I just picked up a MES 30 on sale at Lowes for $169 and best I can tell, it's a 2.5 gen. Seasoned it and my first try with a whole chicken is just wrapping up now so we'll see how it goes. I have noticed that in my 3 hour smoke I've had to load up wood chips like once per hour. This just isn't going to work for when I wake up at 3am to throw on a pork butt. I bought the damn thing so I can go back to sleep (unlike my UDS)!
1. So my two options are to put it a. on the drip pan on the left side or b. on the bottom rack on the left side?
1. If a. Just put it on top of the drip pan? There aren't any rails for it to sit on to the left of the heating element. Does it need to be elevated at all somehow (like on a drying rack)?
2. Is it too hot in a 2.5 gen such that it'll prematurely light the row closest to the element?
3. If b. How do I prevent juices from falling on it (if it's below the water pan, that would block drips I'd imagine)? Anyone have pictures of a fix?
4. When I've got all that sorted out, do I remove the chip tray and the chip loader to increase air flow?
Thanks! I'm hoping to get all this working well without a mailbox mod, at least for now.
[edit] Here's what the inside looks like with a bonus pic of her maiden voyage, a cherrywood-smoked whole chicken. 3 hours at 250 to 165 (my electric probe read 270 most of the time while the smoker was set to 250, but that's ok):
1. So my two options are to put it a. on the drip pan on the left side or b. on the bottom rack on the left side?
1. If a. Just put it on top of the drip pan? There aren't any rails for it to sit on to the left of the heating element. Does it need to be elevated at all somehow (like on a drying rack)?
2. Is it too hot in a 2.5 gen such that it'll prematurely light the row closest to the element?
3. If b. How do I prevent juices from falling on it (if it's below the water pan, that would block drips I'd imagine)? Anyone have pictures of a fix?
4. When I've got all that sorted out, do I remove the chip tray and the chip loader to increase air flow?
Thanks! I'm hoping to get all this working well without a mailbox mod, at least for now.
[edit] Here's what the inside looks like with a bonus pic of her maiden voyage, a cherrywood-smoked whole chicken. 3 hours at 250 to 165 (my electric probe read 270 most of the time while the smoker was set to 250, but that's ok):
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