Questions from a first time smoker and owner of MES 30"
- Thread starter smokindontcb77
- Start date
-
Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
The beauty of the MES 30 is that you can virtually set it up anywhere. I have mine covered with a Masterbuilt cover and bungee corded to small hand truck when stored in my garage. After I wheel it out and take it off the hand truck I place it on top of an old but sturdy kid's 4-legged play table (my wife runs a home daycare out of our house). The table puts the smoker high enough so I don't have to bend down to use it. It also catches any grease which might drip out of the smoker when moving the meat around (there's rarely any grease in the rear drip tray). I don't put any mats or anything under my smoker.
The MES stands on four feet which prevent the bottom from touching any table surface. I've never touched the bottom while doing a smoke to determine how hot it gets. I know the top and sides don't get that hot at all. But then when you're smoking your cooking at relatively low temps anyway. I try to keep my cooking temp below 250 degrees.
Oh man, Beefy! That was quick. My next smoke will be a pork shoulder (as my local Safeway refers to them) and I can only hope mine turns out as good as yours did. Can you tell me how you cooked it? Was it in this aluminum baking pan? What kind of rub did you use? Did you mop, baste, or finish with some BBQ sauce? What temp did you cook at? What kind of wood chips or pellets? You said you cooked it overnight using propane. Do you have a dual fuel smoker and if so, what was your primary heat source?Here are some pics daRicksta
beefy bill
Meat Mopper
The shoulder comes in 2 parts if you want, the picnic and Boston butt. The picnic still has skin on it and doesn't come out as good as the butt in my opinion.i cooked them on the grates for the first 7 hours with no pan underneath, as my smoker only has 2 racks. It really doesn't start to drip until after 160 170 internal temp. Anyway.i used a rub called porky dix, it's less sugary than other pork rubs.i sprayed with a mix of 16 oz. Of apple juice mixed with 2 Tablespoons worcestershire sauce every hour when I changed chips.i had some left, I could a cut that mix in half. Went through a bag of cherry wood chips. I used about a half tank of propane(15 lb. Bottle) ran it at 230-240 the whole time. Pulled them out after 7 hours, internal temp was 158.i mixed in a small amount of a Carolina style sauce when it was pulled apart. I took them out of the smoker at 200 deg. Internal temp.took about 14 hrs
I get confused over these pork shoulder terms. As I think I just found out, the picnic is the arm shoulder and the Boston butt is the blade shoulder. I guess that's why the picnic is frequently sold as a picnic ham and the blade shoulder is sold as blade shoulder pork roast (as Safeway calls it; Fred Meyer, a local store, calls it Boston butt).
Thanks for all the info. I want to pore over all this later and see how I can tweak it for my own purposes. Your photos show that you know what you're doing.
beefy bill
Meat Mopper
Thanks! I didn't get good till I joined this forum. There is a post by bearcarver Called Boston butt step by step on this site. Very informative as well..good luck!
kentuckycal
Smoke Blower
I keep my MES in the basement (my house is a walkout ranch) and when I want to use it I carry it outside and put it on the patio directly on the ground.
trickyputt
Meat Mopper
Good Idea! The last time I was dumb enough to run a smoker all night earned me a scorpion sting on my longest toe. I decided no more.
It's not stupid so it's got to be not yet haha. Just being silly. If you make it sturdy and large enough I imagine you'd be fine. It's not like it's going to catch on fire unless you're not careful. It will deteriorate over the years if left outside. What wood(s) do you plan to use if you build it? Maybe use a high pressure laminate on the top? I'm not a carpenter but it might work.
Also, Masterbuilt sells a metal wheeled cart designed for the MES 30 & 40.
Also, Masterbuilt sells a metal wheeled cart designed for the MES 30 & 40.
Last edited:
trickyputt
Meat Mopper
Use durarock tile underlayerment? Or Hardiboard? Waterproof and heatproof for framing thats underneath it.
jted
Smoking Fanatic
Not to try to change your mind from a nice project but look around the forum for metal carts you might find something you like here is one for about the same amount as materials. Jted
http://www.samsclub.com/sams/utilit...rch_page.rr1&campaign=rr&sn=SolrSearchToView&
http://www.samsclub.com/sams/utilit...rch_page.rr1&campaign=rr&sn=SolrSearchToView&
Last edited:
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.
Similar threads
Hot Threads
-
Our Second piece of Heaven, Little piece on the Atlantic Ocean
- Started by DRKsmoking
- Replies: 47
- General Discussion
-
Getting to the bottom of what happens to cure in smoked sausage
- Started by hog warden
- Replies: 31
- Food Safety
-
Non fat dried milk
- Started by hog warden
- Replies: 31
- Sausage
-
8 second ride!
- Started by Buckeyedude
- Replies: 26
- Flat Top Griddles and Discada
