Help!

[beeboy]

I been hearing about electric smokers & decided to give it a try. So far I'm not impressed, but I think its me, so I thought I would ask for help. I bought a Masterbuilt Electronic Smoker, (I assume this is what you guys refers to as a MES) last friday night. Seasoned it on Saturday & put some chicken tender lions on to smoke. Nasty! Just a lump of meat that looks raw & has terrible flavor. It looks like it needs to browned by a flame. My plan was to smoke some cornish hens in it for Thanksgiving, but I am having reservations. I did them last year on my vision grill/smoker & they turned out great. I just get tired of fighting the temp control in the vision so I wanted to try the electric smoker. Any ideas? I really appreciate some feedback.

 

[avfordguy]

Dont know whst model MES that you have, my mrs i had to replace the temp control with a pid controller as it eould not keep constant temps, more of a average. The cold smoker option teally helps becadue you dont want a lot of smoke. It took me s uear to figute out the temp problem. Long story short, rewire it with a pid contoller and add the cold dmoker option, you will get great results with it. Been there done that, ruined some chickens , s turkey, and a brisket, now every smoke/cook is awesome you csn pm me if you wish parts for a pid controller are less than 40 bucks.

 

[chef jimmyj]

Without getting deep into the science, the browning of meat, the Maillard Reaction, in a smoker is a function of Time and Temp. At 500 degrees meat browns in minutes. At 250 meat takes hours to brown. Your chix tenders would have been Jerky before they browned at MES temps of 225 to 275. Crispy Brown Skin on poultry relies on Maillard plus Dehydration and the Fat Frying the skin. Unfortunately, 225 to 275 will brown the hens but is not hot enough to fry the skin crisp. The result is pretty brown but chewy, leathery skin. You need +/-325 degrees in the smoker for one step smoke flavor, with brown crisp skin on birds. The Fix? Smoke the Hens in the MES at 225 to an IT (Internal Temp) of 140 degrees then finish cooking in a 425 degree Oven or Grill to an IT of 160 and Brown Crispy Skin...JJ

 

[beeboy]

Without getting deep into the science, the browning of meat, the Maillard Reaction, in a smoker is a function of Time and Temp. At 500 degrees meat browns in minutes. At 250 meat takes hours to brown. Your chix tenders would have been Jerky before they browned at MES temps of 225 to 275. Crispy Brown Skin on poultry relies on Maillard plus Dehydration and the Fat Frying the skin. Unfortunately, 225 to 275 will brown the hens but is not hot enough to fry the skin crisp. The result is pretty brown but chewy, leathery skin. You need +/-325 degrees in the smoker for one step smoke flavor, with brown crisp skin on birds. The Fix? Smoke the Hens in the MES at 225 to an IT (Internal Temp) of 140 degrees then finish cooking in a 425 degree Oven or Grill to an IT of 160 and Brown Crispy Skin...JJ

Thank you. I figured the fix would be something like that. I really appreciate it. I might do a trial run so that I don't ruin 20 hens on Thanksgiving.

 

[tallbm]

Thank you. I figured the fix would be something like that. I really appreciate it. I might do a trial run so that I don't ruin 20 hens on Thanksgiving.

Chefjimmyj killed it with his response.

With an MES know that the smoker temp probe and the meat probe are NOTORIOUS for being way off. With an MES you will want to get a dual probe 3rd party thermometer (or more probes). This way you can use a probe to measure smoker temp at rack level and another probe to measure meat IT.

Finally, most MES owners go to use an A-Maze-N Pellet Smoker (AMNPS) smoke generator. That will give you perfect TBS and set and forget smoke generation. A number of guys put it in the MES a number of guys (like me) use the Mailbox Mod to separate the AMNPS smoke generation from being done from inside the MES.

With your chicken you will want to do as Chefjimmyj suggests for getting edible skin. The other option is to remove the skin all together. I would brine any white meat chicken or whole chicken you decide to smoke.
I brine (salt and water), season (pepper, garlic, and onion), and smoke boneless skinless chicken breast to an IT of 165F and WOW they come out amazing!

