Another "I am buying my first smoker and have some questions" thread, horray!

[boneenterprise]

Hello All!

Long time off again and on again reader, first time posting since I recently registered, and after alot of research I think I have finally made the decision to buy a MES 40" from Sams Club this weekend (I will refrence this as SC from now on), sorry for the wall of text!

Q1) I see alot of people recommending to buy the extended warranty when you pick one up from SC, so my first question is for those of you that have Sams Club Memberships (I will refrence this as SCM from now on).

I myself do not have a SCM but have a family member that does, so I was looking around on the SC site to verify prices before we go there and saw that you can get a 12mo additional warranty if you have a SCM. To verify stock of the MES 40" I called up the SC we will be going to and asked them if they had any MES 40"s on, hand which they do.

During that time I also asked about the "free" 12mo warranty extension addon you get if you purchase a extended warranty, out of the conversation I got that to get that extra 12mo extension that you have to be an "Advantage Plus" member and not an "Advantage" member.

Those of you that are hold SCM card is it the Advantage Plus card or Advantage card, and if you have the Advantage card did they give you the extra 12mo warranty when you purchased your initial one?

Trying to figure out if the person was just blowing smoke up my butt or if this was a true statment, as their website says no matter what card you get the extra period.

*EDIT* Found the answer to this, you do indeed HAVE to be a Advantage Plus member in order to qualify for the "free" 12mo of extra warranty on top of the one you buy, which in itself is not a bad deal if you frequent the store enough to take advantage of a plus card, otherwise not so much a good idea to get one just for that perk. *EDIT*

Q2) Seasoning / Initial Burn-in.

I know it is best to season the smoker before you start using it by wiping down the inside with water and spraying PAM on the inside, but on the burn-in process are you supposed to burn the unit dry (no wood chips/no water in pan) or is it best to put some chips in there and water, and let it go that way for an hour or so?

Q3) How LOW of a temp can you run on a MES?

I plan on doing cheese now and then, and see alot of people tout the AMNS product for doing low temp smokes, should I plan on investing on one if I plan on doing low temp smokes, or can the MES do it on its own?

Q4) Extra accesories / mods

Are there any recommended mods I should do straight away?

The main one that intrests me are the Internet PID Monitoring Mod and the Smoke Daddy Mod (but guess that would null out my Q3), guess all this is just personal prefrence on what I want to do however.

I am sure I will have more questions whenever I get the smoker home and start messing with it some but for now here they are, all the info I have been reading up on so far has helped greatly, this site seems to be one of the better ones out there for an all encompasing source on all things smoke releated.

Thanks for reading!

 

[Bearcarver]

I'll help as much as I can---in RED
 

Hello All!

Long time off again and on again reader, first time posting since I recently registered, and after alot of research I think I have finally made the decision to buy a MES 40" from Sams Club this weekend (I will refrence this as SC from now on), sorry for the wall of text!

Q1) I see alot of people recommending to buy the extended warranty when you pick one up from SC, so my first question is for those of you that have Sams Club Memberships (I will refrence this as SCM from now on).

I myself do not have a SCM but have a family member that does, so I was looking around on the SC site to verify prices before we go there and saw that you can get a 12mo additional warranty if you have a SCM. To verify stock of the MES 40" I called up the SC we will be going to and asked them if they had any MES 40"s on, hand which they do.

During that time I also asked about the "free" 12mo warranty extension addon you get if you purchase a extended warranty, out of the conversation I got that to get that extra 12mo extension that you have to be an "Advantage Plus" member and not an "Advantage" member.

Those of you that are hold SCM card is it the Advantage Plus card or Advantage card, and if you have the Advantage card did they give you the extra 12mo warranty when you purchased your initial one?

Trying to figure out if the person was just blowing smoke up my butt or if this was a true statment, as their website says no matter what card you get the extra period. I got mine at Cabela's.

Q2) Seasoning / Initial Burn-in.

I know it is best to season the smoker before you start using it by wiping down the inside with water and spraying PAM on the inside, but on the burn-in process are you supposed to burn the unit dry (no wood chips/no water in pan) or is it best to put some chips in there and water, and let it go that way for an hour or so? Your book will tell you how, but I just sprayed a little Pam---(No water). Then crank it all the way up for 3 hours. put chips in the last hour. No water in the pan, but you are always supposed to have the pan in when using MES smokers. Cover water pan & bottom drip pan with foil.

Q3) How LOW of a temp can you run on a MES?

I plan on doing cheese now and then, and see alot of people tout the AMNS product for doing low temp smokes, should I plan on investing on one if I plan on doing low temp smokes, or can the MES do it on its own? You can set an MES as low as 100˚, but if you want to smoke cheese, plan on getting an AMNS. No headaches after that.

