How Many Mes Owners Here?

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Which One Do You Have?

  • 40'

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 40' with window

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 40' 800 watt

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • I like it a lot

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Where did you buy it?

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Sams Club

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Other please list where in a post

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    2
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Got my MES30 last November and love it!  I good friend has 2 of them and highly recomended it.  Can't wait til it get warmer outside.  Purchased it on Amazon.
 
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Good afternoon all,

I got a MES 40" with window for my birthday a couple of weeks ago from my dear wife. Going to electric kind of goes against the way I think about smoking the wrong way, because I like using wood, but I'm open to new ideas.

Anyway, I cured it about a week ago or so during some good old Montana bitter cold and wind. It never got above 250 degrees on the oven thermometer that I had placed on the middle rack, but no alarm because it was cold with a fairly stiff wind. I did have the smoker protected from most of the wind though.

Today, I'm already to put on a 2 bone prime rib, so went out and fired up the new MES. The temp today is about 35 degrees and no wind. In preheating the machine, I noticed the oven thermometer has not gone above 250 degrees again in the middle of the middle rack, so I put my remote temperature probe in through the side vent to about the same position as the oven thermometer, and they both agree......hmmmmm!

Now I have moved both the probe and temp thermometer to the middle of the lowest rack and now my readings are at 273 degrees and the digital readout on the smoker is at 279 to 280 degrees, so that isn't too bad, but I don't want to smoke on the bottom rack when I do beef roasts.

Are these temp differences common with this smoker and if so what if anything have all of you talented folks done to overcome the issue?

Thanks for any and all suggestions!

Mtgrizzly52
 
Good afternoon all,

I got a MES 40" with window for my birthday a couple of weeks ago from my dear wife. Going to electric kind of goes against the way I think about smoking the wrong way, because I like using wood, but I'm open to new ideas.

Anyway, I cured it about a week ago or so during some good old Montana bitter cold and wind. It never got above 250 degrees on the oven thermometer that I had placed on the middle rack, but no alarm because it was cold with a fairly stiff wind. I did have the smoker protected from most of the wind though.

Today, I'm already to put on a 2 bone prime rib, so went out and fired up the new MES. The temp today is about 35 degrees and no wind. In preheating the machine, I noticed the oven thermometer has not gone above 250 degrees again in the middle of the middle rack, so I put my remote temperature probe in through the side vent to about the same position as the oven thermometer, and they both agree......hmmmmm!

Now I have moved both the probe and temp thermometer to the middle of the lowest rack and now my readings are at 273 degrees and the digital readout on the smoker is at 279 to 280 degrees, so that isn't too bad, but I don't want to smoke on the bottom rack when I do beef roasts.

Are these temp differences common with this smoker and if so what if anything have all of you talented folks done to overcome the issue?

Thanks for any and all suggestions!

Mtgrizzly52
Since you have a side vent, you must have a Gen #2 MES. One of the problems with that unit is the slanted drip plate, with the water pan in it. That slanted plate forces the heat to go uphill, keeping the heat trapped in the right side.

You can try removing the water pan completely. Then put a throw-away foil pan under the hole where the water pan was, to catch any drips that would have gone into the water pan that you removed. This will allow some of the heat that's trapped below the slanted drip plate to escape through the water pan hole.

Later when you get an AMNPS you'll want to do this anyway. Then you'll be able to put the AMNPS over the water pan hole to get air flow to the AMNPS.

As for what is common with that unit---Yes poor balance of heat is very common with that unit.

Bear
 
Bearcarver, thank you for the return post.

Oops, forgot to mention I did purchase an AMNPS unit and I'm currently using it. The side vent is fully open, the chip pan removed, the water pan likewise. I've got an aluminum foil tent over the AMNPS and the smoke I'm getting seems to be perfect out of the vent....not a lot of it, a very light color of white in the smoke and it appears good smoke circulation inside the smoker, so I'm really happy with the AMNPS!

The prime rib has been on now for a couple of hours and internal temp is 85 degrees. I have the meat on the 2nd rack from the bottom along with the oven thermometer and it appears the inside temp is 220 degrees, and the digital temp reading is cycling between 225 and 230 degrees, so I good with that.

I am going to order the remote thermometer y'all have talking about tonight as it seems to be perfect for this application.

