Hi folks,
First of all I want to acknowledge all of you master smokers, especially the Dude, as we (wife & I) are former Iowegieans. Wanted to relate my experience with the MES. We live in Ponca City, OK, home of the Cookshack smoker. I could buy 3 MES smokers for the cheapest one of those. Anyway, had it 5 weeks, didn't use it but maybe five times. Burned a pinhole in the water pan using chunk hickory(fixed it with JB weld), gave the chunks away. Would not risk a charcoal briquette for the same reason, too hot. Also mention the instructions relate do not line shelves with foil, voids warranty, again too hot. The real issue-my temp/timer unit(black box on top of the unit) quit, went up to 300 degrees and wouldn't come down (fried), even tho I set it for 225-never set it higher, still feeling it out- Masterbuilt honored the unit, sent me another temp control, but said (important part) unplug the control and always keep it inside when not smoking because of exposure to moisture.(Not in the manual) Which tells me it is not very robust, but the smoker part (the box) is fine. I wanted to share this with the membership. I mentioned I always had it covered on my porch (Weber kettle cover fits fine) she said take it inside (the temp box) when not smoking. So if you are ready to buy one of these think about it. Mine will be out of warranty after 90 days I think. I hope it continues to work will let you know. This unit has been re-engineered, if you keep up with the blogs. As far as the not enough smoke, I have used a variety of wood chips with geat success. Too much hickory smoke will ruin meat. Keep the chip tray cleaned out (not mentioned in the instructions) Anyway, love you all, will send some q-views when it gets drier out (ha ha) been raining.
First of all I want to acknowledge all of you master smokers, especially the Dude, as we (wife & I) are former Iowegieans. Wanted to relate my experience with the MES. We live in Ponca City, OK, home of the Cookshack smoker. I could buy 3 MES smokers for the cheapest one of those. Anyway, had it 5 weeks, didn't use it but maybe five times. Burned a pinhole in the water pan using chunk hickory(fixed it with JB weld), gave the chunks away. Would not risk a charcoal briquette for the same reason, too hot. Also mention the instructions relate do not line shelves with foil, voids warranty, again too hot. The real issue-my temp/timer unit(black box on top of the unit) quit, went up to 300 degrees and wouldn't come down (fried), even tho I set it for 225-never set it higher, still feeling it out- Masterbuilt honored the unit, sent me another temp control, but said (important part) unplug the control and always keep it inside when not smoking because of exposure to moisture.(Not in the manual) Which tells me it is not very robust, but the smoker part (the box) is fine. I wanted to share this with the membership. I mentioned I always had it covered on my porch (Weber kettle cover fits fine) she said take it inside (the temp box) when not smoking. So if you are ready to buy one of these think about it. Mine will be out of warranty after 90 days I think. I hope it continues to work will let you know. This unit has been re-engineered, if you keep up with the blogs. As far as the not enough smoke, I have used a variety of wood chips with geat success. Too much hickory smoke will ruin meat. Keep the chip tray cleaned out (not mentioned in the instructions) Anyway, love you all, will send some q-views when it gets drier out (ha ha) been raining.