New mes 130

[Jimmie1313]

New to smoking and just picked up a mes130. I was surprised I didn’t get much smoke on the first run through. I read in here that a lot of people add a pellet smoke try inside the electric masterbuilt? Is that correct? Are there any other mods that I should be considering? I have a decent thermometer so all good there.
Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Lonzinomaker]

As you are new to smoking, I would try to learn how it is supposed to work as it is without making any modifications. Then if you make any changes later, you will know whether the changes helped or not.
I used a stock MES 30 for several years without needing to make any changes.
Spoiler- yes I did make a mod to mailbox smoker because of a specific need to do cheese.

 

[Jimmie1313]

Thanks. I got concerned as I didn’t see much smoke first time around.

 

[pc farmer]

Most people dont use the chip tray. Most use the pellet tray inside the smoker or in a mailbox mod. I use a tray inside my MES 30.

 

[Jimmie1313]

Thank you. Thats what I’m noticing. I wasn’t sure cause cause the instructions on the mes said not to use pellets.... but who reads them anyway!

 

[Kevin DeShazo]

You only want to see a thin blue smoke, yku dont want heavy smoke.

Ive used my MES40 for a cpl yrs now, stock as it was from the box and turns out some good grub

 

[Jimmie1313]

Excellent! Thank you. Looking forward to more practice.

 

[pc farmer]

Thank you. Thats what I’m noticing. I wasn’t sure cause cause the instructions on the mes said not to use pellets.... but who reads them anyway!

Dont use pellets in the orignal chip tray.

 

[Jimmie1313]

Dont use pellets in the orignal chip tray.

Makes sense. Im going to grab the tray on amazon

 

[fivetricks]

If you tear down the chip tray assembly a bit you can use straight wood chunks in lieu of the pellet tray. It's not as versatile as the pellet tray but way better than the default chip tray setup, no doubt.

I actually use both at the same time in my gen1 but I really like the deep smoke flavor

 

[Cj7851]

I've been using my Mes for over a year now with great results just using the chip tray. As I have seen some others you don't want heavy rolling smoke just a thin blue smoke. I've found I add a little more to the chip tray than they reccomend about 1 1/2 cups vs the recommended 1 cup it will roll pretty heavy when I first add chips 10-15 minutes then level out.

 

[chopsaw]

I would try to learn how it is supposed to work as it is without making any modifications. Then if you make any changes later, you will know whether the changes helped or not.

100 % agree with this .

If you tear down the chip tray assembly a bit you can use straight wood chunks

Yup . Gives great results on higher temp smokes .

 

[Bearcarver]

Thanks. I got concerned as I didn’t see much smoke first time around.

You don't say where you're from, so we don't know what your Altitude is, but if you are at a high altitude you should be buying the AMNTS (Tube) smoker, and if you are at a low altitude, the AMNPS (Tray) would be for you.
I would try it inside your MES 130 before you go to the bother of building & caring for a Mailbox Mod.
I've been using an AMNPS inside my MES units for 10 years now, with Great success.

BTW: Welcome Jimmie!!

Bear

 

[Jimmie1313]

You don't say where you're from, so we don't know what your Altitude is, but if you are at a high altitude you should be buying the AMNTS (Tube) smoker, and if you are at a low altitude, the AMNPS (Tray) would be for you.
I would try it inside your MES 130 before you go to the bother of building & caring for a Mailbox Mod.
I've been using an AMNPS inside my MES units for 10 years now, with Great success.

BTW: Welcome Jimmie!!

Bear

Thanks for the info and thank you for your service!

 

[smokerjim]

What temps were you smoking at, mes wont start burning chips until you reach around 200 degrees

 

[Bearcarver]

What temps were you smoking at, mes wont start burning chips until you reach around 200 degrees

Actually that depends on which MES you have.
Years ago I had one that had an extra piece of metal between the heating element & the chip drawer. Wouldn't start the chips until about 230°. Turned out they made a whole mess of them like that, so they sent out new chip burner retro-fixes to the people who had the bad models. The replacement they sent me started burning the chips at between 50° and 60° from a dead cold start.

Bear

 

[smokerjim]

Actually that depends on which MES you have.
Years ago I had one that had an extra piece of metal between the heating element & the chip drawer. Wouldn't start the chips until about 230°. Turned out they made a whole mess of them like that, so they sent out new chip burner retro-fixes to the people who had the bad models. The replacement they sent me started burning the chips at between 50° and 60° from a dead cold start.

Bear

thanks Bear. I just learned something new myself. my mes 30 will start smoking around 200. do you think if I got a hold of masterbuilt they would still have the replacement part. not that I need now with the amnps tray but would be nice to fix it just in case. Jim

 

[Bearcarver]

thanks Bear. I just learned something new myself. my mes 30 will start smoking around 200. do you think if I got a hold of masterbuilt they would still have the replacement part. not that I need now with the amnps tray but would be nice to fix it just in case. Jim

I doubt it. This was a special occasion, due to their screw-up, quite a few years ago, and it was only one model of MES.
When your chip drawer is in place, is the bottom of the drawer the only piece of metal between the heating element & the wood chips, or is there another piece of metal between the element & the wood chips.
If there is an extra piece in there, a lot of guys just cut that extra piece out with snips, to fix their own.

If there isn't an extra piece there, and yours still doesn't start the chips until 200°, try bending your chip drawer metal down to be closer to the element. Or wedge something under the element (careful not to break it) to get it closer to the chip drawer bottom.
Often times the space between the element & the chip drawer bottom is too much.

Bear

 

[smokerjim]

thanks for the info Bear, I didn't mean to steal Jimmie's thread but I figured someone else might find this info helpful also. i'm pretty sure mine doesn't have a metal plate in between, but i'll have to check it out.