MES30 question form a Newb

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tlindholtz

Newbie
Original poster
Jun 16, 2014
6
11
Hi y'all. I'm a total Newb to smoking. I got a MES30 for Fathers Day. Just ran my first trial on smoking some fresh brats. They came out pretty good. My model has a built-in meat probe that registered 174 after only 45 mins. But the chips in the chip tray, while blackened, showed no signs of and combustion or ash at all. I was getting some nice blue smoke, and it smelled great while running. I just didn't know if that is the normal state, or if I should be seeing more evidence of the chips being reduce to ash.

Thanks. (I'll probably be pestering y'all a bunch. )
Tom
 
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Welcome to the forum.   Check your vents.......you will need to have the upper vent all the way open.  Also with the MES (I am assuming you have a Gen 2......with the upper vent on the side) there are known airflow issues which is why you are not getting full combustion on those wood chips.   Some MES owners pull that chip tray out about a half inch to increase airflow.  Also you will hear that those store bought chips are dried up crap.  Search here for better sources of wood to use.

Another thing you will find is that those built in probes are junk and not to be relied upon.  Get a good external probe (Maverick 733 is highly recommended) and you will be darn happy you did. 

Scott
 
Pester away, buddy. Thats what we're here for.  As far as temps you may find that the meat probe and chamber sensor may be quite a bit off.  Try a maverick et732 or 733. its a great tool to have in your arsenal.

Scott has given good info.  Only thing I'll add is try small chunks.  They have more flavor and last longer.  (I'll let the AMAZN sales team enlighten you on another device that may help you with smoke).
 
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Thanks, guys. I did have the top side vent open all the way. I had seen several comments here to that effect. For the first time I just left the chip dumper fully in place. But I noticed at the time that the three tiny air holes seemed inadequate to provide much draft. Thought about drilling them out but wanted to wait until I have some faint clue that I know what I'm doing.

Oh, and I'm already thinking about AMNPS. ;-)
 
here is a trick I used before I got the cold smoker attachment,
When loading the chips, rotate the chip loader to dump the chips, then leave in that position, don't rotate it back. This seems to make the correct draft for the chip tray. Try it it works!
 
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