We bought the Masterbuilt 3 Rack electric smoker from QVC a few weeks ago. Our first endeavour was a pork Butt from Dadgum II and it turned out great - the one rubbed in mustard. We have found quite the learning curve with the smoker in terms of time to cook, heating, temperature gauge etc.
Took it to a friend's party yesterday and put three racks of Chicken Wings on. Used this recipe that I have also seen posted here: http://www.dadgumthatsgood.com/super-smoke-sweet-and-spicy-chicken-wings/ Followed the recipe to a T. They turned out FABULOUS and people said they were the best wings they ever had.
Here is where the learning curve comes in. I checked the forums here and followed the advice to cook the wings at a higher temp. I set the smoker to preheat to 300 which was around medium. Heated up that hot no problem. Took a bit of time, but got it up there. When I preheated it, I had all three racks out to put the chicken on and put them in all at once to minimize the time the door was open after it heated up. The temp went down to 100 very quickly, no doubt from the door being open. This is where I am wondering if something is wrong with my Smoker thermostat b/c I couldn't get teh temp back up to 300 even on high. I don't know if it is because all three racks were covered with the chicken. I had to up it to high and even then it only got to about 200 to 225. Yet, the chicken on the lowest rack cooked faster than the other two. I took out the chicken that was already cooked and then cooked the rest on the two racks. It just seemed the temp gauge was not in line with the actual temp in the smoker. It was very hot in there, but the guage didn't indicate that.
Is it normal for the temp to go down... WAY down when all three racks are covered? I didn't use pans, I put the chicken directly on the racks. It seems the interior was hotter than the temp gauge said b/c the chicken when it was done was nice and crisp and brown. I want to make sure it is working correctly or if there is a problem with teh temp gauge.
I did the sauce on the stove, drizzled it on the chicken and it adhered like a glaze. VERY tasty.
Also, I have seen posts that people have used drip pans from Sam's. Where do you put them? The cleanup is pretty nasty for chicken wings! I was thinking of putting one of the pan lids from Sam's on the very bottom to make cleanup easier. Has anyone done that? I can't figure out where to put the pan or what size to get that will otherwise fit i without taking up smoker rack real estate..
Here are some pics of the wings. I forgot to take a pic with the glaze on them. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Took it to a friend's party yesterday and put three racks of Chicken Wings on. Used this recipe that I have also seen posted here: http://www.dadgumthatsgood.com/super-smoke-sweet-and-spicy-chicken-wings/ Followed the recipe to a T. They turned out FABULOUS and people said they were the best wings they ever had.
Here is where the learning curve comes in. I checked the forums here and followed the advice to cook the wings at a higher temp. I set the smoker to preheat to 300 which was around medium. Heated up that hot no problem. Took a bit of time, but got it up there. When I preheated it, I had all three racks out to put the chicken on and put them in all at once to minimize the time the door was open after it heated up. The temp went down to 100 very quickly, no doubt from the door being open. This is where I am wondering if something is wrong with my Smoker thermostat b/c I couldn't get teh temp back up to 300 even on high. I don't know if it is because all three racks were covered with the chicken. I had to up it to high and even then it only got to about 200 to 225. Yet, the chicken on the lowest rack cooked faster than the other two. I took out the chicken that was already cooked and then cooked the rest on the two racks. It just seemed the temp gauge was not in line with the actual temp in the smoker. It was very hot in there, but the guage didn't indicate that.
Is it normal for the temp to go down... WAY down when all three racks are covered? I didn't use pans, I put the chicken directly on the racks. It seems the interior was hotter than the temp gauge said b/c the chicken when it was done was nice and crisp and brown. I want to make sure it is working correctly or if there is a problem with teh temp gauge.
I did the sauce on the stove, drizzled it on the chicken and it adhered like a glaze. VERY tasty.
Also, I have seen posts that people have used drip pans from Sam's. Where do you put them? The cleanup is pretty nasty for chicken wings! I was thinking of putting one of the pan lids from Sam's on the very bottom to make cleanup easier. Has anyone done that? I can't figure out where to put the pan or what size to get that will otherwise fit i without taking up smoker rack real estate..
Here are some pics of the wings. I forgot to take a pic with the glaze on them. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
