How Many Mes Owners Here?

[driedstick]

Just got mine hope to have it seasoned this weekend. so far I love it. 

A full smoker is a happy smoker 

DS
 

 

[mac114]

Just bought my 30" MES from Amazon.  Stepping up from a vertical charcoal smoker.  I have a turkey breast in the queue to share for Christmas day, then a BB after that.  Liking all the advice on temps, times, rubs, recipes, seasonings, slicing and pics.   My first post on this forum, btw. 

 

[driedstick]

 
Just bought my 30" MES from Amazon.  Stepping up from a vertical charcoal smoker.  I have a turkey breast in the queue to share for Christmas day, then a BB after that.  Liking all the advice on temps, times, rubs, recipes, seasonings, slicing and pics.   My first post on this forum, btw. 

Welcome Mac hope you enjoy the forum there is a lot of great stuff on here and a terrific community.

A full smoker is a happy smoker

DS

 

[driedstick]

Seasoning mine today have other stuff going in old smoker but that will be another post

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• driedstick
• Dec 12, 2014

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• driedstick
• Dec 21, 2014

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• driedstick
• Dec 21, 2014

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• driedstick
• Dec 21, 2014

Before seasoning it I ran it for about 7hrs to get all the manufactures oil off it, I plan on running this without opening the door till no more smoke comes out of the amps

Thanks for all the great advice everyone

DS

 

[starriddin]

Just got to 30" digital with window. I'll be trying it out Christmas Eve on a Turkey with the AMNPS. Can't wait!!!

 

[starriddin]

Just got to 30" digital with window. I'll be trying it out Christmas Eve on a Turkey with the AMNPS. Can't wait!!!

got it at Academy Sports $199.00.

 

[daricksta]

 
Have a 30" MES and wish that I got the 40". Making the best of the 30" though. Starting this weekend  and up to the 25th I am smoking up to 24 beer can chickens 4 at a time but would of been easier with a 40". I am brimming 8 at a time over night and smoke 8 in a day. Been using cranberry juice as my liquids, true maple syrup as my rub and injecting them with melted butter. Thought I would take each one when they get done and rested, wrap them up in heavy duty foil, put a Xmas sticker on each one and say Enjoy and Merry Christmas. I then will be delivering them to some of the people here in the park who live alone or can't get out much. Who knows maybe 24 chickens won't be enough. Anyway I love smoking and to me it is a joy just to watch people eyes when they get a taste of how juicy and good tasting a beer can chicken is. To me it is the best chicken I have ever eaten and for someone that is 72 years old that's saying something for I have had a lot of chicken in my life time.

How many people do you cook for? I too would have preferred to have bought the 40 instead of the 30 but the smaller smoker was the best choice for me for these reasons:

1. It cost less than the 40 inch.

2. I typically cook for 2-4 people, rarely more than that. So while more cook space would be nice, I really don't need it.  But, it looks like you cook for a lot more people--but is it on a consistent basis?

3. Being smaller, it's very portable. The MES 30 easily fits on a hand truck (bungee corded) for storage in my garage. I wheel it out to my front or back yard when I'm ready to use it and can easily lift it up onto a sturdy table which is used as a stand.

4. It puts out the same identical great quality Q as the 40 inch.

That chicken recipe sounds might tasty.

 

[frankasr]

This time I just passed out the 24 beer can chicken to people in the Little Manatee Springs Park, family and friends. Turns out that the first beer can chicken turn out pretty darn good and got a lot of compliments from my initial chicken smoking. So I thought as a little something different to do at Christmas was to pass out a smoke chicken to some of the residents. Probably a good thing that the 30" MES only does 4 Chicken at a time. You see I don't waste the beer that was replaced with the Cranberry Juice.

However I still have a lot to learn about smoking other things like Boston Butt, Ribs, Pork Loin, etc. Did however a Smoked a Turkey for Thanksgiving and that turned out also very good. That day we cooked two Roasted Turkeys, one Ham, and a Smoked Turkey. The Smoked Turkey was the first to go.

