Masterbuilt 30 inch digital smoker

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Since it looked like getting the one from Ace was going to be a crapshoot due to availability, I picked up one from Cabela's.

The only difference seemed to be the rib/sausage racks. Model # on the one I got is 20071914. Haven't opened it yet. That'll have to wait till later.

Had almost $7 in Cabela's bucks, so there wasn't much of a difference left in price after all
Yours came with a meat probe? That's a nice feature if it's accurate. Even with the ET-733 a 3rd probe can come in handy. Rib/sausage racks were nice options but I've never used a rib rack in my MES and I have no idea when I'll smoke sausage in it. I like having the cover but I bought that separately.
 
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Yours came with a meat probe? That's a nice feature if it's accurate. Even with the ET-733 a 3rd probe can come in handy. Rib/sausage racks were nice options but I've never used a rib rack in my MES and I have no idea when I'll smoke sausage in it. I like having the cover but I bought that separately.

Haven't opened the box yet other than to get the manual out. Will work on it tomorrow, but the ad, box and manual all say/show it, I'm pretty sure there will be one. Need to try to calibrate it somehow, though.

I've never had or thought I'd need rib or sausage racks, so those weren't dealbreakers. Cover is good to have. Never had one for my. MB propane smoker and it shows.

Hope to unpack and season it tomorrow. My daughter is coming home and she and her fiance are kinda waiting for ribs, so it looks like I might have to put it into use already, too.
 
My local Ace in Hurst TX has 6 if them and I plan to get 1 today. Rib rack, Sausage hanger and meat probe. Manager/Owner says ad is good thru Dec. As always ymmv
 
 
Yours came with a meat probe? That's a nice feature if it's accurate. Even with the ET-733 a 3rd probe can come in handy. Rib/sausage racks were nice options but I've never used a rib rack in my MES and I have no idea when I'll smoke sausage in it. I like having the cover but I bought that separately.
I never use my MES built in meat probe.

Don't trust it & not worth the hassle of trying to test it properly.

Bear
 
Haven't opened the box yet other than to get the manual out. Will work on it tomorrow, but the ad, box and manual all say/show it, I'm pretty sure there will be one. Need to try to calibrate it somehow, though.

I've never had or thought I'd need rib or sausage racks, so those weren't dealbreakers. Cover is good to have. Never had one for my. MB propane smoker and it shows.

Hope to unpack and season it tomorrow. My daughter is coming home and she and her fiance are kinda waiting for ribs, so it looks like I might have to put it into use already, too.
Let me tell you from personal experience with the MES 30 Gen 1 that once you know what you're doing the pork ribs you produce in that little smoker will be better than any chain BBQ restaurant and quite a few local ones. I've said for a while here that my favorite brother-in-law has dubbed me the "King of Ribs". For the most part I've smoked ribs in the smoker. The same thing will happen with beef brisket or anything else you choose to smoke. This is a dynamite little smoker. If you use wood pellets in the AMNPS you'll be putting out some phenomenal Q.
 
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Used my Black Friday purchase first time today to smoke a filet of salmon. My favorite way to prepare it is just to salt it well with coarse sea salt right before putting it in and topping off with fresh dill.

Quite a difference between this and the propane smoker I have used the past few years. Gotta learn things as I go with the new one. And I'll keep the propane as a backup, too.

Takes A LOT longer to come to temp, which is not a surprise, of course, given the difference between hot flames and puny (sort of) heating element. Took about 20 minutes to get up to the 230 degrees (ambient in the low 60s) I set it at.

Put my soaked (about 20 minutes) mesquite chips in at 200 degrees and thought I would get TBS around the time it hit the target temp. Wrong... Took REALLY long for it to start producing TBS, so maybe soaking them is not necessarily a good idea. Then again... I'm going to get AMNPS soon, so getting smoke shouldn't be an issue anymore.

And before and after pics, of course. Fish was mighty tasty. Thumbs Up

 
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Used my Black Friday purchase first time today to smoke a filet of salmon. My favorite way to prepare it is just to salt it well with coarse sea salt right before putting it in and topping off with fresh dill.

Quite a difference between this and the propane smoker I have used the past few years. Gotta learn things as I go with the new one. And I'll keep the propane as a backup, too.

Takes A LOT longer to come to temp, which is not a surprise, of course, given the difference between hot flames and puny (sort of) heating element. Took about 20 minutes to get up to the 230 degrees (ambient in the low 60s) I set it at.

