New smokehead here; 30" MES for Christmas! Questions.

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primooptimoso

Newbie
Original poster
Dec 30, 2011
8
10
Northern VA
Hey all.  New here, like the title says I just got an analog 30" MES for Christmas.  I seasoned it yesterday and have two racks of ribs smoking in mesquite right now!

However, I have one concern - it seems to be just too hot in there!  It's only been 3 hours for the spareribs (2 for the babybacks) and the larger ribs, on the bottom racks, are already blackened and pulling back from the bone ends.  At one point I checked and the thermometer said it was almost 300 in there, even though I have it on low.  Since then I turned the control down to juuuuust when the power light illuminates, but I worry that my ribs might be overdone and dry.  (by contrast, the babybacks seem to be doing ok at the top.)

Notes:

- I'm using soaked mesquite in the chip tray and seasoned water in the water tray

- I am not mopping the ribs and they're not caked in rub - I marinated them overnight in just a little bit of stuff, but want the first smoke to really show me a benchmark flavor of just the wood and heat, so that I can adjust from there for future smokes. 

Heh, today's taste-test ribs are going to be awesome either way if the smell surrounding my house is any indication, though.   I have a whole chicken waiting its turn, too, for tomorrow.

Thanks for any pointers you can share.  After trying a few times to do low and slow ribs in the charcoal grill I'm welcoming the relative simplicity of the electric. 
 
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   Glad to have you with us!

Would you go on over to the roll call section & introduce yourself so we can all give you a proper SMF welcome, and

would you also update your profile info to include your location. Thank-you.

I'm not familiar with your smoker so I can't be of much help there. Other than do you have a good digital thermometer at

the grate level to measure the smoker temp?
 
Obligatory Que View, this is now 3.5 hours in (you see what I mean about the big ones cooking too fast...)

Honestly, I don't much care at this point, between the smell and the taste-test (I just ate the flap from the big rack as it was clearly done) I think they'll be great even if overdone.

400cd6af_80sva1.jpg
 
Might have submitted the que vue picture post twice here without noticing it was being held for moderation, my apologies!

I'll head to the roll call thing in the meantime, thanks!

As for the thermometer, the smoker has an analog one in the door; I don't know if my probe thermometer's wire will fit through the closed door - should I run it through the smoke vent in the back instead?
 
Last edited:
Might have submitted the que vue picture post twice here without noticing it was being held for moderation, my apologies!

I'll head to the roll call thing in the meantime, thanks!

As for the thermometer, the smoker has an analog one in the door; I don't know if my probe thermometer's wire will fit through the closed door - should I run it through the smoke vent in the back instead?

First off welcome to SMF. I run my temp probe thru the exhaust vent instead of thru the door.
 
Welcome..

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      Make bacon the easy way!!

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forum/thread/109368/more-easy-made-bacon-with-q-view#post_666451

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forum/thread/82034/how-to-post-qview-to-smf
 
Just wanted to update with the verdict:  Spare ribs were overdone as I thought - the bark was really tough, but the overall flavor was still pretty good.  The babybacks were terrific if also very slightly over.  If I can find a way to make sure it doesn't run up to 250 and above on me, I may be in good shape next time. I thought these electrics were known for being able to stay low for a long time.

Now I am looking to brine this whole chicken here for tomorrow though! =0)
 
Having never used the analog mes i cant help you on how to control the temps.

  But i have heard of the same complaint from other analog users.
 
Doh - figured out the problem!  I was misreading the light on the controller, thinking it was just indicating "on" when in reality it was indicating the heating element was on.  I hadn't realized until afterward that the light went out when it got up to temp.

Further endeavors (whole chicken, wings) have gone smashingly!
 
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