Q4) Extra accesories / mods

Are there any recommended mods I should do straight away?

The main one that intrests me are the Internet PID Monitoring Mod and the Smoke Daddy Mod (but guess that would null out my Q3), guess all this is just personal prefrence on what I want to do however. Personal preference. You can read who likes what all over this forum. I have a Smoke Daddy for a long time. I got it before any of my AMNS. IMHO my Big Kahuna stinks. I love my little AMNS treasures.

I am sure I will have more questions whenever I get the smoker home and start messing with it some but for now here they are, all the info I have been reading up on so far has helped greatly, this site seems to be one of the better ones out there for an all encompasing source on all things smoke releated.

Thanks for reading!

Bear

 

[boneenterprise]

Thank you for that input sounds like a AMNS is going to be on its way soon to me then, is one size prefered over the other by people here? 6x6 vs 6x8?

Also I am sure it has been said before but it should have already if not (going by your sig), thank you for your service and dedication to our country!

 

[hkeiner]

Thank you for that input sounds like a AMNS is going to be on its way soon to me then, is one size prefered over the other by people here? 6x6 vs 6x8?

 I got the 6x8  and am glad I did. For hot smoking it is usually necessary to keep the middle row empty, so the extra size compensates for this and there is plenty of room for the 6x8 an a MES40 anyway. Just my opinion.

 

[SmokinAl]

I think Bear has given you good advice. The only thing I know about the warranty is it's a good deal, almost everyone who has purchased a MES at Sam's has bought the warranty, except me. I have had mine for over 2 years & it hasn't given me one bit of trouble. Still I would have purchased the warranty if I had known about it at the time of purchase.

 

[eman]

I think Bear has given you good advice. The only thing I know about the warranty is it's a good deal, almost everyone who has purchased a MES at Sam's has bought the warranty, except me. I have had mine for over 2 years & it hasn't given me one bit of trouble. Still I would have purchased the warranty if I had known about it at the time of purchase.

Same here ,i had my MES 40 for over 2 years before it gave me any problems. Had to do the rewire to it and it's back chugging along. 3 years old now . I didn't know about the warrenty as the sams here had not started stocking MES yet. i was able to talk the store mgr. into getting me one shipped to the local store.  For the price i will buy the warrenty for my next MES. I am a plus member so i'm glad you said something about the extra year.
 

 

[boneenterprise]

Alright just got off the phone with Sams Club Corporate (as noone else at the store knew the answer, and their website is not clear either) you DO have to be a Advantage Plus member in order to qualify for the extra 12mo warranty extension on warranty plans that you buy.

So for someone that goes there enough to take advantage of the "Plus" based membership that is a great deal, for someone like me that would have to BUY a plus membership just for that (that is if my relative does not have a plus membership) it would not be as good of a deal, as I would not really go to the store that much.

So when you do buy your next MES eman, that would work out great for you. =)

What kind of electrical issues do these things _eventually_ have, Just the circuits burning up or what?

 

[eman]

Mine is one of the older models and they had a problem with the connection burning off at the heating element.

 i have not heard of this problem w/ the new models.

 

[Bearcarver]

Thank you for that input sounds like a AMNS is going to be on its way soon to me then, is one size prefered over the other by people here? 6x6 vs 6x8?

Also I am sure it has been said before but it should have already if not (going by your sig), thank you for your service and dedication to our country!

Thank you very much!

As for the sizes---I think the 6 X 8 is $5 more than the 6 X 6, making the 6 X 8 a much better deal.

6 X 6 = 36 square inches.

6 X 8 = 48 square inches.

That's 33 % more burn time, for about 16% more Mulla.

Bear

 

[boneenterprise]

Already got w/Todd and got one on its way to me, this will be great for my cheese smokes when I get ready to do them.

 

[boneenterprise]

Well first smoke did not go so bad, definatly got some things to learn with this guy but did fairly well on its first smoke (even with me rushing it as I did not relize how late it was getting to be), I was also suprised at how big this thing is!

Here are two quick pictures of the first smoke I took with my cell phone, in my garage at night so sorry for the low quality.

Stuffed bell peppers, stuffed roma tomatoes, and some cheese stuffed sausages I found while at SC (at work right now so forget what they were exactly).

Here is the plate I brought them back into the house on, just before everyone started taking them away from me.

Everything was tasty, though the peppers could have gone longer, they were not as soft as I wanted but as mentioned was running out of time.

Now to get me some good rub receipes and start throwing down on some various beef/pork smokes.

Thanks for everyone input, it for certian eased my doubts I had about this purchase, and I think I helped some others in the store as I kept getting asked various questions from people seeing me pushing my cart around with a big the fuck ass box that housed this smoker.

I am hooked more so than I thought I would be, and already thinking what I want to put in it tonight when I get home, heh.