Louisiana girl in mountains of NC

[cindydw]

First time on the site.  My brother in south Louisiana smokes everything and sent some jerky to me and I was hooked.  Just bought Masterbuilt electric 30 smoker at lowes this weekend, seasoned it and am ready to start tomorrow.  There were NO real instructions as far as when to use water, juice, beer, etc in the water chamber.  We have natural maple, hickory and cherry here and I seasoned with maple chips my husband chipped for me.  Brother said not to use water with jerky but do you use with other meats?  Should I keep it with water in it or let it evaporate.  I have a small brisket I am going to start with and maybe put a couple pieces of chicken or port in just so it seems like a waste to cook one puny piece of meat at a time but I don't want to ruin a bunch if I screw up.  Any pointers for another really "newbie"?

 

[foamheart]

Welcome Cindy. I hope you enjoy your new smoker. I too enjoy a MES30, so much I just bought an MES40 w/ a cold smoke attachment.

First things first, you will need a meat thermometer. These days no one mentions time/temp anymore. That's when experiemce used to come in, now we do Internal Temperature (IT) which is easier and safer. Remember though its electronic so they work off magic and common sense is always your best friend.

Patience is the key word here. Enjoy your smoke.

Have fun and we all look forward to watching your achievements, (Hint hint), take pictures.

 

[geerock]

First of all, welcome to the forum. Glad to have you on board. Lots of great info and good folks here. Leatn to use that search function too. A wealth of info there.
A couple things..... don't lay on heavy white smoke. Lots of new smoke cooks think they have to put constant clouds of heavy smoke. It will ruin your food. Another thing to watch on the mes 30 is your temps. That smoker controller can he off by quite a bit so verify your meat temp and chamber temp with another accurate therm. Beat of luck.

 

[cindydw]

Thanks for your welcome.  I will let whoever is interested in my results tomorrow and ask for suggestions.

 

[cindydw]

Thank you also for your welcome.  My brother had me buy an oven thermometer to check the built in one.  I didn't check it during the seasoning process but will tomorrow.  The smoker has a built in meat thermometer but I also bought one of those.  I figure I don't keep the smoking going all the way through the cooking process but I am still a bit confused about the water/juice/beer thing.  Will read more before I start tomorrow.

 

[foamheart]

 
Thank you also for your welcome.  My brother had me buy an oven thermometer to check the built in one.  I didn't check it during the seasoning process but will tomorrow.  The smoker has a built in meat thermometer but I also bought one of those.  I figure I don't keep the smoking going all the way through the cooking process but I am still a bit confused about the water/juice/beer thing.  Will read more before I start tomorrow.

It is very important because MES has a very bad track record for the accuracy of their temperature devices. The easiest way to ruin any smoke is to over cook it.

 

[gary s]

Hey Cindy, hello and welcome from East Texas, Lots of MES smokers on here, one guy I know that is super helpful and has a lot of recipes is Bearcarver, PM him and ask him about your MES  http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/u/33097/bearcarver

Gary S

P.S.   What in the world is a flat-lander doing in the mountains  ????

 

[cindydw]

Thanks Gary.  I am getting ready to fire up for the first time. chatted with foam and got some pointers.  I bought frozen pizza just in case.

PS - Just lucky, I guess.  It was 50 degrees this morning.  My dad in Lafayette says it is kissing 95's these days.

 

[humdinger]

Welcome to the SMF Cindy,
Whether or not to use the water pan is a point of much debate on this forum. My advice on that would be to check out the MES owners group and find out what the consensus is over there. http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/groups/show/8/masterbuilt-electric-smoker-mes-owners

IMHO, the decision of when to use a water pan depends on the type of smoker, meat being smoked, and fuel burning. For example, I use propane as a fuel which gives off a lot of moisture when burned, so I rarely use a water pan because the cooking chamber maintains a decent humidity. However charcoal burns more of a dry heat, so some folks may opt for a water pan (The creator of this website and forum does this). Just check out the MES group and see what folks with those smokers prefer.

Hope this helps.

