Blow the door off my smoker.

[snot00011]

I just heard a big boom and ran outside and found the door on my smoker had blow off. Any ideas?

 

[chilerelleno]

KABLAM! Damn... Yeah, if it's gas and the burner goes out gas can accumulate and then explosively ignite from a live ember in the wood used for smoke.

 

[snot00011]

It's an electric smoker. Was prepping to smoke some Chex mix.

 

[snot00011]

Chex mix with Cherry, pecan, and hickory mix.

 

[gmc2003]

Possibly to many wood chips. Maybe an extreme example in your case.

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/mes-explosion.87591/

Chris

 

[snot00011]

Thanks, I think that might had been the problem. I have had it pop open before just never door blow off. Good news is I was about fix the door back on hinges and I'm smoking again.

 

[gmc2003]

Good to hear. Just make sure your not standing in front of the smoker until your sure it's completely fixed. We have plenty of one and done members join up - we just need a real one and done. Good luck and happy smoking.

Chris

 

[desertlites]

i like smoked chex mix, think i'll put it on my list. sorry bout your smoker

 

[tropics]

MES Strikes again be glad no one was in front of it
Richie

 

[snot00011]

If I'm looking for a replacement what should I get?

 

[daveomak]

I have an old MES30 and had that happen.... I used a step drill and drilled out the 3 holes in the end of the chip loader tube to provide more air and increase air flow into the smoker... I was using chips also... I reduced my chip load to 1/4 cup at a time... had to reload every 1/2 hour to 45 minutes but I never had another blow out...
MB didn't have the air resupply engineered too well... Hell, they probably never tried out the smoker... Just built it on a wing and a prayer...

 

[daveomak]

Look at the Sausage Maker's
30 lb. Digital Country Style Smoker

 

[gmc2003]

If I'm looking for a replacement what should I get?

Replacement smoker? Since I'm a Weberholic I know what I'd suggest. Don't give up on the electric boogaloo just yet maybe someone like tallbm can help you out with fixing it.

Chris

 

[chopsaw]

Fire up the big chief ! Were the original chip loaders full capacity ? You could load the full length of the loader ? Mine has a block off so only half can be loaded at a time . I thought I read something about that .

I dodged that bullet one time . Lucky the pressure blew past the door gasket .

 

[chilerelleno]

I like the convenience of my gas grill/smoker as listed in my Sig line.

 

[thebarbequeen]

If I'm looking for a replacement what should I get?

WOW! I haven't seen that before! If you stick with electric, I use a Cookshack. It's amazing but they are pricey!! If you are very patient and diligent occasionally one pops up on Craigslist. I would definitely consider a Traeger, they put out consistently good smokes.

 

[snot00011]

I have been eyeing a Traeger.

 

[tallbm]

If I'm looking for a replacement what should I get?

Replacement smoker? Since I'm a Weberholic I know what I'd suggest. Don't give up on the electric boogaloo just yet maybe someone like tallbm can help you out with fixing it.

Chris

Wow I'm glad everything turned out alright for you!
If your current smoker still works without any structural issues then I would keep with it and suggest switching to a mailbox mod and an AMNPS so you get TBS and no need to use wood chips and no overloading it.

Also in the Dallas area I have run across MES 40 units for sale on Craiglist for $40-50. To me those are simple rewire candidates to use with a PID controller... and the AMNPS again hahaha. You would be hard pressed to find a better performing electric smoker than a rewired MES40 with a PID controller! The cost is reasonable too when you pay $40-50 for an MES40 that someone is unloading and it does not matter if the electronics work or not since you will bypass all that anyhow :)

Now if I was going to buy brand new and didn't worry much about the money I would get the Smokin-IT 3D. It has a PID controller and looks rock solid! The only thing I personally would need to do with it is figure out how to attach a mailbox mod with the AMNPS to it :)

Just some food for thought.