Hey Guys,
I am looking for some feedback on those of you who have an electric smoker or pellet grill. Specifically I would love feedback from those who have had theirs a while, and have been smoking for a while. (no offense to newbies - just looking for something tried and true, and 2 weeks of use does not really count as tried and true).
Let me say that I have owned a MES 30" Gen 1 for several years, and could not have been happier with it. It is an absolute tank, and has performed flawlessly! The only problem is that its too small when i have a lot of smoking to do. SO.....naturally i "upgraded" to the MES 40" Bluetooth model from Sam's a couple months ago. I will tell you that i had very high hopes based on my MES 30. I will also tell you that i am VERY disappointed with the lack of any sort of performance from the 40" BT versions.
The smoker would not come up to temp (240) for many hours...like 5-6 hours, then had runaway temps north of 290.....I had a grease fire inside it, etc. etc!
I had a very large smoke i was doing and had to have one, so I went to Sam's and got another one. Same problem! I took one back to Sams and called Masterbuilt and they sent me a new control panel unit and a new element for the other one, but said they thought it was the controller. I installed the control panel into the smoker, and it jumped right up to temp (smoker empty). Today i filled it back up with butts and guess what.....taking a few hours again to get to 240......yikes. I think i am done with this MES 40 BT. I WANTED this thing to be like my MES 30, and especially since i love the large spacious interior of that new smoker. I guess it just isn't meant to be.
So, now i think i will be finding another smoker. I want one with some size to it, like the MES40. I would like to stay under $600, but might could go slightly higher if need be.
I am considering a Traeger, but that would be north of my ideal budget for sure. I cant afford a Yoeder...or I should say my wife would not tolerate the price tag of a Yoeder........
So for those of you who have an electric smoker or pellet grill, which one do you have, and why do you like it?
How much food does it hold (I smoke more butts than anything else)?
Thanks for all input!
SM
I am looking for some feedback on those of you who have an electric smoker or pellet grill. Specifically I would love feedback from those who have had theirs a while, and have been smoking for a while. (no offense to newbies - just looking for something tried and true, and 2 weeks of use does not really count as tried and true).
Let me say that I have owned a MES 30" Gen 1 for several years, and could not have been happier with it. It is an absolute tank, and has performed flawlessly! The only problem is that its too small when i have a lot of smoking to do. SO.....naturally i "upgraded" to the MES 40" Bluetooth model from Sam's a couple months ago. I will tell you that i had very high hopes based on my MES 30. I will also tell you that i am VERY disappointed with the lack of any sort of performance from the 40" BT versions.
The smoker would not come up to temp (240) for many hours...like 5-6 hours, then had runaway temps north of 290.....I had a grease fire inside it, etc. etc!
I had a very large smoke i was doing and had to have one, so I went to Sam's and got another one. Same problem! I took one back to Sams and called Masterbuilt and they sent me a new control panel unit and a new element for the other one, but said they thought it was the controller. I installed the control panel into the smoker, and it jumped right up to temp (smoker empty). Today i filled it back up with butts and guess what.....taking a few hours again to get to 240......yikes. I think i am done with this MES 40 BT. I WANTED this thing to be like my MES 30, and especially since i love the large spacious interior of that new smoker. I guess it just isn't meant to be.
So, now i think i will be finding another smoker. I want one with some size to it, like the MES40. I would like to stay under $600, but might could go slightly higher if need be.
I am considering a Traeger, but that would be north of my ideal budget for sure. I cant afford a Yoeder...or I should say my wife would not tolerate the price tag of a Yoeder........
So for those of you who have an electric smoker or pellet grill, which one do you have, and why do you like it?
How much food does it hold (I smoke more butts than anything else)?
Thanks for all input!
SM