So....this new Cajun Injector smoker I recently bought is loaded with problems. It had a starting price tag of $400 so I was (falsely) under the impression that it would be a decent unit. Things just weren't cooking correctly according to the temperatures I would set the unti at so I did a research project while cooking some turkey breasts yesterday. Herein lies the issue: there are HUGE temperature differences between what the unit says it's doing and what the Maverick 732 says it's doing. I originally set the unit temp to 230, which means it'll run to 234 before shutting down, then come back on at 226. An 8 degree differential is well within the realm of reality. Unfortunately the reality according to the Maverick is: when the unit says it's at 234 it's actually at 208. When the unit drops in temp for the heating element to come back on, which is supposedly 226, the Maverick is saying it's at 170. This is NOT acceptable so I continued the research. I had to run the unit setpoint up to 260 to get the actual temp (according to the Maverick 732) up to a decent point. When the unit went to 264 and shut off, the Maverick said it was actually 238. When the smoker kicked back on, which was supposed to be at 256, the actual temp was 198. That equates to a 40 degree temperature differential. No matter how hard one tries, you just can't consistently cook decent BBQ with temp swings like that. What was supposed to be an enjoyable smoking session turned into a research project of epic proportions: -) Fortunately the wife took pity on my dilemma and told me to buy whatever unit I want. We weren't trying to go on the super-cheap with the Cajun Injector but we didn't want to put a ton of money into it because an electric smoker is only temporary while we are building our new house. In a few months I will most likely be giving it away when I have my custom offset built. That's the problem summary. Now for a solution.
Many of you run the MES 40 and swear by them. Does the MES run more consistent temps than what I have described above? I can/will return the Cajun Injector, pay the additional money, and get the MES if it does a better job than this POS is doing. I got the CI on sale for $100 off and paid $300 for it. The MES 40 is $350 and for the additional $50 it's well worth it to me to have a unit that will actually work close to what it says it's doing :-) Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!
Many thanks to all,
Robert
Many of you run the MES 40 and swear by them. Does the MES run more consistent temps than what I have described above? I can/will return the Cajun Injector, pay the additional money, and get the MES if it does a better job than this POS is doing. I got the CI on sale for $100 off and paid $300 for it. The MES 40 is $350 and for the additional $50 it's well worth it to me to have a unit that will actually work close to what it says it's doing :-) Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!
Many thanks to all,
Robert