First smoke this weekend questions

[vsgill]

I am planning on doing a pork loin in my MES340G this weekend. Should I preheat it before I put the loin in and also if I do preheat it should I add wood chips while it is preheating or wait until I add the loin to add the wood chips? Thanks in advance for any replies!

 

[Winterrider]

Preheat fully and then add loin. Start your chips at that time. Do not rely solely on the MES thermostat.
This smoker has been preseason ?

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

Preheat with chips and then add the loin when the MES reaches setpoint and the smoke mellows to out to thin blue smoke. Billowy clouds of white smoke are not good. Let the smoker settle down. Be advised, almost all MES users ditch the chip loader and use the AMNPS. Keep that in mind for future smokes. Also, both a separate meat probe and a probe for the smoker are highly recommended (Maverick or ThermoPro) are good ones. Do not go by the built in probe or temp setpoint. If you don't have those yet, then use an instant read meat probe 1/2 way to 3/4's way throough your cook to verify internal meat temp. You can pull the loin at 140 degrees, tent with foil and let it carry to 145 degrees. Have you preseasoned your smoker yet?

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

Preheat fully and then add loin. Start your chips at that time. Do not rely solely on the MES thermostat.
This smoker has been preseason ?

Lol. You beat me to it. 1+

 

[SonnyE]

You wouldn't put a cake in a cold oven, right?

And have you Pre-seasoned your smoker yet? :confused::rolleyes:o_O

I pre-seasoned my Smoker a bunch of times. Mostly just to watch it work, smell the smoke, check the temperature.

 

[vsgill]

I have pre-seasoned the smoker and have bought a TP-20 to use to monitor the meat and smoker temperature. Plan on smoking at 225 for however long it takes to get the loin to 145-150 IT that sound right? Thanks again!

 

[Winterrider]

My notes from last: Apple stuffed Pork Loin ( Bearcarver )
MES 40
10°IT
2 -2.6#
230° IT 251° - 3 hrs (3rd rack)
Split/ pie filling/ tie

 

[zwiller]

I have pre-seasoned the smoker and have bought a TP-20 to use to monitor the meat and smoker temperature. Plan on smoking at 225 for however long it takes to get the loin to 145-150 IT that sound right? Thanks again!

Yes; WRT to preheating, I used to OCD about it but not anymore. I fire it up, light my AMNPS, and go prep the meat/rub/whatever. Put the meat in and then the tray. Temps are pretty dang close by that time. Not really going to make a big difference either way. One of the best things I learned here was to never put wet meat in the smoker. Everything gets a uncovered rest in fridge overnight. If short on time, place a fan on it for like 15-20m or do an hour of no smoke at 130F.
Technical term for this is pellicle.

RE: AMNPS https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/chips-vs-pellets-thin-blue-smoke-tbs-and-cheese.281970/

 

[gmc2003]

I have pre-seasoned the smoker and have bought a TP-20 to use to monitor the meat and smoker temperature. Plan on smoking at 225 for however long it takes to get the loin to 145-150 IT that sound right? Thanks again!

I wouldn't go to 150* degrees - you may wind up with a dry loin. Since your smoking at 225* I'd pull it at 143ish and let it rest for a few minutes before slicing. Carryover cooking won't be much at 225*, but you should see at least a 2 degree rise in meat temp. That will bring you to 145* which is good for loin.

Chris

 

[Wrxstig]

New to electric smoking as well... I unfortunately didn’t see the note about pre seasoning the smoker before I started 2 racks of ribs... will I be okay or are these ribs gonna have to get tossed out?

 

[zwiller]

Might be better to be safe than sorry. When I seasoned mine, I ran my AMNPS too and honestly did not smell any chemicals or the like. When I seasoned my gasser it definitely gave off some bad smelling stuff. Did you clean everything? Including the smoker? If you cleaned well, you might be OK. Curious what others think.

 

[vsgill]

All. Finished product. Maybe just a bit heavy on the smoke but all an all I think turned out great. Took out at 143 IT and let rest under foil for 10-15 minutes. Definitely still very moist.

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

All. Finished product. Maybe just a bit heavy on the smoke but all an all I think turned out great. Took out at 143 IT and let rest under foil for 10-15 minutes. Definitely still very moist.

Outstanding!

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

New to electric smoking as well... I unfortunately didn’t see the note about pre seasoning the smoker before I started 2 racks of ribs... will I be okay or are these ribs gonna have to get tossed out?

As long as you washed the grates beforehand then you should be okay. Yeah, the idea behind a preseason is twofold. First is to burn off any manufacturing residues. Second is to laydown the initial smoke patina inside the smoker.

I'm guessing you have finished cooking the ribs. How did they taste?

 

[Wrxstig]

As long as you washed the grates beforehand then you should be okay. Yeah, the idea behind a preseason is twofold. First is to burn off any manufacturing residues. Second is to laydown the initial smoke patina inside the smoker.

I'm guessing you have finished cooking the ribs. How did they taste?

Thanks for the reply. Finished the ribs and ate 4-5 of them. Tasted damn good but I think I let everything I read about get to my head. Haven’t tossed them yet. I appreciate your insight and information.