Put my soaked (about 20 minutes) mesquite chips in at 200 degrees and thought I would get TBS around the time it hit the target temp. Wrong... Took REALLY long for it to start producing TBS, so maybe soaking them is not necessarily a good idea. Then again... I'm going to get AMNPS soon, so getting smoke shouldn't be an issue anymore.

And before and after pics, of course. Fish was mighty tasty.
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Salmon looks real good, TexFinn!!
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Mighty Tasty indeed!!
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Most MES owners learn more about their MES than the guys who wrote the owners manual, like it really isn't a good idea to soak your chips or put water in the water pan.

However getting that AMNPS will make your smoking life so much easier & your smokes so much better.
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Bear
 
Used my Black Friday purchase first time today to smoke a filet of salmon. My favorite way to prepare it is just to salt it well with coarse sea salt right before putting it in and topping off with fresh dill.

Quite a difference between this and the propane smoker I have used the past few years. Gotta learn things as I go with the new one. And I'll keep the propane as a backup, too.

Takes A LOT longer to come to temp, which is not a surprise, of course, given the difference between hot flames and puny (sort of) heating element. Took about 20 minutes to get up to the 230 degrees (ambient in the low 60s) I set it at.

Put my soaked (about 20 minutes) mesquite chips in at 200 degrees and thought I would get TBS around the time it hit the target temp. Wrong... Took REALLY long for it to start producing TBS, so maybe soaking them is not necessarily a good idea. Then again... I'm going to get AMNPS soon, so getting smoke shouldn't be an issue anymore.

And before and after pics, of course. Fish was mighty tasty.
icon14.gif


I love Salmon but I don't have the knowledge to be able to smoke it. All of my Salmon eating is done in restaurants, which doesn't come cheap.

What is the green stuff laying on the Salmon in the picture? 
 
I love Salmon but I don't have the knowledge to be able to smoke it. All of my Salmon eating is done in restaurants, which doesn't come cheap.

What is the green stuff laying on the Salmon in the picture? 

One of the easiest things to smoke, IMO. All I do is what I described above: top the fish with coarse sea salt and fresh dill (the green stuff on top of the fish in the picture), smoke at 230 degrees about an hour and then enjoy.

I never brine the fish. Never really figured why people even do it, really... Matter of taste, of course. I just happen to enjoy the fish just as it is with just the two ingredients.
 
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One of the easiest things to smoke, IMO. All I do is what I described above: top the fish with coarse sea salt and fresh dill (the green stuff on top of the fish in the picture), smoke at 230 degrees about an hour and then enjoy.

I never brine the fish. Never really figured why people even do it, really... Matter of taste, of course. I just happen to enjoy the fish just as it is with just the two ingredients.
Thanks Tex ... That might just be a starter for me.... 

I note you used Mesquite. Don't some people use Alder I think it is called? Just trying to learn something here for my first try at it.

Do you lay the Salmon directly on the rack or do you put foil under it and lay it on the rack?

Last question .... how do you know when it is done?
 
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Thanks Tex ... That might just be a starter for me.... 

I note you used Mesquite. Don't some people use Alder I think it is called? Just trying to learn something here for my first try at it.

Do you lay the Salmon directly on the rack or do you put foil under it and lay it on the rack?

Last question .... how do you know when it is done?

Choice of wood is a personal matter of taste. As usual... I've tried lots of different chips but tend to like mesquite the most on my fish. Just experiment and you'll find what works for you.

I make sort of dish out of the foil to keep the fish from sticking to the rack. I also turn the sides up so that the foil will also contain the fat that is released during cooking so it doesn't fall all over the smoker

You know it's done when it flakes easily with a fork, but one hour is usually enough for the size. I think the one I just made was just over two pounds, or so.
 
Choice of wood is a personal matter of taste. As usual... I've tried lots of different chips but tend to like mesquite the most on my fish. Just experiment and you'll find what works for you.

I make sort of dish out of the foil to keep the fish from sticking to the rack. I also turn the sides up so that the foil will also contain the fat that is released during cooking so it doesn't fall all over the smoker

You know it's done when it flakes easily with a fork, but one hour is usually enough for the size. I think the one I just made was just over two pounds, or so.
Thanks ... I'm going to have to try it ... Mesquite and Pecan are my two favorites.
 
