New to electric

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ppsundbe

Newbie
Original poster
Jan 11, 2015
7
11
Greetings!

I've been smoking quite a few things on my Weber for a few years now and finally got a Mastercraft 30 for Christmas this year.

I loved the ribs that came off my weber.  It cooked a bit warm in the summer, but perfect in the cold.  I seemed to be able to maintain a decent 225-250 for a number of hours with charcoal.  I was using chunks of oak soaked in water directly on the coals.

I've just nearly finished my third run through my MES and I'm about ready to go back to charcoal.  I like that I can set the temp and leave it, but my results are only slightly better than oven-baked.

My first run was Brisket, which was a mistake.  It took FOREVER to get the meat up to 200 and it ended up tough with nearly no smoke.

My second run was ribs (my favorite on the weber) with about the same results.  I can get ribs done in 3 hours with wonderful smoke and very tender on the weber.  After 5 hours, the ribs were palatable, but not nearly the smoke character and none of the nice char charater that I expect from smoking.

As a last-ditch, I picked up some beef chuck roast.  I wasn't about to spend decent money on meat just to have it turn out mediocre.

Two three pound slabs.  Eight hours in the smoker set at 250F.  Internal temp reached 158F.  They're finishing off in the oven overnight, wrapped in foil.  The outside is browned, but lacks any resemblance of bark that I would normally get from my weber.

So, what am I doing wrong?

First run I soaked chips, but that was a bust. 

Second I had apple wood chunks, which seemed to work better, but not fantastic,

Today, I ran cherry chips, dry.  Added every hour or so.  Seemed to put out a decent thin smoke, but the meat still just looks baked and not smoked.

Any ideas?  I'm about ready to ditch the electric and go back to what I know.  The weber was a bit more high-maintenence with having to add charcoal, but at least I got some decent meat out of it.
 
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I have a similar story. I was using a $40 mod'd Brinkman charcoal smoker for over year. Then I got the MES 30" for Xmas. Results were okay in the beginning and I do miss that charcoal taste. However, as I keep using my MES I keep getting better results. This forum really helps. Use the search bar; it is your best friend here.

Make sure you get a decent meat probe. I also stopped adding liquid to the water pan while smoking. I only use it to get the drippings. I also booked marked a SMF member's MES guide. I use it a lot and also experiment using my own recipes but it is a great resource:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/159333/bears-step-by-step-index

Can't tell you about the AMNPS product as I don't use it...yet...but it does receive a lot of positive feedback here on SMF.

P.S. Run a search on "reverse searing" That will definitely help with some of your issues.
 
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