# newbie here from alabama with few question about the masterbuilt 40" smoker



## biggen81 (Dec 23, 2010)

well i am looking to buy me a new smoker i have a royal oak smoker that i got few years ago had to do lot mods to make it smoke right i am looking to upgrade to a good smoker i am looking at the masterbuilt 40" but i was wanting to know can u get them with out the glass window i'm thinking they would be hard to keep clean or easy to break and are they hard to get smoke i have read some say they hard to get to smoke and some say there not.


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## dairyman (Dec 24, 2010)

I have the MES 40 with the window and I love it. I clean the window with a razor blade, takes about a minute to do. The window breaking never crossed my mind. It seems pretty solid. You would have to hit it pretty hard to break it. I've never had a problem with it not smoking.


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## eman (Dec 24, 2010)

Same here, I just scrape mine w/ single edge razor blade and clean w/ vinegar once in a while .

 the glass is tempered glass so it would take a real good blow to break it.

 At one time there were some problems w/ the MES 30" not wanting to smoke but masterbuilt did some modifications and solved the problem.

 Make sure that you get the newest model w/ the wheels and remote.


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## biteme7951 (Dec 24, 2010)

I clean the window of my MES40 while it is still warm after each use with a couple of Clorox disinfecting kitchen wipes. Just happened to try it once and they clean up in about 30 seconds. Looks like new!


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## biggen81 (Dec 24, 2010)

Thanks everyone for the info so how much are they masterbuilt 40" and were are good places to buy them


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## Bearcarver (Dec 24, 2010)

Biggen81 said:


> Thanks everyone for the info so how much are they masterbuilt 40" and were are good places to buy them




Best prices I've seen are:

New MES 40 with SS interior, black outside walls & top, 1200 watt, glass door, remote control, wheels----$298 at Sam's Club.

Same as above, except ALL stainless steel inside & out-----$399 at Cabela's (sometimes on sale there for $349)

Bear


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## eman (Dec 24, 2010)

Bearcarver said:


> Biggen81 said:
> 
> 
> > Thanks everyone for the info so how much are they masterbuilt 40" and were are good places to buy them
> ...


If you buy at sams make sure and spend the little extra and get the extended warrenty


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## texacajun (Dec 24, 2010)

Biggen81 said:


> well i am looking to buy me a new smoker i have a royal oak smoker that i got few years ago had to do lot mods to make it smoke right i am looking to upgrade to a good smoker i am looking at the masterbuilt 40" but i was wanting to know can u get them with out the glass window i'm thinking they would be hard to keep clean or easy to break and are they hard to get smoke i have read some say they hard to get to smoke and some say there not.


Yes and no

Do not soak your chips before you use them this helps. Dry chips only! If you do still have lack of smoke issues you can call Masterbuilt and get a retro fit kit that addresses this issue.


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## onemagicman (Feb 2, 2012)

What a greata tip!  Mine "glass" is so "dark" I can't see inside.  I seldom open the door as to not reduce the heat by approx. 25 degrees and let the good smoke out.  Thanks.


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## SmokinAl (Feb 3, 2012)

onemagicman said:


> What a greata tip!  Mine "glass" is so "dark" I can't see inside.  I seldom open the door as to not reduce the heat by approx. 25 degrees and let the good smoke out.  Thanks.




Rubbing alcohol works good too.

Do us a favor & go over to roll call & introduce yourself so we can all give you a welcome to SMF!


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## deltadude (Feb 3, 2012)

Texacajun said:


> Yes and no
> 
> Do not soak your chips before you use them this helps. Dry chips only! If you do still have lack of smoke issues you can call Masterbuilt and get a retro fit kit that addresses this issue.


I'm curious, could a couple of MES owners with glass window doors verify this?  The MES water pan has water that is almost at boiling so it is giving off plenty of moisture and heat from the wet meat causes some condensation.  The little moisture that is on wood chips is inside the chip tray covered by hot metal that little bit of moisture will dissipate when it hits the surrounding hot metal.  I can't see dry chips being the difference.  If the above statement is true, those using the AMNS in MES with glass doors should NOT have a problem with the glass getting darkened during a smoke.   Burning TOO many chips which causes creosote along with lots of dark smoke, or any dark smoke which happens when the chips first start to smolder that would cause darkening of glass.

