Need Help With MES 30 Therm Calibration

[daricksta]

When I first got my MES 30, I calibrated the therm with a Taylor digital therm with probe (yeah I know Maverick is popular here but the Taylor fit my budget and it's no their bottom of the line cheapie). The Taylor I calibrated by sticking the probe in boiling water and in ice.

So today after turning on the MES 30, I decided to test the smoker therm accuracy again with the potato test. But when the MES showed 275 degrees (my target temp) the Taylor with the probe inside the potato on the second from the bottom rack showed about 116 degrees. I moved the potato around with no real change in temp display. I just tested the Taylor in boiling water--2 degrees low--and in ice--again it showed 2 degrees low.

So what do you guys think is causing the big discrepancy in temp readings? Was it the potato? Most of the probe was outside of it.

I just had a thought: I'm not sure if I know how the potato test works. Why would the interior of a potato be the same temp as the interior or a smoker? When you smoke ribs or a beef brisket, you're going for an interior meat temp of 160 degrees even though the smoker interior temp is 225. So now I'm not sure how I'm supposed to calibrate the MES 30 therm.

 

[jsdspif]

Yeah , you have to have the probe coming out the other side of the potato . I checked my temp with an oven thermometer that I just trusted to be accurate and the temps in both my oven and my MES were pretty close to matching what they were set for . More and more I'm not paying much attention to temp anyway . I did spare ribs the other day and baby backs a couple days ago and I think both times I set it on 265 . I used to do them at like 235 but I started using the slightly higher temps and I liked the results better . Shorter cook times and it burns the wood chips better and also produces smoke a little bit more than the lower temp . Maybe if the potato started out cold and / or your probe wasn't sticking out the other side of the potato far enough it could have thrown your reading off . You certainly have a rough idea of how hot the smoker was .... I mean if it's 275 inside and you open the door your going to get a pretty good feeling of heat but if it really was only 116 you probably wouldn't feel hardly any heat opening the door . I'd say you could try it with the probe just hanging from the center of a grill grate and see what you get or buy an oven thermometer and give that a try . I think they're 3.99 or something , but I would think just have the probe hanging close to  center front to back , side to side , and height  between the waterpan and the top of the unit .

 

[chef jimmyj]

You can Test the MES therm for accuracy but there is no way I no of to calibrate it or make changes. My was reading 20* low, I called MES and they sent a new Probe never mentioning adjustment. New one is 5* low...JJ

 

[daricksta]

JSDSPIF--I didn't have the probe all the way through the potato--that was the problem so thanks for coming up with that. I've also thought about hanging the Taylor probe just like you said. I find it interesting you like the higher temps--I see that sometimes in BBQ competitions on TV.  I'm still figuring out what works best for me.

Chef JimmyJ, I noticed that the MES temp display will be about 20 degrees less than the Taylor when the MES is warming up. Once the temp gets nearer to target, the difference is about 2-6 degrees between the two. Don't know if I should ask for a new therm controller or not. My unit doesn't come with a probe--there's a sensor somewhere in the back interior wall.

 

[roadboss]

Hey daRicksta,  When I first got my MES30 I set the temps for 225.  In less thatn 90 minutes my ribs had hit 165.  I was confused and thought it would take longer that that for my ribs.  Like 5 hours.....I checked the thermometer in boiling water and then set the MES for 225.  I hung the temp probe in the unit and found that the temp in the box was at 295.  It took a while but I finally figured out that if I set my MES for 183 that my cooking temp in the box will go from 220-225.  Like Chef JJ said I dont know how to calibrate it either.  I just learned to adjust.  I think its a pretty common problem.  Good luck and enjoy your smoker.

 

[smokinhusker]

There is no way that I have found to calibrate the meat probe (if the unit comes with one) or the temperature. I have an MES40, that ran 30*-50*cooler than what I had it set for. So I'd never reach 275* even if I needed to. Masterbuilt says the temperature should be about 8* off give or take hotter or cooler.

I've had it a year and it just died, I'm waiting on a new element.

 

[daricksta]

Roadboss and SmokinHusker, My MES 30 inside temp starts out about 40 degrees cooler than my Taylor therm for about 30-40 minutes but as it heats up towards my target temp, it moves closer to the Taylor. I've consistently found I need to lower the MES temp controller about 9 degrees lower than my true target temp to get it where I want it.

I've noticed a couple of guys with the MES 40 reported the heating element failed after a little over a year. I'm not sure about the track record for the MES 30. Mine also didn't come with a probe.