation, but once filled with ice and beer it's a lot to haul by yourself. Fit and finish and quality is at or above yeti level though. Plus, if it's mostly stationary in your truck then the weight becomes a non-factor. I've rested 2 pork butts in there for 8 hours with no pre-warming and it was still steaming hot and the butts still had to sit on the counter to cool a little before digging in.

The only reason I mention that, is with doing larger volumes of meat, you may need to periodically burp the cooler or leave them cracked at the beginning to avoid overcooking meat once you have a full service worth of meat packed into it.