Which one! New MES 40 first Qview

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chas19

Newbie
Original poster
Jul 5, 2012
29
10
Bradenton,Fl
Was looking at going to buy a MES 40 tomorrow from Sams.  It was a little more than I wanted to spend but I kept seeing such great reviews of it.  Found someone that has a MES 30 they are selling unopened for $125.  Is the price difference worth getting the 40?  
 
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I went with the 40 after reading dozens of threads from the archives and am glad that I did. I didn't think that I would need the additional room but I did. Hope this helps.
 
 Found someone that has a MES 30 they are selling unopened for $125.
That is a pretty compelling price for the MES30! There are lots of happy MES30 owners on this forum. I have an MES40 and I am glad I have the larger size. The larger box just makes smoking easier and more enjoyable with lots of space for the AMNPS, water pan, thermometer probe stand, and other stuff that crowds things up a bit. However, I probably would have chosen an MES30 for $125 if I had that choice at the time. The savings over the normal retail price for the MES30 was not that compelling when I got my MES40.  Just saying...
 
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You would be surprised how many times the extra space comes in handy
 
I got a MES 40 for Fathers Day this year. I have only smoked things on a Brinkmann in the past and everything has come out awesome as I'm told. I did a batch of venison jalepeno summer sausage on the MES. First it took FOREVER to get the woodchips to smoke. One they started it was nearly impossible to keep them smoking as you had to add more throughout the smoke. I've read where EVERYONE has purchased an Amazing pellets system and used that. If I have to spend $330 on a smoker and a must is to purchase the ampns system, that just isn't right to me. They need to fix their crappy product. My SS came out dry and tasted like CRAP to me so i literally threw it in my truck and took it back for a refund. I will continue to use my old fashion smoker...... Just my 2 cents......
 
Well just went and got the MES 40. Seasoning as we speak! This unit just fits my needs more than propane and can't wait to start using it. Thanks for the replies everyone.


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I got a MES 40 for Fathers Day this year. I have only smoked things on a Brinkmann in the past and everything has come out awesome as I'm told. I did a batch of venison jalepeno summer sausage on the MES. First it took FOREVER to get the woodchips to smoke. One they started it was nearly impossible to keep them smoking as you had to add more throughout the smoke. I've read where EVERYONE has purchased an Amazing pellets system and used that. If I have to spend $330 on a smoker and a must is to purchase the ampns system, that just isn't right to me. They need to fix their crappy product. My SS came out dry and tasted like CRAP to me so i literally threw it in my truck and took it back for a refund. I will continue to use my old fashion smoker...... Just my 2 cents......
I have a lot of problems with the info in this post.  First the dude says he's smoked things on a Brinkmann they come out awesome, yet we have lots of people on this forum who have upgraded from their inexpensive Brinkmanns because things DO NOT come out awesome, unless they spend a lot of time fine tuning their methods to work ok on that smoker.  Most give up because it just isn't easy.  Had this poster bothered to read through the forum, he would have found hundreds of posts first complaining about the smoke issues with the MES, this has been a persistent problem since they upgraded the heat element to higher wattage in both the MES 30 & MES 40.  The result is several have posted mods on how to fix the problem by eliminating the extra piece of metal between the element & chip tray.  Further Masterbuilt has followed suit and provide a FREE Chip Tray Assy kit that has the extra piece of metal removed. Note that Masterbuilt has also released some versions of the MES that already have the retro kit style chip tray assy, so they are making an effort.  This problem has been around for about 3 or 4 years, Masterbuilt is fairly progressive in addressing issues, so there must be some reason they have not completely done away with the double metal tray problem.
Next comes the complaint about having to buy a 3rd party smoke accessory to improve performance.   Guess what people are buying the AMNPS not just for the MES but for other smokers and their BBQ grills, why?  Because it works, the AMNPS can provide consistent smoke for hours.  The MES has ALWAYS required owners using wood chips to add chips every 20-30 minutes.  Some of us know how to get a few extra minutes but that is about it, so after a month or two of getting tired adding chips every 20-30 minutes almost all MES owners are now buying a AMNPS just for the sake of convenience, it simply makes the pitmaster's job easier especially for really long smokes.

Bottom line this is NOT a "crappy product".  Had you bothered to read reviews and posts all over the internet of at least 3 BBQ forums you could easily have found out what the good & con of the MES is.  Further you do realize that all those rave reviews are from people who encountered the same smoke issue you have, yet they still give rave reviews, that says a lot about something.  You paid for a smoker that is loaded with features that no other smoker in this price range offers.  Yes there is one persistent problem, yet there is a FREE fix.  Let us know after you applied the fix what you think.
 
