Help Needed with MES 30 Cook Time

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EF517

Newbie
Original poster
Sep 22, 2019
6
0
Hi, I'm new here. I have a 30 inch MES, a Thermapen, and a ThermoPro TP-07 remote probe. My problem is cooking time. No matter what recipe I try, the cooking time ends up being around half what is expected. Before you ask, my remote probe is calibrated against my $100 Thermapen, and I have checked the temp of my MES with the probe vs the panel, and all items check out.

So, here's an example: Smoked 2 pork tenderloins last weekend, wherein EVERY recipe said 2 hours at 225° to reach 145°. But just like the other 2 times, I was virtually at temperature in 70 minutes, and this despite dropping smoker temp to 200° once I saw the rate of cooking.

Today, I'm doing country style pork ribs, where every recipe said 3 hours at 225° to reach 165°, and then transfer to covered pan with sauce to complete the cook to ~200°. Well, it's only been an hour, and the thickest rib is already at 149°. So it looks like I'll be at 165 in 90 minutes, not 180. I have already reduced smoker cook temp to 210°.

Ideas?
 
maybe your watch is running slow:emoji_laughing:, I really don't know but tenderloins tend to cook pretty quick,3 hours seems like a long time, did you check the temp on different levels of your smoker I have a mes 30 and some spots are hotter than others.
 
Haha, well the tenderloin was supposed to take 2 hours, not 3. I usually cook near the top. Update on the country style ribs, they have stalled at 165, so that will work out if they hang for another 40 minutes, before I sauce and cover for the last hour.
 
All my tenderloin smokes take less than an hour or so. I’m not surprised by that. But smokerjim has you covered- check all racks of the smoker for temp.
 
It just means your MES30 is running as it should currently..dont worry, that will change in time, then your cook times will be LONGER than expected like the rest of us 30 owners! :-D
 
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smoking meats is funny, we all try to follow recipes and cook times but in the end it's done when it's done, some times sooner sometimes later, when i'm asked when supper will be done I say sometime between 4 and 7.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
 
If your therms are spot on it really shouldn't matter the length of time it takes to cook,use the the recipe/cook time as a rough estimate.Pork loins/tenderloins are almost foolproof because the rest time when wrapped in foil then wrapped in a towel and then thrown into a cooler can be many hours before serving time.Pork loin has been my goto for parties for a very long time.
 
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Most important is the accuracy and placement (within the meat) of your probe for judging internal temperature.

And do check different places in your smoker.

I've told this story before on here, but:

I used to work for a chain of environmental laboratories. I designed and installed data acquisition systems for the labs, and part of those systems monitor the temperatures in various lab ovens.

After setting it all up, the lab personnel at one lab were convinced that the data acquisition system was off by up to 15 degrees C because it did not agree with the thermometers in the ovens.

I took all of the probes, bound them together, along with a fancy NIST traceable calibration thermometer probe using copper wire to thermally couple their tips, and inserted the group into one well of an aluminum block heater, with heat-resistant stuffing above and around the probes.

This assured that all of the probes would be at the same temperature for testing.

I then tested at variety of temperatures, and the data acquisition system read within a few hundredths of a degree at every point in agreement with the fancy thousand-dollar NIST traceable thermometer (certified to be within 0.015 degrees C at all points between -50 and + 250 degrees C).

So why did the data acquisition system disagree with their thermometers?

I made them a list of my "Top 10 Reasons Why your lab thermometers disagree with the data acquisition system." And I gave copies to all of the labs.

Among the reasons is:

Your thermometer is not located in the same place as the DAC system's probe.

This is a Big one.

Even in a precision lab oven, the variation in temperature from places even a few inches apart can be shocking. 15 degrees C is 27 degrees F. And we saw that sort of variation within precision lab ovens.

Imagine the variations from place to place in a backyard smoker!

The list goes on explaining more common sources of measurement error and misinterpretation of temperature measurement results.

But position within the volume being measured was high on the list. And it brings up a serious consideration for cooking in an oven.

I'll have to see if I still have a digital copy of my list. If I find it, I'll post a copy.
 
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Just a bit of info on Resting, especially in a Cooler...
Pulling a piece of meat at you desired IT is fine IF you plan to eat it in the next 30 minutes or less! If you plan to or have to Cooler Rest the meat pull it from the smoker, 10°F shy of the desired IT, wrap and rest.
Here's Why...when you are reading the IT at the Center of the meat, the outer 1/4-1/3 or so is whatever the Smoker Temp was so a Pork Tenderloins at 145, at the center is 225 on the outside. 15 minutes on the Counter and the outside cools and there is little change to the center IT...BUT...Towel wrap and place the 225°F meat in a cooler and the meat will continue to Cook. The IT will easily rise 10°F or more! So a Perfectly Cooked Tenderloin goes in and an Overcooked, tougher, possibly dry, piece of Pork comes out of the cooler an hour or more later!
This is not a big deal with Well Done meat like a Butt you plan to Pull. But anything eaten 145°F or less, Time It to Eat Right Away. Or Pull the meat 10°F or more for really big Roasts, to be rested in the Cooler...JJ
 
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This. My last brisket I used this process and it turned out perfect. The one previous was wrapped into the cooler turned out dry.
 
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