Would be helpful to clarify....
 

It should be noted that the MES manual for glass door models specifically says to use only damp cloth with no cleaning solutions to clean the door and inside the cabinet.


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## stovebolt (Feb 3, 2012)

In the later model MES' they reduced the size of the chip burning pan and also put a piece of sheet metal between it and the burner. This coupled with the larger heating element they also changed to  caused them to not produce smoke well at lower heat settings due to the burner not being on long enough. Those who complained of "lack of smoke" issues were given the old style larger chip pan without the metal between the pan and the burner. This actually made mine burn the chips up too fast. I had better results by modifying the small chip pan by boring some 3/4 or so inch holes in the sheet metal between the chip pan and burner. All of this ceased to be of any importance to me once I got an AMNPS.  I might use chips on a very short smoke or if my pellets burn up before I'm done smoking, but mostly I will just use the AMNPS.  You can get TBS for as long as you need it without any work, just check on things once in a while and relax.

  The window is easy to clean and I love to watch things smoking away inside. It's neat how the smoke swirls around in there.

  I haven't used water in the pan since getting the AMNPS. I had some problems at first keeping it lit so I eliminated the water to see it that was my problem. It turned out to be that I just wasn't getting it lit well enough to start with. Once it has a really good red-hot spot going it did fine.

It didn't seem to make a difference in the food so I quit using water and now I use sand in the pan for heat ballast. With water in the pan you could often see drops condensing and dripping down the glass.

  As for wet chips, with the oem chip pan it made the lack of smoke worse because they wouldn't burn until they dried out. After the retro-fit kit

they would catch so fast it made very little difference. With the retro chip pan I used just a few chips to smoke right away and a couple of 

fair sized chunks to last a while. I would have to tend it about every 30 to 45 minutes. With the AMNPS it smokes until the pellets are gone. 

I get about 3 hours to the row depending on where in the smoker I place it. Hotter spots and it burns faster.

  These are the results I have had with my MES40. I'm still experimenting every time I smoke. I hope this helps.

  Chuck


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## terry colwell (Feb 4, 2012)

Mine works great with dry chips or wet chips( left the bag in the rain). Wet chips take longer to smoke and made a easier time of a TBS, but I dont do it on purpose. I have seen all the talk about cleaning the window and see that ppl use ALL types of things to clean it with, and some have lots of trouble, I just use WARM WATER AND A BRILLO PAD. Takes no time at all and  I have NO chemicals inside my smoker.  Why use and chemicals when hot water works??? Just dont understand that one...


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## poppa red 50 (Mar 16, 2012)

So from the info, i gather that cleaning the inside of the smoker isn't really necessary. Just to look beter? i have never cleaned the inside of my pit smoker, why clen this one?


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## ahakohda (Mar 16, 2012)

Bigger problem is to get it to produce smoke without any modifications. Possible but pain in the butt. That is why there are two solutions. Either install retro box which is a free upgrade from Masterbuilt or switch all together to AMNPS.

 In all honesty MES40 is a well built smoking box but its digital probe is a joke, digital control swings wide and you can't get it to produce good smoke if you smoke at temperatures bellow 170F.


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## deltadude (Mar 16, 2012)

I know this is an old thread, so not really needing another post that won't be read by the OP.  However for those wondering about wet vs dry chips, I have the older 40" no window and only 800w element.  Wet or dry both produce smoke fine, my preference is to soak the wood chips.  If it takes an extra 2 minutes for them to smoke I doubt it, in my smoker wet chips start smoking in 1 to 2 minutes.  The reason, I preheat my MES,  I did a 14 hour Pork Butt yesterday, preheated it for over 1 hour.  When I put chips in a preheat MES they smoke almost immediately wet or dry, maybe takes 1 minute longer if wet.  Someone said they get better TBS with wet chips, I agree, but I am not basing that on anything except observation.  Last nights pork butt smoke I didn't soak the chips, because I was using a AMNS, I use a few chips at the beginning and when the AMNS runs out.  Over the years I have done both wet & dry, for my 800w MES wet is the way to go.


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