educate me

[cal1956]

i am thinking HARD about buying a small electric smoke but before i do , i have some questions so
educate me !! i know that on the electrics there is a heating element beneath the wood/blocks/chips dust
so what determines when that heating element cycles on and off ? is it the cooking chamber temp ? the wood temp ?
OR does it just stay on the entire cook ? i have no intentions of buying one that uses a meat probe to control the temp

 

[bauchjw]

I have the MES and it just stays on the entire time. Not sure If it’s safe, but for years I’d sometimes just put a hunk of wood on the element without a tray. I found it worked well for the 40, but when I downsized to the 20 it made dirty smoke that hung out too long. I use a MES smoke machine now and run the smoke through a drainage pipe into the MES20. That gives me clean smoke and is good for cold smoking too.

 

[cal1956]

thats interesting indeed !! so no temp control at all

 

[1MoreFord]

It depends on the cooker. Some have analog controllers and others have PID controllers.

AFAIK none control the on/off cycle by the meat temp and all that get hot enough to cycle control like an oven.

 

[cal1956]

AFAIK ? man you folks gotta talk english

 

[PolishDeli]

In MES's, the heating element turns on/of to maintain a preset chamber temperature.
When the element turns on, it burns the wood too. When the element turns off, the wood should have a self-sustaining burn. In principle anyway.

Works for cook temps 200°F+, but not too well for lower cook temps.

It's much better to separate the burn from the chamber temp regulation though. I use a masterbuilt slow smoker attachment to do this. Pellet trays and tubes also work.

 

[fxsales1959]

i am thinking HARD about buying a small electric smoke but before i do , i have some questions so
educate me !! i know that on the electrics there is a heating element beneath the wood/blocks/chips dust
so what determines when that heating element cycles on and off ? is it the cooking chamber temp ? the wood temp ?
OR does it just stay on the entire cook ? i have no intentions of buying one that uses a meat probe to control the temp

the MES30 (masterbuit) has an eletronic control. there is a small "thingy" not a probe but a temp gauge ( for lack of better vernacular) the element cycles on and off according to the reading of the "thing"y located on the back wall chamber. electrics are notorious for temp swings. not enough to FU your food, but if you're ACDC it will drive you crazy. but it works.

 

[bauchjw]

thats interesting indeed !! so no temp control at all

I think P PolishDeli has it . I never really paid attention. I knew the heating element went on and off to maintain temp. Didn’t really make a connection to wood burning in a chip tray though. There is temp control and MES are good little smokers. I think the MES smoke generators are worth it as a mod though, putting it through a pipe cleans it a bit.

 

[cal1956]

i am dumbfounded that the electrics have such poor controls on both the heat and smoke , i was expecting to learn that they were super controlable .........i need to mull over what i am finding out

 

[cal1956]

so if i understand it a "smoke genorater " is a seperate piece of equipment that has an electric heating element and you fill it with sawdust and place it inside the smoker where it produces lots and lots of billowing smoke
is that an accurate description ?

 

[JckDanls 07]

Yes.. kinda sorta ... You do not place the generator inside the smoker.. You pipe the smoke in... But yes on everything else... This is why 85% of people using electrics use the Pellet tube or Tray... It uses pellets/dust with out any electric and it goes inside the chamber ...

As for an electric to keep exact temps of the preset... You would need one with a PID controller...

 

[SmokinEdge]

so if i understand it a "smoke genorater " is a seperate piece of equipment that has an electric heating element and you fill it with sawdust and place it inside the smoker where it produces lots and lots of billowing smoke
is that an accurate description ?

Not exactly, not for good smoke anyway. Something like the “mailbox” mod, where you use a mailbox outside the cooker with a smoke tray or tube inside using either pellet or dust, this is piped into the smoker and an exhaust is cut into the top of the Mes.

 

[Winterrider]

Many have hit the key points. When I first got my MES 40, I had to use an additional source for smoke ( tube) because trying to smoke jerky and fish at temps between 130 -180° the wood chips do not get enough heat to activate them to smoke. I would have to chase temps from having to turn up to 200° + for a while to burn and then turn back down as to not cook the jerky. Mailbox mod and PID ($160) made this into one of the finest smokers available. I rarely use my RT 590 because this is so versatile.

 

[bauchjw]

i am dumbfounded that the electrics have such poor controls on both the heat and smoke , i was expecting to learn that they were super controlable .........i need to mull over what i am finding out

Not really sure what your needs are, but lots of people use them here with good results. Like most things it requires some tweaking. They are relatively cheap and easy to use. You won’t get same results as an offset, but you’ll have a bit more free time. Nothings perfect.hit a few buttons, light a smoke tube or use smoke generator or use the chip tray. Expect some fluctuations and dips of heat, but nothing your meat will notice, unless you stare at a second thermometer you won’t notice either!

 

[cal1956]

so you spend $ 150.00-300.00 on a smoker THEN have to spend ANOTHER $ 150.00 - 300.00 to get it to work properly ...well i DID ask you to educate me and you sure did that !!!

 

[mr_whipple]

Spend as little as possible on the smoker. The world is full of cheap used ones just waiting for you. I got mine for a song, and spent the cash on the pid controller.

 

[cal1956]

well what this thread did was teach me not to waste my money on an electric thats for sure , think i'll just keep on using my propane one . it might be big but it gets the job done

 

[fxsales1959]

so you spend $ 150.00-300.00 on a smoker THEN have to spend ANOTHER $ 150.00 - 300.00 to get it to work properly ...well i DID ask you to educate me and you sure did that !!!

prettymuch. or you invest$$$$ in a high quality appliance that doesn't need mods. I got "a deal" on my my first offset ($450ish) then spent $300+ on gaskets, ,thermometers,clamps, heat5plate and so on. The crap you see in the big box stores will require mods unless you're not ADHD.

 

[cal1956]

i was just looking for something small so that i wouldn't have to use my big commercial smoker so much , never having owned an electric, i WAS considering buying a small one but am uttterly disappointed at what i have learned about them and what i have learned has also given me a much clearer picture of what i have seen on the forum

 

[fxsales1959]

i was just looking for something small so that i wouldn't have to use my big commercial smoker so much , never having owned an electric, i WAS considering buying a small one but am uttterly disappointed at what i have learned about them and what i have learned has also given me a much clearer picture of what i have seen on the forum

I still use my MES30 for certain cooks, like pork belly for bacon. I do have a tube if i want more smoke. I sty on top of the chip tray, adding more chips before the initial batch quits smoldering. My other ME30 hs been retired because I'mn ot ready to invest in a PID. buying a MES from masterbuilt is like buying tools from Harbor freight. I f you get a good one they at fine. Always buy the xtended warranty if buying from home stores or bas pro.