Bought a Masterbuilt MDS 230S Dual Fuel Smoker and have a few questions

[MeltedBrain]

Hey all, new to these forums but ive been smoking on an electric masterbuilt smoker for about a year until it randomly quit the bed on sunday. I smoke almost every weekend and usually have great results. Ive always just smoked at 225 on the electric smoker. Today I bought a masterbuilt mds 230 s dual fuel smoker and just seasoned it. I have a few questions though about it as im totally new to gas smoking.

It has 3 vents, two at the side/bottom where the chips are located, and one on the top in the back. My assumption is to keep these all open at all times? I only had one on the electric smoker and was advised to keep it open at all times, so I did. I honestly have no clue what the best course of action is for these vents.

l also read about putting a cast iron pan on top the chip trap for better results. I tried both ways and it seems that the skillet is definitely the way to go. I only have wood chips right now but will get some chunks, as the chips seem to burn through extremely fast. I also noticed that they catch on fire even on the cast iron skillet 50% of the time. I had that cold smoker box attachment for my electric smoker, which put out a ton of smoke, mostly because the chips would catch fire in it. I almost felt like it was too much smoke.

Like I stated before I did everything at 225 on the electric smoker as it was basically just set it and forget it. I was able to maintain 227 on the new propane smoker for quite a while today but couldnt really get any smoke(visible smoke at least, and when I opened the bottom door to look at the chips they didnt look like they were getting ready to smoke) until I got it to around 250. Does that seem normal to you? Also, how do you really maintain temperatures in this propane smoker. I am using the dial thats built into it, but it seems to kind of jump all over and really loves staying at around 310 degrees. (I was using a probe thermometer hanging on the middle rack)

The water pan! Useful to fill with water or no? I never did in the electric as the thing was so well insulated and sealed. Ive heard people say to fill the water pan with play sand? Im not sure why but figured I would ask!

And I guess last but not least, is it really ok to not smoke at 225 all the times? Is it ok to be smoking around 250 or even 300? Ive done ribs, sausage, brisket, pork butt, chicken, lots of different stuff on the electric smoker and just got accustomed to the 225.

Any tips or tricks would be greatly welcomed and im totally looking forward to being part of this forum! Thanks again!

 

[Cabo]

I use chunks in mine. Chips burn up too fast and like you said will catch fire sometimes.
Chunks last about an hour. If I don't feel like messing with it that often I use a 12" pellet tube which will put off smoke for about 3 1/2 hours.
I use water in pan. It catches all of the grease and other mess which can be poured in to an old plastic jug (after it cools down) to dispose of.
I used to only smoke at 225, but now mostly around 275. Food turns out the same and is done much sooner.
As far as the temp swings you just need to do a few cooks and figure it out. One suggestion is to not fiddle with the knob too much. After you adjust it give it 20 minutes or so to stabilize.

My 40 thermotemp holds temp rock solid. On the 30" I replaced the regulator with an adjustable one, but it still takes practice to get it to hold steady

 

[MeltedBrain]

Thanks for the response. I put a single small chunk in today on the cast iron skillet and it lasted about a half hour. Granted it was only a small one. I also tried a handful of pellets on the skillet and they lasted about a half hour too but with great results.
I think my issue is if I dont see a ton of smoke billowing out then something is wrong. The attachment for my electric smoker created a ton of thick smoke ( I think it’s because it caused the chips to ignite at the bottom)