MES40 1st Smoke (Q-view incoming)

ghostred7 · Mar 2, 2012

I broke down and bought a MES40 at Sam's, model 20070311.

Took it home, set it up (very easy assembly), and started seasoning it..

As I live in a "no-swine-zone," no butt or shoulder for me....so while I was at Sam's I picked up a 11.5lb packer (fat cap down here)...

All rubbed up, wrapped, and going into fridge until tomorrow night. Estimating 16hrs, planning for 20-24 including rest time. Bowl contains the fat I trimmed off.

.....to be continued.

jrod62 · Mar 2, 2012

Good way to break in the new smoker ,with a brisket.
:grilling_smilie:

ghostred7 · Mar 2, 2012

Trial by fi....electricity

jrod62 said:
Good way to break in the new smoker ,with a brisket.

SmokinAl · Mar 2, 2012

Great start!

ghostred7 · Mar 2, 2012

And of course!!! Since I decided I wanted the MES over the XL...it's gonna rain today and tomorrow. Time to get one of those "insta-up" canopy things.....that or set it in the garage w/ a fan blowing the smoke outside.

terry colwell · Mar 2, 2012

GhostRed7 said:
I broke down and bought a MES40 at Sam's, model 20070311.

Took it home, set it up (very easy assembly), and started seasoning it..

As I live in a "no-swine-zone, no butt or shoulder for me....so while I was at Sam's I picked up a 11.5lb packer (fat cap down here)..

"No swine zone"" what wicked place is this?? I am gonna have nightmares now thinking of this ....

Click to expand...

.

All rubbed up, wrapped, and going into fridge until tomorrow night. Estimating 16hrs, planning for 20-24 including rest time. Bowl contains the fat I trimmed off.

.....to be continued.

smokinhusker · Mar 2, 2012

Looks like a good way to start! I have an MES 40 and I love it.

ghostred7 · Mar 2, 2012

It's called home for me....as in we don't eat pork (I do, but wife doesn't for religious reason = no pork in the house LOL).

Terry Colwell said:
"No swine zone"" what wicked place is this?? I am gonna have nightmares now thinking of this ....

And yes....wicked indeed

ghostred7 · Mar 3, 2012

Right around the 15hr mark and still chuggin' along. It hit 160* about 2-3hrs ago which is when I wrapped it. It's at 178* right now. My cooler is nasty....so I'm going to & get a new cooler and some "Q-only" towels. When it hits 190*, i'll pull the point off, wrap the flat to rest and proceed with some burnt ends. Q-view comin soon!

papagrizz · Mar 3, 2012

GhostRed7 said:
Right around the 15hr mark and still chuggin' along. It hit 160* about 2-3hrs ago which is when I wrapped it. It's at 178* right now. My cooler is nasty....so I'm going to & get a new cooler and some "Q-only" towels. When it hits 190*, i'll pull the point off, wrap the flat to rest and proceed with some burnt ends. Q-view comin soon!

ghostred7 · Mar 3, 2012

187*, almost time to pull, separate point, and prep some ends

ghostred7 · Mar 5, 2012

Now w/ the views...

Preppin AMNPS:

Smokin' away...

Main (flat) resting....prepped up some burnt ends..

Done (and already partially consumed):

All in all....I'd say that the MES40 1st run was a success. Smoke was VERY even. Didn't matter when I used the AMNPS solo or adding chips part of the time. In both cases, everything ran, survived tornado warnings/storms, etc. I set it in the garage with a fan behind it blowing it out. We were definitely happy (as was our friends) with how it came out.

Total time in smoker: 16-17hrs.
Rest time: about 6hrs since we had some errands to run before my friends' house

Set the MES40 at an "odd" number of 223*. Reason I did this is I noticed the swing each direction during heating/cooling cycles (with no meat or water) during seasoning. Given 4* each direction I observed, this placed my range from 219*-227*

smokinhusker · Mar 5, 2012

Now that's some mighty fine looking brisket and burnt ends. So glad you all survived the tornado warnings that were all over the place. I yet to do a brisket...little intimidated!

ghostred7 · Mar 5, 2012

Thanks!!! Don't be intimidated, especially w/ one of the MESs. Keep water/sand/lava rocks in the pan and smoke rollin' and you'd be fine. The burnt ends were phenomenal.

Admittedly, I was a little put off at first by the lack of smoke ring (which I knew would be the case being electric and all)...but that definitely didn't stop smoke from penetrating.....had plenty. AMNPS pwns!

smokinhusker · Mar 5, 2012

Thanks for the encouragement and I'm going to be doing one in the next week. Hey if it doesn't work out right...try again!

scarbelly · Mar 5, 2012

Looks mighty tasty- congrats on your first smoke

redclaymud · Mar 6, 2012

I'm totally impressed. Great job on your first smoke with a new smoker.

I see they relocated the interior light to a more functional position. Some may argue the point but I think it's great to be able to look in without opening the door. The main thing is it gives us reason not to open the door. Happy smoking.

ghostred7 · Mar 9, 2012

Thx guys. FWIW....wasn't my 1st smoke...apologies if that was misleading.....just 1st smoke on new smoker.

Part of what you're seeing in that top pic is cellphone camera flash. The light is just inside the door on the upper left. Not sure if this is the "old" position or not. Brisket is the only thing I've seen to have a consistency on. Will be trying some chicken soon.

sam3 · Mar 9, 2012

Looks excellent!

sound1 · Mar 9, 2012

Looks great, I agree, not having a smoke ring is a little strange, but the ease of use KINDA makes up for it.

MES40 1st Smoke (Q-view incoming)

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