There are right many folks here who have one or another of the MES units. I have the MES 40 that Sam's Club had for $300 last Fall. Based on the posts I've seen in this forum, I think there is a great need for better instructions on using the smoker - Are you listening MasterBuilt?
The instructions included with the smoker, which are available online as PDFs, are great for parts detail explosion and initial assembly and setup; but they stop far too short of what the owner needs to know about the unit. Why, for example, does the unit require that you set both time and temperature before the heater will come on? Why can't you select one or the other or both? Or, can you. I haven't been able to make the heater come on without setting both. Also, it is very easy to accidentally turn the unit off with the remote. With modern electronics, the CPROM should include some warning and a confirmation punch - like the "Are you sure?" messages on computers - before allowing any change issued by the remote to affect the smoker, IMO.
These are just a few points. There might be others and I hope that this thread will prompt responses from MES users about their opinions about their units.
Because there are so many different models of the MES, it would be great if there were a matrix of models and features, limits, problems, etc. available to SMF members. I intend to work on setting up a 'straw dog' matrix that I will post in the thread later after I've done a bit more online research and thought about it some more. I'm not sure that I even know how many different MES models there are so research is required.
Anybody else out there agree or disagree with the points made in this post? Anybody know of an existing matrix? Would making one be worthwhile?
The instructions included with the smoker, which are available online as PDFs, are great for parts detail explosion and initial assembly and setup; but they stop far too short of what the owner needs to know about the unit. Why, for example, does the unit require that you set both time and temperature before the heater will come on? Why can't you select one or the other or both? Or, can you. I haven't been able to make the heater come on without setting both. Also, it is very easy to accidentally turn the unit off with the remote. With modern electronics, the CPROM should include some warning and a confirmation punch - like the "Are you sure?" messages on computers - before allowing any change issued by the remote to affect the smoker, IMO.
These are just a few points. There might be others and I hope that this thread will prompt responses from MES users about their opinions about their units.
Because there are so many different models of the MES, it would be great if there were a matrix of models and features, limits, problems, etc. available to SMF members. I intend to work on setting up a 'straw dog' matrix that I will post in the thread later after I've done a bit more online research and thought about it some more. I'm not sure that I even know how many different MES models there are so research is required.
Anybody else out there agree or disagree with the points made in this post? Anybody know of an existing matrix? Would making one be worthwhile?