Keep at it, chicken is cheap to practice with, and best of luck! :)

 

[beeboy]

Chefjimmyj killed it with his response.

With an MES know that the smoker temp probe and the meat probe are NOTORIOUS for being way off. With an MES you will want to get a dual probe 3rd party thermometer (or more probes). This way you can use a probe to measure smoker temp at rack level and another probe to measure meat IT.

Finally, most MES owners go to use an A-Maze-N Pellet Smoker (AMNPS) smoke generator. That will give you perfect TBS and set and forget smoke generation. A number of guys put it in the MES a number of guys (like me) use the Mailbox Mod to separate the AMNPS smoke generation from being done from inside the MES.

With your chicken you will want to do as Chefjimmyj suggests for getting edible skin. The other option is to remove the skin all together. I would brine any white meat chicken or whole chicken you decide to smoke.
I brine (salt and water), season (pepper, garlic, and onion), and smoke boneless skinless chicken breast to an IT of 165F and WOW they come out amazing!

Keep at it, chicken is cheap to practice with, and best of luck! :)

Thank you! I'll keep learning!

 

[beeboy]

Without getting deep into the science, the browning of meat, the Maillard Reaction, in a smoker is a function of Time and Temp. At 500 degrees meat browns in minutes. At 250 meat takes hours to brown. Your chix tenders would have been Jerky before they browned at MES temps of 225 to 275. Crispy Brown Skin on poultry relies on Maillard plus Dehydration and the Fat Frying the skin. Unfortunately, 225 to 275 will brown the hens but is not hot enough to fry the skin crisp. The result is pretty brown but chewy, leathery skin. You need +/-325 degrees in the smoker for one step smoke flavor, with brown crisp skin on birds. The Fix? Smoke the Hens in the MES at 225 to an IT (Internal Temp) of 140 degrees then finish cooking in a 425 degree Oven or Grill to an IT of 160 and Brown Crispy Skin...JJ

Will it be this way for every type of meat where you have to finish it in the oven? Beef, pork, poultry...all of it will have to be finished in the oven?

 

[chef jimmyj]

Yes and no. Poultry to get a crisp skin and quick cook cuts of red meat like Burgers, Chops and Steaks. need to be smoked at a low temp, 180-200 for a couple hours, then seared and browned on the grill. Large Beef, pork, Etc Roasts develop a nice brown Bark as they smoke for hours at 225+. So no oven unless you want to foil and finish at a higher temp or need to get out of bad weather...JJ

 

[beeboy]

Yes and no. Poultry to get a crisp skin and quick cook cuts of red meat like Burgers, Chops and Steaks. need to be smoked at a low temp, 180-200 for a couple hours, then seared and browned on the grill. Large Beef, pork, Etc Roasts develop a nice brown Bark as they smoke for hours at 225+. So no oven unless you want to foil and finish at a higher temp or need to get out of bad weather...JJ

Thank you, thank you, thank you. This helps so much. I hope you have a great, & happy thanksgiving!

 

[Bearcarver]

beeboy,
Good Info you got above.
I'll second the point of getting a second opinion from another Therm, like a Wireless Digital. I use a Maverick ET-732.

Then once you know your Smoker Temp is accurate, you can go to my Step by Step Index (Below).
That should help you get started with using your MES.

Check Out Bear's Easy to Follow Step by Step Index Page.
Just click on "Bear's Step by Steps".
All Kinds To Choose From.


Bear

 

[beeboy]

beeboy,
Good Info you got above.
I'll second the point of getting a second opinion from another Therm, like a Wireless Digital. I use a Maverick ET-732.

Then once you know your Smoker Temp is accurate, you can go to my Step by Step Index (Below).
That should help you get started with using your MES.

Check Out Bear's Easy to Follow Step by Step Index Page.
Just click on "Bear's Step by Steps".
All Kinds To Choose From.


Bear

Oh My Goodness Bear! Thank you! I bookmarked your step by step page. Awesome stuff!