Hot Cart Build

[portly]

Hi All,

New Member here. Hoping to get some help!

I recently acquired this Wittco Hot Cart 1826-15-BC. It has 2 heating elements (600 Watt each). The manual says it can reach 190 degreees at level 10 which is the highest. I tested this and indeed it did hit 190. I popped a stack into this weekend and the highest I could get the temp was 160 with 30 lbs of meat in it. Do you think I'm loosing heat from the stack? Also what is the best way to get the elements to heat up higher than 190? I would like to do ribs and such but need higher temps. Do I need to replace the thermostat to a PID? Any help would be great.

Wittco.jpg

• portly
• Mar 13, 2017

 

[clearprop]

Where is the air intake? The stack could be drawing more draft and bringing in cooler air too fast.

How many cubic feet is your unit?

1200w for that large of a space (judging by your picture) isn't enough from what I've seen. It will be way easier to get it up to temp if you had more wattage. You could TRY a 1500watt 120v element and see if the extra 300 watts gets you there, but that is a stretch.

If you have a 240v outlet, then a cheap 2600watt-3000watt element from/for an oven will do everything you need.... it will draw no more than 12.6amps... when your 1500watt 120v element will be burning 15amps and taking over an hour to struggle getting your unit up to temp. You will need either an oven controller from craigslist or a salvage yard (they usually don't heat under 170 degrees) or make your own PID which has features such as ramp and soak so you can program it to run at certain temps and increase/decrease temps based on TIME or meat temperature (dual probe) You can risk cheap stuff from ebay out of china working and continue to work, or go with AUBER (more money but worth their quality, warranty, and service!)

I haven't reasd your manual or seen the schematic, but it the unit's controller/thermostat could limit the heat at 190 regardless of what you do too.

If you had a smaller unit, then the 120v 1500watt stuff could work good enough for you. But that food warmer looks HUGE.

 

[portly]

The dimensions are 66 inches tall by 27 wide by 33 deep. I've also thought about a propane burner.

 

[kunze7]

Buy a Pid controller and switch to a bigger watt burner. Wire it up for 220

 

[dward51]

Also as you increase temps into the 225* to 300* range you need to be aware of what type of insulation was used in that cabinet.  If it's blown in poly foam, some of that stuff starts to degrade at temps common to smoking meat.  With a cabinet made to top out at 190*, you probably have an over temp thermal cut off switch in there somewhere so if it's a 200* cut out, you will not get over 200*.   Just two things to consider as you think about changing things out and adding a bigger element for higher temps.

 

[portly]

I made the decision to switch this to propane. As far as insulation goes it has 2 inch through out and looks to be a white fluffy type. The cabinet is NSF certified.

 

[dward51]

White fluffy as in white fiberglass?  I would pull a small portion and see what the burn characteristics are if you don't have any info on exactly what it is.  Especially with propane as heat source.  If it's fiberglass, you are probably good. Fiberglass is usually good to at least 1,000*,

If it melts and smokes a lot (black smoke especially) under the flame of a match of lighter, I would consider changing it out.

 

[portly]

Ok I have the hot cart converted to propane. Only issue I'm having is trying to keep AMPS lit. I've also tried the wood chips on a cast iron skillet and same thing. I have a 3 inch hole for a stack on top and a 3 inch hole direct below the burner. Do I need more ventilation?

 

[portly]

Ok I have the hot cart converted to propane. Only issue I'm having is trying to keep AMPS lit. I've also tried the wood chips on a cast iron skillet and same thing. I have a 3 inch hole for a stack on top and a 3 inch hole direct below the burner. Do I need more ventilation?

Any ideas? I had the Amazen maze under the burner near the hole. Would the burner eat up my smoke? Should I put ventilation near my heat deflector and put the maze on top?