One of the easiest things to smoke, IMO. All I do is what I described above: top the fish with coarse sea salt and fresh dill (the green stuff on top of the fish in the picture), smoke at 230 degrees about an hour and then enjoy.

I never brine the fish. Never really figured why people even do it, really... Matter of taste, of course. I just happen to enjoy the fish just as it is with just the two ingredients.
Hello TexFinn.  I used to live in the northwest and had many opportunities to smoke salmon. I had a Bradley smoker back then and found that it really did make a difference for me to brine the salmon at least overnite. Then rinse it thoroughly in cold water, pat it as dry as much as possible with paper towels, and lay the fillets skin side down on a oiled rack for 1 hr at room temp. I'm not smart enuf to tell you what the process is, but the texture of the salmon changes and seemed to me to more readily accept smoke. It may be similar to forming a pellicle on bacon but not sure. We also used lemon slices with the onions and dill. Miss those days on the Puget Sound. The best salmon I ever made was dry cured and cold smoked. Similar to Lox I believe. Best to you, Tim

P.S. We always used alder for our salmon because thats what the locals used.
 
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One of the easiest things to smoke, IMO. All I do is what I described above: top the fish with coarse sea salt and fresh dill (the green stuff on top of the fish in the picture), smoke at 230 degrees about an hour and then enjoy.

I never brine the fish. Never really figured why people even do it, really... Matter of taste, of course. I just happen to enjoy the fish just as it is with just the two ingredients.
I tried to find fresh dill here in OKC and haven't been able to find any, so I haven't tried the Salmon yet.
 
The best salmon I ever made was dry cured and cold smoked. Similar to Lox I believe. Best to you, Tim

That's on my list, too. Well..., actually tried to do it a couple of days ago, but had issues with keeping smoke going in my AMNPS (whole nother story...), so I had to ditch it. Will make some adjustments to my process and try again shortly.

I tried to find fresh dill here in OKC and haven't been able to find any, so I haven't tried the Salmon yet.

Sorry to hear that. Around here Kroger or Natural Grocer's are the ones to find it from. My wife buys big bunches from an Indian store (as in people from India running the store) she visits on a weekly basis. Very fresh and ridiculously cheap compared to the others. Might want to check if you have any around there.
 
 
I love Salmon but I don't have the knowledge to be able to smoke it. All of my Salmon eating is done in restaurants, which doesn't come cheap.

What is the green stuff laying on the Salmon in the picture? 
Jim, smoking salmon is fairly easy. A lot of guys like to brine it first but I was just given a smoking book with salmon recipes and none of them call for brining. You just season the meat just about any way you want, put it in the smoker at whatever temp you choose, and choose the wood pellets (I know you use them like I do) of your choice. Alder, apple, and hickory would be good.
 
Brickguy221,

The green stuff you regard to is fresh dill.  I smoke a tremendous amount of Salmon each year.  I always brine it for 3+ hours in a brown sugar / salt mixture for 3+ years, rinse and dry for 2 hours to form a pellicle.  Then I smoke for 3+ hours, using Alder and then Apple.  
 
Ive been using orange chips (from academy) in the MES, and coat the filet with a melted butter/lemon zest/brown sugar mix and sprinkle some lemon pepper on top. I put mine straight onto a non-stick grilling rack I got at kroger with thinner crossed grate/mesh (had to cut the supplied wire handles off with bolt cutters just long enough for them to slide onto the MES rack guides) and smoke at 220 for around 2hrs. Any leftovers get flaked, chopped, and mixed with cream cheese for the best bagel shmear I've had to date on a kosher salt bagel. Ok now I've gone and made myself hungry. Also I've yet to need to soak chips, and have noticed the first load burns quick, then subsequent loads burn nice and slow (I really only have used the AMNPS on longer smokes 4hrs+).
 
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......but I will say, maybe it's time to try something different as what  TexFinn & greasemonger was kind enough to share with us.  Very nice!  Also keep in mind that when one brines their salmon, they are probably intending on it being an appetizer or finger food.  Not a main entrée as what I describe TexFinn and greasemonger dishes as being.  Still, it's all good.
 
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I have another 3lb filet I may brine to try it out. I used to grill all my salmon, but I'm so new to smoking I'm completely open to any/all options as I havent had a chance to even figure out what I like. I'll have to try the 3hr brine, dry, smoke combo. Heck maybe Ill give it a go tomorrow and try the apple or mesquite plus alder (a co-worker gave me a small bag of alder which is hard to find around here)... gawd I love this site
 
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