But you are right a 30 MES is just about right but on those special days, where I cook for a lot of people, a 40 MES would be nice however it would be an overkill for the rest of the times. Thanksgiving is our day for family and friends and we had about 35 people for dinner.

I am attempting to try and Smoke a Chicken with a slight orange flavor using Fresh Oranges, Sage, Thyme, Rosemary, Garlic, etc

I will just do one chicken at a time until I get each of the ingredients levels closer to what I am looking for in taste. I keep you posted on my progress and load up pictures with a recipe in case any one wants to try it.

 

[frankasr]

This time I just passed out the 24 beer can chicken to people in the Little Manatee Springs Park, family and friends. Turns out that the first beer can chicken turn out pretty darn good and got a lot of compliments from my initial chicken smoking. So I thought as a little something different to do at Christmas was to pass out a smoke chicken to some of the residents. Probably a good thing that the 30" MES only does 4 Chicken at a time. You see I don't waste the beer that was replaced with the Cranberry Juice.

However I still have a lot to learn about smoking other things like Boston Butt, Ribs, Pork Loin, etc. Did however a Smoked a Turkey for Thanksgiving and that turned out also very good. That day we cooked two Roasted Turkeys, one Ham, and a Smoked Turkey. The Smoked Turkey was the first to go.

But you are right a 30 MES is just about right but on those special days, where I cook for a lot of people, a 40 MES would be nice however it would be an overkill for the rest of the times. Thanksgiving is our day for family and friends and we had about 35 people for dinner.

I am attempting to try and Smoke a Chicken with a slight orange flavor using Fresh Oranges, Sage, Thyme, Rosemary, Garlic, etc

I will just do one chicken at a time until I get each of the ingredients levels closer to what I am looking for in taste. I keep you posted on my progress and load up pictures with a recipe in case any one wants to try it.

 

[daricksta]

 
This time I just passed out the 24 beer can chicken to people in the Little Manatee Springs Park, family and friends. Turns out that the first beer can chicken turn out pretty darn good and got a lot of compliments from my initial chicken smoking. So I thought as a little something different to do at Christmas was to pass out a smoke chicken to some of the residents. Probably a good thing that the 30" MES only does 4 Chicken at a time. You see I don't waste the beer that was replaced with the Cranberry Juice.

However I still have a lot to learn about smoking other things like Boston Butt, Ribs, Pork Loin, etc. Did however a Smoked a Turkey for Thanksgiving and that turned out also very good. That day we cooked two Roasted Turkeys, one Ham, and a Smoked Turkey. The Smoked Turkey was the first to go.

But you are right a 30 MES is just about right but on those special days, where I cook for a lot of people, a 40 MES would be nice however it would be an overkill for the rest of the times. Thanksgiving is our day for family and friends and we had about 35 people for dinner.

I am attempting to try and Smoke a Chicken with a slight orange flavor using Fresh Oranges, Sage, Thyme, Rosemary, Garlic, etc

I will just do one chicken at a time until I get each of the ingredients levels closer to what I am looking for in taste. I keep you posted on my progress and load up pictures with a recipe in case any one wants to try it.

The MES 30 is exceptional for smoking anything. I've smoked beef briskets, pork ribs, chuck roast, turkey breast, and cold smoked cheeses and salmon and what comes out of the MES is the real stuff. No need to go for great barbecue when you can make it at home.

I've only cooked beer can chicken in my Weber kettle charcoal grill but anyway you cook it it's fun and tasty to do.

 

[mtdineen]

Got mine for Xmas and havent used it yet. 1st time smoker, so I have a lot to learn

 

[jraiona]

I'm looking to purchase an electric smoker and am considering the MES. one negative that I've heard/read is that it needs to be plugged directly into an outlet. Is this the case?

