Carlisle FoodService Products Insulated Food Pan Carrier and Warmer, Front-Lo...

fantastic carrier!! I have a small catering business on the side, and needed a way to transport my hot dishes. I had been looking at Cambro, but my budget didn't allow such an expense. While looking for a budget friendly option, I came across this carrier. I was very happy to see the quality of this carrier when it arrived. It's not overly heavy, but good quality. Plenty of space to hold my hot foods (so far it's held 150 servings each of pork, chicken, potatoes with room to spare!) I was even more impressed when we had a big job (over 2 hours away) and my food stayed hot! Some liquid even leaked in the carrier, but didn't seap out! I have stored 1/2 size aluminum trays and full size aluminum trays with no issue. And it holds quite a lot! Overall, very impressed, and looking forward to purchasing another one later for my cold dishes.

Couldn't find a company close by that rented insulated food containers, so checked on Amazon to see how much they cost. Came across this known brand and it seemed quite reasonable. Purchased a couple of these for our group as there are many activities throughout the year where food spoilage/safety can be an issue. These kept food nice and warm at our recent event, 3-4 hours between food delivery and serving time. one small issue that's not a huge deal is that the rubber gasket that makes the seal between the door and body of the unit seemed generic and custom made for the seal. There weren't even any instructions with the unit, but it didn't matter, it still worked.

I thought twice before buying this because it was a warehouse deal, but I am glad I did. It had slightly bent hinges, but I fixed that with a wrench in a few seconds. Saved me several dollars vs. a new one. Better than new. I cater BBQ and do competitions, these carriers are the best at holding hot pans and transporting. I also use them to hold meat to temperature until my turn it times. Easy to clean, just remove the door by sliding it off the hinges, and wash with mild soap and water. I have used a standard cooler in the past to hold hot food, they work, but they also warp from the heat and ruin a good cooler which you should use for cold purposes. These things take the heat and hold shape. It is built to hold hot trays hot, and make catering jobs a breeze.

Good gracious I LOVE this carrier. I put pasta sauce in for a catering job around 2pm, and at 3am when I was cleaning up the dishes, the back-up sauce was still so hot I had to use potholders to get it out! I would love to invest in a second one so I can either have a cold and hot carrier, or have two hot carriers for large events. They are invaluable, and Amazon has the best price you will find on this bad boy. Worth every penny, but no need to spend more than you have to on anything, right? The ONLY thing I've noticed is that space between the tracks is tight if you use an aluminum pan inside a regular hotel pan. As long as the thing is full so the pans can support each other, I've had no issue stacking aluminum pans in there and putting them in hotels at our serving site.

Very frustrated with this purchase. I own 2 of these. Both bought from Amazon. One I purchased in 2015 and used on Competition BBQ circuit approximately 10 times in '15 and 13 times in ' 16. Beginning in 2017 we knew we needed a 2nd unit to provide more space and ease of use. Not sure what happened but nearing the end of 2016 we noticed that our food was not holding temp. In fact steam was visibly escaping from the door on top. Steam turning into water was leaking on the floor of our trailer. There was nothing wrong with the seal or the unit that we could tell. After having bought a 2nd one and the first one getting much, much worse in holding temp our investigation found the door had warped or bowed in the middle leaving big gaps and definitely not allowing the door to seal. Now unfortunately our 2nd one, the brand new one from February has been doing the exact same thing. We have done 11 comps to date and it has been an issue for no less than the last 5. Problem is the door is not as visibly bowed as our first ultimately became but it is definitely leaking temp. It is unfortunate. I thought this was a quality product and that we had inadvertently done something to our first one or had bad luck now i definitely think it must just be a cheap product. There is nothing as BBQ cooks we could possibly do to destroy the seal on these warming boxes or cause the doors to warp. They hold briskets and pork butts. Based on my experience do not waste your money. Now I will be buying a 3rd and 4th unit and they will be CAMBRO brand. While more expensive Hopefully we have much better luck. As of right now I have thrown at least $560 bucks down the tube.

Bought two of these for my catering business and they are sturdy and heavy. It definitely takes someone strong to carry when filled with pans and food, I couldn't carry it myself. Warmer did the job, kept food warm for 2 hours, might be longer but so far we've used them to keep food warm for up to 2 hrs. The hinges on the door do look a little off and one of them has a slight slant on the door placement but still kept the food warm. Overall I give it 4 out of 5, because of the hinges and door slant. Whomever is placing hinges is not doing a good job. Also when you place the pans in it's a tight squeeze.

I initially tried this product when cooking on a small scale...(one pork butt -or- one brisket). When there isn't a lot of food at service temperature to fill it, it is difficult to maintain 140F+. When used to park about eight pork butts at 140F...it worked gloriously. Verified with a digital thermometer I was able to hot hold pork butts and transfer to a serving line with no problems. When used with hot food in all pans it is terrific. The door comes off easily for cleaning. the handles are nice for two-person lifts into a truck or onto a wagon. There are slots on the sides to park a various number of service trays. Very nice.

The food carrier kept our food hot for up to 5 hours and we are very satisfied with our purchase. I definitely recommend it to the persons in the food industry. The carrier is also easy to clean and very sturdy. It can be very heavy to move around and will require some manpower.