First big smoke on the MES---not as well as I had hoped.

[ibbones]

Newbe here with a MES 30 Gen 1 and today was my first "real" smoke.  I am smoking chickens for tomorrow lunch and went to the store to buy birds.  All they had were ~ 7.5 pounds each.  I got four and also thought I needed a Fattie or two so we got about three pounds of hamburger meat with goodies to go in them.  I have never made Fatties before so thanks to all of you who are filling my head with the amazing recipes.

I made two fatties out of the three pounds of beef with cilantro, green onions, white onions, garlic, fresh basal, cheese and a mix of different spices.  Placed them in the fridge overnight.

 Today I pulled out the steroid induced birds and spread some mustered over them with all kinds of rub.  Grabbed my new AMNPS and headed out the door to put them on about 1:00pm.  I didn't preheat the smoker and put the birds and Fatties on right out of the fridge.  Plugged in my trusty temp probe that is attached and it read 46*.  The AMNPS kept going out and the temp never reached 225* after 7 hours.  The internal temp of the chickens got to 160* but it took a long while.

I guess my question is, did I overfill the smoker?  Thirty pounds of chicken and three pounds of beef all at one time in a 30" smoker.  I had to set one bird on it's side to make two fit on a rack.  The fatties were on the top rack.

Also had problems with the AMNPS going out so I had to open the door and take it out to relight it.

The food is resting now so I will let you know how it tasted tomorrow but they sure smell good.

Thanks...

 

[smoking b]

I have an MES 30 & I ALWAYS preheat mine before I put anything in it. I've had mine loaded on all 4 racks more than a few times & had no temp issues at all. I would definitely suggest preheating yours in the future & you shouldn't have that trouble again

 

[pc farmer]

^ ^ ^ ^  I agree

 

[so ms smoker]

  Always preheat and when you start the mes, light the amnps so it can burn 10-15 mins to make sure it is well lit and will stay burning.

   Mike

 

[chef jimmyj]

All the ABOVE, plus pull the chip drawer out about 1" and the chip loader out 1-2". This will let more air into the MES and the AMNPS will burn great. As far as loading the shelves, load so there is at least 2" on 3 sides of the meat. 7-8Lb Roasters are great smoked. You can save cook time and space by Spatchcocking the birds. Remove the Backbone with a pair of Scissors, flip the bird over an press down to separate the Breast meat from the Keel Bone the bird will now lay flat. Put one on each rack, there will be plenty of room around the birds for the heat and smoke to circulate...JJ

Pics borrowed from Google...

Spatchcock Chix.jpg

• chef jimmyj
• Sep 15, 2013

Spatchcock Chix2.jpg

• chef jimmyj
• Sep 15, 2013

Spatchcock Chix3.jpg

• chef jimmyj
• Sep 15, 2013
• 1

 

[ibbones]

Thanks guys. The chickens turned out good but could use more smoke flavor. The fattie was OK but it got a little dry. Tasted good. I guess I'll try it the other way and preheat and also pull out my chip loader a bit. I am going to smoke two more fatties again Tuesday so we'll see what happens. Not going to have 30+ pounds of meat again at once.