New member from SE Michigan

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midrange

Newbie
Original poster
Found this site yesterday while searching for information on electric smokers.. I have realized 2 things over the last 28 hours:

1. I have no idea which electric smoker to get. And,

2. I found the right site to figure it out.

I have had a Weber gas grill since '99. Last year I finally decided to learn about charcoal and bought a 22" Weber Kettle. Since then, the gas grill is only used when time doesn't allow charcoal and wood chunks.

Now, I have decided I need to complete the 'cooking trinity' with a smoker.

I'm leaning towards a first gen 40" MES, but any info on electric smokers, especially personal reviews, tips, and experiences, is greatly appreciated. 
 
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  Good evening and welcome to the forum, from a warm day here in East Texas. Lots of great people with tons of information on just about  everything.

Gary
 
Welcome to the forum! A lot of smoker choices out there. I bought a MES 30 a little over a year ago and have been very happy with it. From what I've read the gen1 is less problematic than gen 2. Although I have a gen 2 and have not experienced any problems(knock on wood). I hear there is now a gen 2.5/3 coming available which is supposed to be improved. This is the only smoker I've ever used so can't speak for other brands. Good luck and have fun smoker shopping, David.
 
Midrange 
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Glad you joined the group. The search bar at the top of any page is your best friend.
About anything you wanna know about smoking/grilling/curing/brining/cutting or slicing
and the list goes on has probably been posted. Remember to post a QVIEW of your smokes.
We are all smoke junkies here and we have to get our fix. If you have questions
Post it and you will probably get 10 replies with 11 different answers. That is
because their are so many different ways to make great Q...

I like the 442! now lets get to your smoker. I have a 1st generation MES40 and I use a

AMNPS for smoke and I love it. The only drawback it has as does other electrics is the 

upper temp limit. I cold smoke all kinds of goodies as well as hot smoke about everything

else. For the money the MES40 is going to be hard to beat.
Happy smoken.
David
 
Thanks guys.

After days and hours of reading, cyphering, and head scratching, I went on a leap of faith and ordered a Masterbuilt 20070910  30 off of Amazon last night. All black, rear top controller, right rear top vent, no window, no remote. I was really tempted for the 40, but after seeing how much can fit into the 30, and the fact I'll never need to cook more than it can hold, and it was only $179, I felt the 30 was the way to go for my first smoker. Besides, I can always buy another one
biggrin.gif
.

I also ordered a Maverick 733 and a AMNPS with a couple of bags of pellets.

The next order of business is building a cart to move it all around with.  I also hope to build an outdoor cooking/tiki bar in the next year or so.

I have a feeling I'm gonna enjoy this hobby....
 
Thanks Midrange. The nice thing about building it yourself is that you can custom design it to fit your space and your needs. Enjoy your new smoker, David.
 
Greetings from another new Michigander!  Knuckle of the thumb?  Are you in Port Huron?  We have a place in Forester (north of Port Sanilac) which is where our smoker will live, just got it yesterday so very excited to get it seasoned and start cranking out some quality meat!!
 
 
Greetings from another new Michigander!  Knuckle of the thumb?  Are you in Port Huron?  We have a place in Forester (north of Port Sanilac) which is where our smoker will live, just got it yesterday so very excited to get it seasoned and start cranking out some quality meat!!
Hey Rich! My family frequents the Thumb too! Though we're in Forestville about 10 miles north of you. I love that area in the summer. A true hidden gem of our state.
 
 
Greetings from another new Michigander!  Knuckle of the thumb?  Are you in Port Huron?  We have a place in Forester (north of Port Sanilac) which is where our smoker will live, just got it yesterday so very excited to get it seasoned and start cranking out some quality meat!!
Marysville to be exact, which is just south of Port Huron.
I'm familiar with Forester, there used to be a limo shop up there, I can't think of the name now, (LMC?, LCW?,??? something like that). Nice part of Michigan up that way.

We love our smoker. I can't wait to try a brisket on it.
 
 Greetings midrange! Welcome to SMF from Shelby Township! Love your avatar. What year is your 442? I have a 69' Charger and drive it every chance I get, which isn't much this time of year. Holler with any questions and be sure to join the MI members group (link below) if you haven't already. Take care!
Thanks Humdinger. It's a '71.

Have you done any of the Gratiot cruises? We try to hit all three of them, Downtown Mt Clemens, Roseville, and North Gratiot.  I'll get some pics up in a gallery/album soon.

Thanks for the invite, I will join the MI member group.
 
 
Marysville to be exact, which is just south of Port Huron.
I'm familiar with Forester, there used to be a limo shop up there, I can't think of the name now, (LMC?, LCW?,??? something like that). Nice part of Michigan up that way.

We love our smoker. I can't wait to try a brisket on it.
I work with someone from marysville (Marion Roehl)  I know her parents still live there.  We've been in Forester 2 years, can't picture any limo shop, there's just the Forester Inn (bar) and the Forestore (weird gift shop).  As far as Smokers, I ended up going with the Smokin-It #3, drove to the warehouse to pick it up.  Will be seasoning it this weekend and most likely christening it the following weekend.  We'll probably start with some ribs before jumping into a brisket.

Rich B
 
 
Thanks Humdinger. It's a '71.

Have you done any of the Gratiot cruises? We try to hit all three of them, Downtown Mt Clemens, Roseville, and North Gratiot.  I'll get some pics up in a gallery/album soon.

Thanks for the invite, I will join the MI member group.
Sounds like we need to have a car/bbq get together. I have a 68 Firebird and a 68 GMC c15
 
 
Thanks Humdinger. It's a '71.

Have you done any of the Gratiot cruises? We try to hit all three of them, Downtown Mt Clemens, Roseville, and North Gratiot.  I'll get some pics up in a gallery/album soon.

Thanks for the invite, I will join the MI member group.
Sweet! I love all muscle cars. Yeah I did the Roseville cruise with my dad last summer. Didn't really hang out anywhere, just cruised for awhile. Got popped for drag racing on Woodward during the dream cruise last August, but called in a few favors and got off with a slap on the wrist. Here's some shots of mine:



 
Sounds like we need to have a car/bbq get together. I have a 68 Firebird and a 68 GMC c15
That's a great idea! A BBQ gathering/car show?! We may have to get serious about that....
 
 
I work with someone from marysville (Marion Roehl)  I know her parents still live there.  We've been in Forester 2 years, can't picture any limo shop, there's just the Forester Inn (bar) and the Forestore (weird gift shop).  As far as Smokers, I ended up going with the Smokin-It #3, drove to the warehouse to pick it up.  Will be seasoning it this weekend and most likely christening it the following weekend.  We'll probably start with some ribs before jumping into a brisket.

Rich B
I found out the name of the shop, it was National Coach Engineering, and they closed up in '97. They were listed as being in Port Sanilac, but I think they were closer to Forester.

Happy smoking.
 
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