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Well so far so good, checked the built in thermometer and it is running about 15 degrees hot. Not too bad! Able to run at around 225 get smoke fine with the small chip tray. Takes about 10 minutes to get smoke going again after a refill. Can't wait till wednesday to start using it for real.


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Congratulations Chas!!! I have the MES40 and despite the fact that it makes very little to no smoke at lower temps and mine is about 25* cooler than the set temp, I absolutely love it. If I had to do it all over again, I'd buy it again. 

I haven't upgraded to the bigger retrofit chip tray because I just don't need it. I use Smokehouse Pellets and get very good smoke at higher temps and for an average smoke I get about 45 minutes of smoke from them. 

Glad you like it so far and hope you will continue to in the future.
 
I got a MES 40 for Fathers Day this year. I have only smoked things on a Brinkmann in the past and everything has come out awesome as I'm told. I did a batch of venison jalepeno summer sausage on the MES. First it took FOREVER to get the woodchips to smoke. One they started it was nearly impossible to keep them smoking as you had to add more throughout the smoke. I've read where EVERYONE has purchased an Amazing pellets system and used that. If I have to spend $330 on a smoker and a must is to purchase the ampns system, that just isn't right to me. They need to fix their crappy product. My SS came out dry and tasted like CRAP to me so i literally threw it in my truck and took it back for a refund. I will continue to use my old fashion smoker...... Just my 2 cents......
 It is interesting that you gave up after 1 bad experience, not to mention what sounds like your first attempt at using the MES. I seriously doubt you got magnificent results the first time you fired up the Brinkman, and you didn't return that smoker. Did you modify the Brinkman? Because many of us consider the AMNPS as a $40 modification to get up to 10 hours of continuous Smoke.   I have a New Braunfels Horizontal with offset Side Fire Box and with even 20 years of practice can't get 10 hours of Thin Blue Smoke and dead on steady Temperatures on an all night smoke without lifting a finger. I'll take the MES, an AMNPS and a good nights sleep anytime over sitting up all night adding wood chunks every hour and a fresh load of Charcoal every 4 hours...But hey, to each his own...JJ
 
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Think we are planning on trying
To do some BB RIBS ON Wed. Going to try the 2-2-1 saw so many differences on if you should use the water bowl. I will be using with the stock chip tray as it was working great when seasoning the unit. Will it make any difference if using the bowl or not?

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First time doing ribs

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Wow for the first time they came out great! Never have made ribs before glad for this site for all the info.


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Show me a smoker that can compete with what a MES 40 + AMNPS does for $340. Doesn't exist in the hands-off department. The Amerique from Cookshack is $1500, and the Bradley requires proprietary wood pucks. Smokin-it smokers, while nice and all SS, are small.

And I used to own an inexpensive Brinkmann. Yeah, I made (to me) awesome Q, but I had to fiddle with it every 30-60 minutes. Don't get me wrong - my dream smoker is a Lang 48 Deluxe, but that's a $2000+ smoker that still needs fiddling with every 1-2 hrs. Probably when I'm retired.

If you can't make fantastic Q in the MES 30 or 40 - there's something wrong with YOU, not the smoker.

Chas19 - nice ribs. I like ribs that have a bit of pullback. No pullback and they're not done, too much and there's nothing holding them to the ribs. IMO ribs should be just a bit less than "fall off the bone".
 
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Have not had the chance to get the AMNPS yet, so these were done with the stock small chip tray and loader. I got about 30-40 min of TBS from a pinch of chips but was a great day outside in the fresh air.


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i'm running the MES30 and like it a lot so far.  i've done a few butts in there....heck i did 3 at one time in it not long ago.  i'm very happy with it so far.  haven't made any modifications to it yet.  thinking i'll get the AMNPS at some point to try and smoke at colder temps every once and a while.  i can get about 30-45 minutes on one fill of the wood chips.  if i'm going to be gone for an hour or so i'll toss some soaked chips in and some dry chips and "double up" on the amount of chips.
 
Appreciate the candid feedback. I did return the product. I was really ticked that my ss came out so crappy. Possibly might try it again and get the AMPNS unit as well.

Still have great smokes with the brinkmann. Realy have never smoked anything bad on it, unless the cut of meat wasn't that great.
 
Hats off to "exromenyer", as he said candid feedback on his initial reply, but he replied to the feedback with a gracious comment.  Exromenyer is kool in my book, if you decide to try an MES again, feel free to PM me for any questions you might have.
 
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