Rookie from the Pacific Northwest

[junebuggy]

Smoking novice checking in from the Seattle area. Wife recently got me a Masterbuilt for my birthday - 30 inch model. Really been just going trial and error for the past couple months until stumbling upon this forum.

Got the cold smoker attachment for it...it's a bit of a love/hate relationship. Wish I had found this forum first to learn more about the A-Maze-N pellet smoker, as I may have tried that out first. Still debating whether or not that's worth getting to try out.

Have done a couple pork butts so far; pretty hard to screw those up and they were a hit. Ribs turned out ok, and just did first batch of cold smoking cheese that I personally thought was just okay but was a hit.

Looking forward to learning more!

 

[banderson7474]

I'm jealous that you have access to all the great fish at pikes place! Welcome to the club.

 

[PapaLlama]

A big hearty welcome Memphis, TN! Enjoy your stay junebuggy !

 

[fivetricks]

Hello and welcome!

Don't be discouraged by everyone else loving your food and you only thinking that it's so-so. It's called going "nose blind". It's from you spending time around the smoker and breathing all of the fumes.

Give yourself a day and you'll enjoy your food more. Or you'll end up like the rest of us and constantly not be satisfied and obsess over doing it better! Watch out, that can get expensive.

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

Welcome from East TN! I will say the AMAZN tray is well worth the $30. Its a game changer for the MES.

 

[6GRILLZNTN]

Welcome from East TN! I will say the AMAZN tray is well worth the $30. Its a game changer for the MES.

Welcome from Middle TN! Although I don't have an MES, the tray works perfect in my WSM for cold smoking cheese.

 

[junebuggy]

Welcome from East TN! I will say the AMAZN tray is well worth the $30. Its a game changer for the MES.

Thanks! Have you had any issues keeping it lit or having food drip onto it? How is the taste of the pellet smoke compared to the wood chips?

 

[HalfSmoked]

Welcome glad to have you on board a lot of great guys and gals on here with tons of info. The best info I can give is find what suits your taste personal preference is the ruler of this game.

Warren

 

[kruizer]

Welcome to SMF from Minnesota.

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

Thanks! Have you had any issues keeping it lit or having food drip onto it? How is the taste of the pellet smoke compared to the wood chips?

When I first got it I had a couple times I couldn't keep it going but don't anymore. I hit my pellets in the microwave for 1 min before lighting them and once I do I let the flame burn for about 10 minutes blow it out and I'm good to go. Light it with a $20 torch I bought from Home Depot. Make sure you pull your chip dumper halfway out in the dump position to keep air circulating.

I have an MES40 so the placement for the 30 might be different but I put mine in the bottom under the water pan. Sometimes ill put a sheet of foil on the rack above it to keep anything from getting near it.

As far as the pellets go I would just recommend getting one that isn't full of fillers. Lumberjack and the ones that AMAZN sells are 100% wood I believe. The flavor is just as good as wood chips or chunks.

 

[JC in GB]

Welcome from Wisconsin.