Finally, I am using your prime rib recipe Bearcarver and I can't wait to taste it. I cook a lot of rib roasts for holidays and such which everyone raves about, but your recipe though close to mine, is I think going to be awesome!! This also the first time I've smoked a rib roast.

mtgrizzly52
 
Well I am happy to report that my 40" MES worked pretty good along with the AMNPS. The rib roast came out looking great with a nice crust on it, but the smell wasn't the best. It smelled smokey, but there was another odor that smelled not so good. It didn't take long to figure out what is was once I cut into the meat and tasted it.

We ordered a half of beef at the end of 2012, supposedly a grain fed prime black angus, but the meat we got was from an old heifer that was a range cow... I still wonder who the meat processor gave our beef to. I thought we had thrown away all of that crappy meat, but somehow one rib roast was kept and then mixed in with the beef we bought a month ago...yep, I confirmed it from the markings on the wrapping. This roast was so tough, I couldn't cut the lip, my favorite and tenderest part of a prime rib except with a very sharp knife, and the taste was just plain rank!

So, a high score for my MES, but a zero for Lower Valley Meats in Kalispell, MT!

mtgrizzly52
 
Well I am happy to report that my 40" MES worked pretty good along with the AMNPS. The rib roast came out looking great with a nice crust on it, but the smell wasn't the best. It smelled smokey, but there was another odor that smelled not so good. It didn't take long to figure out what is was once I cut into the meat and tasted it.

We ordered a half of beef at the end of 2012, supposedly a grain fed prime black angus, but the meat we got was from an old heifer that was a range cow... I still wonder who the meat processor gave our beef to. I thought we had thrown away all of that crappy meat, but somehow one rib roast was kept and then mixed in with the beef we bought a month ago...yep, I confirmed it from the markings on the wrapping. This roast was so tough, I couldn't cut the lip, my favorite and tenderest part of a prime rib except with a very sharp knife, and the taste was just plain rank!

So, a high score for my MES, but a zero for Lower Valley Meats in Kalispell, MT!

mtgrizzly52
Wow, I'm real sorry to hear about your bad roast. I wouldn't get any from them again!!

That would really tick me off, paying for it, prepping it, smoking it, getting anxious to taste it, and then it's a bad piece of meat !!!

BTW: I forgot to mention, even though the Gen #2 MES has problems, if you pay attention to what it does, and where, you can make adjustments to get Great foods out of it.

Bear
 
MES 30" with AMNPS.  I'm about to add a thermocouple to it so I can run it off my PID controller.  

I already have a PID control box that I use for homebrew, sous vide, etc, which switches 2x 120V circuits up to 20 amps each.  I should be able to just plug it into the thermocouple and plug the MES into it to start controlling it.  Maybe a little re-tuning, since I'd imagine the parameters are way different for the inside of a smoker vs liquid.  

I dug up an old RTD thermocouple from my bin of brew system parts that I had stopped using because it wasn't working.  I tore it apart and found that the solder joint to one of the pins was loose.  Touched that up a bit with the soldering iron and saved myself $30 or so.  

I tried smoking a couple things with the stock MES and it was pretty mediocre.  I tried to smoke some sausages and had trouble getting it to consistently produce smoke at low temps.  I smoked a chicken around 275-300 range and that turned out quite good, but needed chips replaced during the smoke even in the 2 hours or so that it took.  

I used the AMNPS to smoke pulled pork for about 9-10 hours the other day and it worked great.  At one point, it jumped a row, so I needed to add some additional pellets partway through, but other than that, it worked great.  I love that temperature and smoke are now isolated, which will make things much easier for the PID control.  
 
 
MES 30" with AMNPS.  I'm about to add a thermocouple to it so I can run it off my PID controller.  

I already have a PID control box that I use for homebrew, sous vide, etc, which switches 2x 120V circuits up to 20 amps each.  I should be able to just plug it into the thermocouple and plug the MES into it to start controlling it.  Maybe a little re-tuning, since I'd imagine the parameters are way different for the inside of a smoker vs liquid.  

I dug up an old RTD thermocouple from my bin of brew system parts that I had stopped using because it wasn't working.  I tore it apart and found that the solder joint to one of the pins was loose.  Touched that up a bit with the soldering iron and saved myself $30 or so.  

I tried smoking a couple things with the stock MES and it was pretty mediocre.  I tried to smoke some sausages and had trouble getting it to consistently produce smoke at low temps.  I smoked a chicken around 275-300 range and that turned out quite good, but needed chips replaced during the smoke even in the 2 hours or so that it took.  

I used the AMNPS to smoke pulled pork for about 9-10 hours the other day and it worked great.  At one point, it jumped a row, so I needed to add some additional pellets partway through, but other than that, it worked great.  I love that temperature and smoke are now isolated, which will make things much easier for the PID control.  
AMNPS-----

Good chance the reason it jumped a row was it was too full. Try to keep the top of the pellets about 1/4" from the top of the walls.

