How do you like your mes or should I by a propane smoker?

[lemans]

Question

 

[hkeiner]

One could argue that charcoal and propane smokers can provide better results in some cases (e.g., smoke ring and crispy chicken skins) but it is hard to beat the MES and Amazing Smoker combination for convenience while still getting very good results.

Asking this question in a forum area dedicated to electric smokers may give you biased answers, but I will say that I had charcoal and propane smokers before I got my MES and I would never consider going back to charcoal or propane. I might consider upgrading to better/more expensive electric smoker some day for reliability reasons but I don't think it would make that much difference in the results. Just my opinion.

 

[chef jimmyj]

  You can't beat the convenience and the Set and Forget factor of Electric Smokers. The MES40 Gen 1 smokers I have are great and the only breakdown I have had looks like it was from not cleaning it properly. I would buy one again if I was starting over again. The Gen I units, mine is Model # 20070311, are starting to get rare from all the guys returning their defective Gen 2's and getting the older model...JJ

 

[daricksta]

I bought an electric MES because I didn't want to futz around with propane. As for charcoal, I already have a Weber 22.5" One Touch Silver charcoal kettle grill so if I ever want to smoke using charcoal, that's what I bring out.

With the electric MES, I don't have to worry about replenishing my fuel source; I just plug it in, get it up to temp, insert my AMNPS with the wood pellets of my choice, put on the meat, and that's all she wrote for the next 3-6 hours. For cold smoking cheeses, I just use the AMNPS.

I learned after I bought the electric MES that I won't get smoke rings. Considering the great flavors I've gotten with my smoker, I can live with that. IF I want smoke rings I can smoke in the Weber. However, I just read that if you want smoke rings using an electric smoker, you can add a charcoal briquette and maybe a wood chunk in the chip loader to achieve it,. I've never tried it but smoke rings aren't that important to me.

 

[geerock]

If you want another option for set and forget consider a pellet cooker. You're still cooking with wood so you get your smoke ring if thats important to you. One of the beat values out there now is the CharGriller pellet muncher at Lowes for about $450. Lots of great reviews on this forum and others. I have electric and a Traeger and the convection cooking of the Traeger is always my first choice. Something to consider.