WOW Chef Jimmy! I couldn't have asked for a better explanation. Thank you. So then in my price range, would you go with the MES 40? I still keep going back to the Cajun injector double wide. It looks so much bigger. What do you think?
Bigger is not always the best. Consider the wattage of the element. I have both a MES 30 and a MES 40. I like both, but the smaller one cooks better in my opinion. less volume means quicker recovery time. Everytime you open the door and peek adds 20-30 mins to your smoke. Like they say if your lookin your not cooking.. 800 watts min on the element and 1200 or 1500 is about max on a 120 volt smoker. My two cents.
Chef Jimmy, even if you are commenting about the CI your remarks are very helpful. There is a lot to be said for Customer service. That is pretty impressive. Can you suggest where I might find the MES40 at the best price? It really is hard to chose. I will be using it mostly for jerky so the surface space on the CI is very attractive. I was told the heating element is 1300 watts which sounds pretty strong. I don't care for the window on either I would think a window is less insulated than insulated metal and that it will lose a bit of heat come winter
Robb, I know Nada about the CI. In fact I went and read your other thread for more info. The CI may be a good choice for a large quantity of Jerky but I question the 2 door format for anything else. I can only comment on MES customer service. My 1st MES40, 4 years old, had a suspected coil problem. I called Masterbuilt and described my problem. The young lady replied without hesitation, " Sounds like a bad Coil. I will send one out today, No Charge..."ON A SMOKER 3 YEARS OUT OF WARRANTY! I now have 2 MES40's in my family and would not hesitate to recommend Masterbuilt...Sorry I can't help more with the CI...JJ
Jimmy, that looks like the perfect tool for my needs. If I use those with the CI I could probably do a weeks worth of jerky in 1 batch. that would save me a lot of time.