Bear
 
Mine jumped a row as well while doing chicken in my MES 30.  I noticed that when I lit it I lit it on the left side.  The element is on the right side.  My hypothesis is that the heat from the element keeping the smoker at 275* was just enough to light the right side.  I also dried my pellets in the oven.

It seems hard to the AMNPS going on a cold smoke.  I think the pellets get damp during the cold smoke process. 

Mel
 
 The side vent is fully open, the chip pan removed, the water pan likewise.
For best results, the chip loader should not be removed, but should be extended out 1-2 inches. You'll also want to turn it so the opening (where you load the chips) is either down or facing forwards/backwards (actually, any direction but up). You can somewhat control the amount of air going in by the extension distance and angle of the loader opening. Note that if the open part of the loader is up, the solid bottom of the loader blocks the opening.

Ron
 
Should I worry about my maverick probes being 2 degrees off from each other? Sitting on my counter now one reads 70 the other 68.
 
Should I worry about my maverick probes being 2 degrees off from each other? Sitting on my counter now one reads 70 the other 68.
Two degrees isn't enough to be concerned about.  Throw them in your smoker, set it to 250 and see if that number increases though.  That's the only thing I would be concerned about is if that discrepancy increases at higher temperatures where you plan on using them.
 
 
For best results, the chip loader should not be removed, but should be extended out 1-2 inches. You'll also want to turn it so the opening (where you load the chips) is either down or facing forwards/backwards (actually, any direction but up). You can somewhat control the amount of air going in by the extension distance and angle of the loader opening. Note that if the open part of the loader is up, the solid bottom of the loader blocks the opening.

Ron
Thanks Ron,

I'll give your a suggestion a try this weekend, as long as we don't get the subzero weather they are predicting!

mtgrizzly52
 
Two degrees isn't enough to be concerned about.  Throw them in your smoker, set it to 250 and see if that number increases though.  That's the only thing I would be concerned about is if that discrepancy increases at higher temperatures where you plan on using them.

Alright sounds good. I'll check it out once it's not 20 degrees out.
 
 
Mine jumped a row as well while doing chicken in my MES 30.  I noticed that when I lit it I lit it on the left side.  The element is on the right side.  My hypothesis is that the heat from the element keeping the smoker at 275* was just enough to light the right side.  I also dried my pellets in the oven.

That shouldn't happen, but if it happens again, put the lit end toward the heating element side. If that doesn't work, get a piece of metal, and stand it up between the AMNPS and the left end of the chip burner assembly, as a heat shield.

It seems hard to keep the AMNPS going on a cold smoke.  I think the pellets get damp during the cold smoke process.

It should keep smoking if you get it lit properly, but it is harder to keep the AMNPS pellets burning during a cold smoke. If you keep having trouble during cold smokes, get some saw dust, and use that instead of pellets.

Mel
Bear
 
I have two MES 40's (w/window). One Gen 1 and one Gen 2.

The Gen 1 melted one of the contacts to the heating element and the Gen 2 is just junk unless you like the taste of "bonfire" on your Q (the fire in the tray syndrome) and can handle the +/-25 degree temp difference from what it (MES) thinks it is and what my Maverick ET732 says it is. I trust my Maverick.

I will be ripping the digital controls out of both of them this spring and replacing theirs with an industrial temp controller w/solid state relays and get myself an AMNS for both.
 
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this is frustrating. testing out my maverick with my MES and right now the smoker is reading 227. Probe 1 is reading 261 and Probe 2 is reading 264. Just bumped the smoker down to 190 to see what happens. Both probes are on the same rack close to the MES probe. Does this seem normal???
 
now that the heating element is off the 2 probes are dead on 261. so I guess that is a plus. Going to see what I have to do do the smoker temp to get both probes to read 235.
 
this is frustrating. testing out my maverick with my MES and right now the smoker is reading 227. Probe 1 is reading 261 and Probe 2 is reading 264. Just bumped the smoker down to 190 to see what happens. Both probes are on the same rack close to the MES probe. Does this seem normal???
Yep, pretty common for these units to be horribly inaccurate.  That's one of the big complaints.
 
looks like once the smoker comes down to 220 both these probes should read around 235. This is taking readings right near the MES probe though. Going to get even more complicated when Im smoking on the bottom or top rack. Fun stuff. I guess the important thing is that the probes are within a degree or two from each other.
 
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