MES40 Temperature Problem?

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smokingneophyte

Newbie
Original poster
Apr 26, 2011
25
10
Long Island, NY
I have a MES40 that I recently purchased from Sams Club.  So far, I have made a couple of Beer Can chickens as well as smoked several batches of nuts.  Yesterday, I smoked three pans of nuts (approx. 1 pound per pan) at 275 degrees.  I removed the water tray and put one pan on each of the bottom three shelves.  Since it was only nuts that I was smoking, I didn't bother putting the Maverick ET732 probe in.  I was amazed that it took approximately 4.5 hours to brown the nuts with the MES40 cranked as high as it would go.  Is this normal?  I suppose that I am going to have to run some tests to check the temperature.  Do nuts really take that long to cook?
 
No they don't.

They should have been burned to a crisp at that temp for that long. 

It does say in the manual to always keep the water pan in the smoker.

I don't know if that was your problem.

I doubt it. It sounds like the element, or the controller are not working correctly.
 
Al,

Thanks for the response.  I didn't think it should take that long to hot smoke some nuts.  I will check the temps using my Maverick ET732 and see how it compares to the MES40's temperatures. Something just doesn't seem right with this smoker.  I may have to give MB a call to discuss with tech support.  
 
I called Masterbuilt this morning and got right through to a customer service agent.  The woman was very nice and said that my problem is most likely the control panel and will have a replacement in the mail tomorrow for me.  She is also sending me a retrofit kit for the chip box.

So far, I am very happy with Masterbuilt's customer service.  Hopefully, the new control panel will fix the temperature problems.
 
I second their great customer service.  Took care of me right away with no issues.  The girl on the other end was very knowlegable, and actually used one herself.
 
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