 

[cindydw]

Thanks humdinger.  I think I am in the process of a ruined brisket and ribs but live and learn.  Chatting with a couple of people and went to the mes forum where I learned I am glad I bought pizza.

 

[kc5tpy]

Hello and welcome to the fun.  Many good folk here with a load of experience that they are more than willing to share.  If you have specific questions just start a thread and someone with experience will be along soon to offer advice.  Spend some time doing some research on the forums, tons of advice and recipes already available there.  The trial and error method works well.  We will try to help you keep the errors to a minimum.  We look forward to your contributions.  I will assume you have seasoned your smoker and sealed every leak you can.  I always advise the same with this question.  Chicken leg quarters and maybe some burgers with just salt and pepper.  Easy to do and cheap to buy.  I know!  I know!  You have been reading for weeks, now have your smoker, you are ready to get started and this idiot says chicken legs and burgers??  WHAT??  The first few smokes are about learning to control temps in YOUR smoker.  Each one can be different.  If that first smoke burns, the dog gets a good meal.  If it ain’t done, finish it in the oven.  Little money lost and with luck you still get a good meal.  TEMP CONTROL!! IS THE KEY!!  Have fun.  Good luck.  Keep Smokin!

Danny

 

[cindydw]

Thanks Danny.  Everything you said is the scenario I am going through now.  I don't suppose pizza is so bad for the first smoke!!  Maybe something will be eatable.

 

[smoke slinger]

Welcome to the forum, this is a very great place to get help from. The folks on here have a lot of experience and don't mind sharing. Also there is some really good recipes in here also.

Craig

 

[eman]

The water pan in the MES  doesn't need water. For jerky line it w/ foil and put some clean sand in it . If you want to use liquid when smoking larger pieces of meat add it when you start the pre heat. 

  Just remember , When smoking mixed meats ,any poultry needs to go below any other meats so that the juices don't drip on other stuff..

 BTW, Welcome to SMF!!!

 

[smoke slinger]

I finally tried ribs this weekend with no water in my pan and I have the MES 40 and its the best they have turned out.

Craig

 

[cindydw]

My ribs and chicken turned out okay but the brisket was tough and tasteless.  Was told I got a little excited on my "maiden flight".  I was not thinking and left all the racks in but only used 2 but had to clean 4.  Won't do that again.  The clean up was not too much fun as I don't have a dishwasher.  I can't imagine how messy a fully skinned chicken is going to be (I mean with the skin still on).  Someone finally explained to me about the sand.  I assume you can use just any sand and it doesn't have to be special.

 

[foamheart]

You don't really need the sand, and if you want a easy heatsink, a brick will do the same thing, I would cover it with foil in case it breaks though. Also if you place a aluminum pan on the grate below your meat it will catch most of those drips. Spray your grates with a lite coat of oil and they clean easier or spray with oven cleaner afterwards and they clean right up.

Its all experience, experience learned is knowledge. In no time the hubbie will be changing his mind. My sister doesn't eat white meat off the chicken, she gets really anal about it, but she'll ask for it when I smoke because its to tender and juicy.

Rome wasn't built in a day, and everyday you smoke you'll learn something new.

Me today I learned no matter how bad you want to burn in a new smoker, when your soaked with sweat, sick at you stomach and seeing little black b-b's its time to shut it down and go back tomorrow to finish.....LOL  It didn't look that hot.  LOL

 

[flash]

Welcome aboard. Heading up to Franklin, NC in the fall.  Don't confuse yourself with "other liquids" in the pan. Use water or sand and save the beer, juice or wine for drinking. Good luck on your smoke.

 

[cindydw]

Thanks for the Welcome.  Franklin is beautiful area.  I believe I am going to stick with sand or water as you suggest.  Did seem like a waste of good beer!

 

[remsr]

Welcome Cindydw
I am pretty new myself but have been smoking for years I don't know what you are using for rub and sauce but I thought I had the best until I tried Jeff's. Try it on your next brisket and it won't be tasteless. I just tried it on beef ribs and it was great. I think we have all messed up a brisket or two but there is a lot of help available to you.