Should I get a MES 40?

[wild bill ct]

2 years ago I was convinced I was going to get a Lang 48 patio.  Life happened and I had 3 floors of flood damage.  I didn't have the money to get the Lang.

So I went back to smoking on my Webber kettle.  I've done well with hat.  My wife go me a Brinkman POS for free (you get what you pay for).  I'm not sure I want to do all the work at this point.  I don't think  have the time to spend sick burning.

I was debating electric vs. propane and I think electric has won out.  The MES has a lot of good aspects, but there seem to be some many issues with temperature  I see there might be a new gen 2.4 coming out, but at this point I just don't know what to do. 

I know that no matter what I get I will have a learning curve, and someday when life settles down I will go back to stick burning.  Right now I don't have time for that.  I teach, I'm a student, a coach, I have an almost 3 year old and another due in a month.  An electric with an AMNPS seems right for my current life style.

Thank-you in advance for the any suggestions.

 

[eman]

Bill,

 The MES does have some flaws but they are not anything that can't be worked around. The  thermos are off but  once you use them a while you can figure out how far off and in what direction and compensate.

 The AMNPS is now a must as i dont have to feed chips every 45 min.  You won't get a smoke ring   w/ electric like you will w/ wood or coals. But that doesn't matter to me.

 

[old sarge]

Wild Bill CT,

Besides the MES, you may want to look at the Smokin-it (SI), the SmokinTex (ST), and the Cookshack (CS), listed in order of low to high cost.

All are full stainless in/out; use only a single chunk of wood in the 2 to 4 ounce range for an entire smoke which you put in at the beginning of the  cook just once, are all electric and heavily insulated.  Only the CS is digital with the SI and ST being analog. If you read the FAQ on the SI and ST sites you will find that temperature swings high and low of your set temp is normal and does not affect outcome as it averages out.  The CS is digital and temp swings are in the 1 degree high/low of your set temp.  With the SI and ST one can add an Auber controller at anytime to reduce dramatically the temperature swings, down to just a couple of degrees high/low. And they all cost more than the MES. I would recommend checking them out and compare everything feature for feature and warranties and the like.  

This site (SMF) has postings on these smokers, just use the search bar.  Also look for information in the groups section.  And the SI, ST, and CS sites have a lot of information as well.  SI has a social store on their Facebook page that can save you some money and CS has or had a 6 month plan via paypal with no interest. Money is hard to come by as is leisure time.  Good luck.

Dave

 

[timberjet]

Hey man since you are fluent with running that Kettle why not get a Weber Smoky Mountain? You could pick up an 18 for about the same price and they work right out of the box. Load it up and it's good to go. I have one that I loaned my dad three years ago and do you think I could get it back? hahaha..... I am serious though in saying you can't get much better than Weber for pure satisfaction. Last forever too.