What went wrong?

[smokey eyes]

Bought a Masterbuilt Electric some time ago and have had great success with ribs, brisket, etc. Last week I was asked to cook a large amount, [8 racks] of ribs for a senior dinner. Had to cut some up as I only have 14 inches of width. Bought two rib racks and got all 8 racks of ribs in.  First time ever the smoker wouldn't get up to any higher than 205 degrees? Went ahead and cooked them at that temp and came out ok. So what happened? Haven't called they hotline yet. 

 

[tropics]

 
Bought a Masterbuilt Electric some time ago and have had great success with ribs, brisket, etc. Last week I was asked to cook a large amount, [8 racks] of ribs for a senior dinner. Had to cut some up as I only have 14 inches of width. Bought two rib racks and got all 8 racks of ribs in.  First time ever the smoker wouldn't get up to any higher than 205 degrees? Went ahead and cooked them at that temp and came out ok. So what happened? Haven't called they hotline yet. 

SE are you using the temp gauges that come built in?

Richie

 

[smokey eyes]

Used my meat thermometer to make sure. It showed same as gauge in door.

 

[tropics]

 
Used my meat thermometer to make sure. It showed same as gauge in door.

You need to get new gauges,Maverick,Polder,Taylor. you can test them with boiling water to check their accuracy.

Richie 

 

[smokey eyes]

My temp gauge on the door and my meat temp gauge both read 205 to 207 degrees. The gauges were both right or both wrong? 

 

[SmokinAl]

Have you tried it since the cook to see if the temp will come up without any food inside?

Al

 

[chef jimmyj]

If you had to cut the ribs...That is a 30" MES. It has a small coil to begin with and you had A LOT of ribs in there. You MUST maintain 2" front, back and sides for convection and even heat. I does not hurt to have 1-2" between racks either. A Rib Rack helps with maintaining distance. I suspect the smoker is fine and you just restricted the heat from reaching the Therm Probe by completely covering the racks. Been there, did that when I first got my MES40...JJ

 

[jay porter]

I sometimes have the same issues when I overload my MES 30. 2-15 pound Boston butts and 5 pounds of sausage will hold the temp down around 200 for a couple of hours until the box comes up to temp. By 4 hours in, the box is up to 230-240, and the meat is in the safe zone, so I don't worry about it.