Hi all,
Brand new to using a smoker. Got a Masterbuilt MES430G from BassPro online.
I'm using it for the 3rd time today.
First attempt was chicken with applewood. It was awful. Tasted like I ate the ashes from a campfire.
I am pretty sure my mistakes were that I added too much wood and had the top vents completely closed the whole time.
Second attempt was a chuck flat roast with Maplewood. Much much better. I really loved the smell and taste!
I noticed a problem though. Every time I added wood chips, the smoker temp would rise from 225 to 270 or higher for about 5-10 min then settle back down.
The chips were catching fire which I don't think they should be.
I was adding 2-3 handfuls of chips every hour or so.
This model has the side load trap door for loading wood chips that get placed directly on a small smoke burner. You can set different custom smoke levels from 1 to 5 but I have only used level 1.
So, today I started up the smoker and let it warm up to 225.
Then I turned on the smoke burner and added a few handfuls of chips and waited about 10 min.
Then I opened the door, put the meat in and suddenly the wood chips caught fire and were burning like crazy. Flames shooting out of the smoke box inside the smoker..
Too much oxygen.
Too many chips?
Once I closed the door, it settled down after a few min.
What should I have done differently?
Should I let the smoke element heat up for a while before adding chips?
Should I put the food in before adding chips so I don't let so much oxygen i?
Now that's its cooking, I'm only adding a small handful of chips every 30-45 min and it doesn't seem to be flaring up. Maybe thats the trick?
Anyone got tips for the MES 430?
Thanks!
Brand new to using a smoker. Got a Masterbuilt MES430G from BassPro online.
I'm using it for the 3rd time today.
First attempt was chicken with applewood. It was awful. Tasted like I ate the ashes from a campfire.
I am pretty sure my mistakes were that I added too much wood and had the top vents completely closed the whole time.
Second attempt was a chuck flat roast with Maplewood. Much much better. I really loved the smell and taste!
I noticed a problem though. Every time I added wood chips, the smoker temp would rise from 225 to 270 or higher for about 5-10 min then settle back down.
The chips were catching fire which I don't think they should be.
I was adding 2-3 handfuls of chips every hour or so.
This model has the side load trap door for loading wood chips that get placed directly on a small smoke burner. You can set different custom smoke levels from 1 to 5 but I have only used level 1.
So, today I started up the smoker and let it warm up to 225.
Then I turned on the smoke burner and added a few handfuls of chips and waited about 10 min.
Then I opened the door, put the meat in and suddenly the wood chips caught fire and were burning like crazy. Flames shooting out of the smoke box inside the smoker..
Too much oxygen.
Too many chips?
Once I closed the door, it settled down after a few min.
What should I have done differently?
Should I let the smoke element heat up for a while before adding chips?
Should I put the food in before adding chips so I don't let so much oxygen i?
Now that's its cooking, I'm only adding a small handful of chips every 30-45 min and it doesn't seem to be flaring up. Maybe thats the trick?
Anyone got tips for the MES 430?
Thanks!