Packing the MES-Any experience?

[gunpowder]

I have two big "orders" for my mother-in-law and for a work picnic. I am smoking as I type. This sucker is packed with 9 picnics

Somthing my electirc Brinkman couldn't do.

Any one fill-er to capacity. How long do you think it will take to get done? I know it has been 2 hours and it is now at 166 degrees. I guessed correctly it would take longer than the usual 1 hour to get to 220 or so.

Never cooked so much at one time so I was just curious. Most of these picnic are 8-9 lbs.

BTW, I added my first hickory chips just now (166 degrees).

 

[gnubee]

Thats a lot of meat for the MES are we talking about the 30" MES
or the 40" MES.

At least you already have it out of the danger zone and in less than 2 hours. I'm guessing temp spikes will not be a problem with that large mass of heated meat.

Good luck, I hope it all turns out wonderfully for you. Let us know what the timing was when you're done.

The Most I've done is fill it full of ribs and a 6lb pork roast at one time. Not a lot of mass in the ribs.

 

[bmudd14474]

are you saying that the chamber temp is at 166? or the meat? Thats alot of meat in there. I sure hope the temp cant get to 220 quick so you can get the meat cooking to a safe temp.

 

[gunpowder]

Using the 40" Sam's club MES.

It is at 190 degrees now at 3 hrs 45 minutes but should rise quicker as it goes on. They were all frozen solid in deep freeze last night. I set them out on counter over night.

They were thawed but pretty cold when I started at 1:30. It is smoking the chips so it is hot. I have never tested the thermostat but assume" correct lol

Compared to the Brinkman Gourmet electric, I trust the heat much better.

 

[davenh]

Sounds like you are saying the chamber temp is only 166. That is a very large load in the MES, hope you get to temp ok. Don't open the door!!! Even when you reach temp, no peeking or those will take forever to cook. Let the temp go even higher, 260 or so if it will make it. Otherwise, your in for a long azz smoke. maybe one of those 18hr+ marathons

 

[gnubee]

You're a brave man to do that many roasts all at once.

I sure would get a second temperature reading by putting an oven thermometer on one of the middle racks placed in front of the window. Just to make sure that the temperature I was reading was the correct one. My MES reads almost bang on except for a hot spot near the top vent. Yours probably is fairly accurate but really it should be checked just to make sure.

 

[davenh]

Do you have a thermometer in one of the butts? Thawing out on the counter is not a good method. If any part of the butt gets above 40 during the night your in danger of getting people sick. The guideline is once the butt hits 40 you have 4hrs to get it the internal temp above 140 to avoid toxins from the bacteria. Sounds to me like your already in the danger zone too long and will still be in it for some time. You got to do some better planning for a large smoke like that.

I'd also make sure you don't have one of those butts pushed up against the temp sensor. Even if the roast is close it will throw you off.

 

[mossymo]

I agree with checking on the smokers internal temperature, as factory thermometers can be off without the factorys knowledge.

The other suggestion I would advice is having the butts fully defrosted and let them sit on the counter covered or sealed for an hour to get it to room temperature.

Preheating the smoker to desired temperature before loading in the butts will help.

Putting hot water in the waterpan also, then your smoker does not have to work on bringing the water to desired smoke temperature.

9 butts is a large smoke, hope we get to see pics !!!

 

[gunpowder]

I have an manual Acurite meat thermometer I just stuck in a picnic in the middle rack to track internal meat temp.

One benefit I discovered in packing it full is that when you quickly open and close the door (to install the thermometer). the oven temp doesn't change one bit. lol. Better than bricks.

BTW, those picnics are definitaly cooking. Internal roast temp is 150-155 deg.

 

[davenh]

Good to hear you got the internal temp up

.

 

[deltadude]

I too have a 40" Sams MES. On the 4th I did 8 racks of ribs, and had a problem getting up to temp. It took 3 hours before I got to 220 and I was frankly worried. I had done 8 racks in Dec. for a grad party and it only took 2 hours to get to temp. I'm wondering if the wiring problems others have talked about are beginning to show in my 1 year old MES.
Note, I added an extra hour of cooking, the digital control was alway at 270 trying to get to 225, for first 3 hours. At the end of 3.5-4 hours I pulled the ribs for foiling and was surprised to see the pull back was almost 1/2" on several of the racks. I used a digital remote probe + oven thermometer to monitor temp and both were consistent with the MES digital controller + or - 10 degrees.
If your lacking anything you need the remote digital probe inside your meat to monitor the temp, or you need a cheapo oven meat thermometer in a roast, and use the digital to monitor cooking temperatures. I don't know how close you are to Target or Walmart but you have lots of time to go grab a cheapo $18 Taylor digital remote probe. You spent a lot of money on meat, don't waste it....

You will need to rotate your meat every 2 hours to get all the meat evenly cooked. Carefully plan this, and have a helper to keep door open time to a minimum.

 

[gunpowder]

My 9 picnics are done and I survived

I started around 1:30 PM. It took estimated/approximately 13-16 hours With some coming out earlier due to size, location in MES. I did rotate racks once.

I did note the ones on the left took longer (16 hrs max for 2 of them) so I theorize it is slightly warmer on the right side.

Sorry no pics. One benefit is the water bath never dropped. Another benefit is by the time you are done pulling more are ready. Maybe that isn't a benefit

One negative. After pulling 9 picnics you are sick of pulling.

 

[ronp]

The right side IS hotter by about 20' here. I can't imagine pulling all of those.

Next time pics would be appreciated.

 

[deltadude]

Great that all worked out well.

WoW pulling 9 butts is a chore, if all that meat was on a bun, that is a lot of buns.

 

[gruelurks]

I just did 9 butts in 48 hours in my MES 30", and it was quite the chore, enough that don't think I will ever do it again. I am already saving coin for a larger electric smoker that can handle something of that magnitude again.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ad.php?t=79313

Glad to see I'm not the only insane MES smoker around here. :-)