# Masterbuilt 30 Electric



## RustyStark (Nov 3, 2020)

I have been smoking meat for years -- mostly country ribs, turkey, fish, etc.  Mostly charcoal.
I recently purchased a masterbuilt 30 electric smoker.  It seems to have trouble making smoke at lower temps -- 225.
Is there a way to get it to maintain smoke even when I turn the temp down?


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## JC in GB (Nov 3, 2020)

RustyStark said:


> I have been smoking meat for years -- mostly country ribs, turkey, fish, etc.  Mostly charcoal.
> I recently purchased a masterbuilt 30 electric smoker.  It seems to have trouble making smoke at lower temps -- 225.
> Is there a way to get it to maintain smoke even when I turn the temp down?



I have a Materbuilt electric smoker and I use the AMNPS pellet tube for generating smoke.  It works better than the MES chip tray.


Other users have built the "mailbox mod" to achieve consistent smoke production.  You can search the forum for the mailbox mod.

Welcome from Wisconsin.

JC


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## tag0401 (Nov 3, 2020)

For some reason I had a hard time with my MES 30 running at 225. It alway like to be around 250-275 I learned to let it do it’s thing!! Welcome to the forum too btw


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## Lonzinomaker (Nov 3, 2020)

The mailbox mod will give you all the smoke you need.  And it turns your smoker into a cold smoker so you can easily do cheese.


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## RustyStark (Nov 3, 2020)

JC in GB said:


> smoker


Thanks for your input.  How do you use the pellet tube?  Where does it fit in the smoker?


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## JC in GB (Nov 3, 2020)

RustyStark said:


> Thanks for your input.  How do you use the pellet tube?  Where does it fit in the smoker?


I just fill the tube with pellets, light it with a torch, and put it on the bottom of the smoker.


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## RustyStark (Nov 3, 2020)

RustyStark said:


> Thanks for your input.  How do you use the pellet tube?  Where does it fit in the smoker?


Thanks so much.  One more dumb question, how much heat does it put out?


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## RustyStark (Nov 3, 2020)

RustyStark said:


> Thanks so much.  One more dumb question, how much heat does it put out?


I mean, does it raise the temperature in the smoker?


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## JC in GB (Nov 3, 2020)

RustyStark said:


> I mean, does it raise the temperature in the smoker?



It puts out a little heat but it is negligible.  I run my MES with top vent open 100% all the time.

I use the pellet tube for cold smoking.

JC


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## jcoleman66 (Nov 3, 2020)

With my MES 30 I set to 275 and never looked back.   I also bought the colder smoke attachment and used it to create the smoke.  Worked great.   Similar to the mail box mod.  Something you can also try, Masterbuilt says you shouldn't use an extension cord.   I always did, no where close to an outlet to not use one.  May buddy swears that is the difference..


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## tallbm (Nov 3, 2020)

RustyStark said:


> I have been smoking meat for years -- mostly country ribs, turkey, fish, etc.  Mostly charcoal.
> I recently purchased a masterbuilt 30 electric smoker.  It seems to have trouble making smoke at lower temps -- 225.
> Is there a way to get it to maintain smoke even when I turn the temp down?


Hi there and welcome!

You are getting great advice.

I'm a huge fan of the mailbox mod (mailbox with elbow duct joint, plus into hole in side of MES when you pull out the chip feeding tube).

There is an A-Maze-N Pellet Smoker (AMNPS) tray that will burn pellets for up to 12 hours!!!
The MES30 can be hit or miss with using the tray inside the smoker where the tray may not stay lit, BUT has no issues running a tray in the mailbox mod.

Additionally, with a mailbox mod you further reduce the amount of heat that makes it into the smoker from the pellets burning.  In Texas the pellet heat is a real thing as we don't get many days cold enough for cold smoking (smoker temp 70F or below) so the mailbox mod helps out some when trying to gold smoke in 40F lows and needing to keep the smoker under 70F.  I still have to put a foil tray of ice in the smoker when cold smoking to battle temps increasing but again this is TX not WI so our low temps for cold smoking are much higher than your low temps hahaha.

Finally, I like the mailbox mod because the smoke is fully independent of the heat generation and I never have to open my smoker to fool with the smoke generation.

The tube works inside MES30's and in high altitude/low oxygen environments where the tray may not.  Both work where you fill with pellets, light on fire and let flame for 10 min, then blow out fire and the pellets will smolder producing smoke until all smoldered out.
Tube is like 3hrs maybe a little more, Tray is 12 hrs when full.

Almost all of us MES owners switch to a tray or a tube because they are so simple to use and the the tray for sure produces PERFECT Thin Blue Smoke with no fuss.

I hope all this info helps :)


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## RustyStark (Nov 3, 2020)

jcoleman66 said:


> With my MES 30 I set to 275 and never looked back.   I also bought the colder smoke attachment and used it to create the smoke.  Worked great.   Similar to the mail box mod.  Something you can also try, Masterbuilt says you shouldn't use an extension cord.   I always did, no where close to an outlet to not use one.  May buddy swears that is the difference..


Thank you.  Unfortunately, I find 275 to be too high for some smoking needs.


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## RustyStark (Nov 3, 2020)

tallbm said:


> Hi there and welcome!
> 
> You are getting great advice.
> 
> ...


Thank you so much.  It sounds like great info.


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## Winterrider (Nov 3, 2020)

Great advice on the tube and mailbox mod. I am also a happy camper with that method. Have you verified your chamber temps with a digital thermometer ? I did have a hard time getting chips to smoke at 225° or below also in my  MES 40


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## Outlook214 (Nov 8, 2020)

JC in GB said:


> I have a Materbuilt electric smoker and I use the AMNPS pellet tube for generating smoke.  It works better than the MES chip tray.
> 
> 
> Other users have built the "mailbox mod" to achieve consistent smoke production.  You can search the forum for the mailbox mod.
> ...



Using the pellet tube for venison bologna. How long and what temp stage would you smoke? I did a ConYeager snack stick kit, smoked using the pellet tube with hickory per their time temp instructions and my snack sticks have a bitter smoke taste.


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## pa42phigh (Nov 8, 2020)

Outlook214 said:


> Using the pellet tube for venison bologna. How long and what temp stage would you smoke? I did a ConYeager snack stick kit, smoked using the pellet tube with hickory per their time temp instructions and my snack sticks have a bitter smoke taste.


place into smoker preheated to around 130 degrees for one hour  to dry casings, then add smoke for 1hr or 2hours, then raise heat to 150 for one hr then  raise heat to 170 until an internal temp of 152 to 160 degrees,


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