 

[ccm399]

I'm looking to purchase an electric smoker and am considering the MES. one negative that I've heard/read is that it needs to be plugged directly into an outlet. Is this the case?

Nope. The instructions state you can use a cord (shorter the better). I ran my MES 30 for 17 hours straight on a 50' 12 gauge cord this past Saturday. Having said that I plan to get a 25' cord as I don't need to be that far from the outlet. Oh, in the troubleshooting section of the manual states that long warmup times (60-70 minutes) can be caused by extension cords. Mine got to temp in about 20 minutes.

I bought mine from TSC on Christmas sales for $129.99. I got the last one in the area I called 4 stores and the 5th one had one left. I asked the guy to put a hol don it and went down to get it after work.

Chris

 

[jted]

I'm looking to purchase an electric smoker and am considering the MES. one negative that I've heard/read is that it needs to be plugged directly into an outlet. Is this the case?

 
Nope. The instructions state you can use a cord (shorter the better). I ran my MES 30 for 17 hours straight on a 50' 12 gauge cord this past Saturday. Having said that I plan to get a 25' cord as I don't need to be that far from the outlet. Oh, in the troubleshooting section of the manual states that long warmup times (60-70 minutes) can be caused by extension cords. Mine got to temp in about 20 minutes.

I bought mine from TSC on Christmas sales for $129.99. I got the last one in the area I called 4 stores and the 5th one had one left. I asked the guy to put a hol don it and went down to get it after work.

Chris

Jriona, The extension cord issue can be easily overcome.  It is always a good idea to size your cord to the element size. Your typical orange extension cord from the big box store  is 16 AWG it can be used but keep it under 50 feet if you have a MES30 W/ a 800 watt element. You would be better off picking up a 25 foot  14 awg cord for 20.00 .

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-25-ft-14-3-Extension-Cord-HD-277-533/100650642?N=5yc1vZc4ne

Chris, is definitely in the safe zone with his 12AWG 50 foot cord and when he gets his 25 he can run about anything he wants. a 12AWG cord only has about 1.5 % drop pushing 10 amps for 50 feet. Normally a 3% drop is all you want. So you can see if Chris has a MES 30 w/ a 800 watt element he has virtually no voltage drop(1/2%) .

The lesson here is that you don't need a expensive cord unless you have one, normally a  14AWG cord from home depot 25 feet long will do just fine. I cut a 14AWG  power cord down to 8 feet and put a GFI  receptacle  on  it and it is way over kill.  Jted

 

[gary s]

here is a guide

Extension Cord Length (Feet)	Maximum Amperage	Wire Gauge
25	10	18
25	13	16
25	15	14
50	5	18
50	10	16
50	15	14
75	5	18
75	10	16
75	15	14
100	5	16
100	15	12

 

[jmiller83]

I had 3 30 inch models. Now have the 40 inch. I absolutely love it and I use mine as much as I possibly can for anything. My only gripe about mine would be that mine came with the half wood chip tray. I bought the masterbuilt side box which has done me well so far.

 

[krzdimond]

 
here is a guide

Extension Cord Length (Feet)	Maximum Amperage	Wire Gauge
25	10	18
25	13	16
25	15	14
50	5	18
50	10	16
50	15	14
75	5	18
75	10	16
75	15	14
100	5	16
100	15	12

Does this take into account the wiring in the house? The outlet I use is the farthest one from the box (75 feet or so), and I have to use a 25 foot extension cord to get out of the sun room.

 

[gary s]

I would assume you are getting the correct voltage and amps at each outlet,  so if you are I would figure from the outlet.  Back when I was still in business (Steel erection) the biggest problem we had was employees stringing together to many extension cords that were too small to carry the proper amperage to the tool, thus shortening the life and causing failure.

Gary 

 

[garymaxx]

I have a Mes 40 1200 watts bought it at sams Feb. 2014 And have smoked many great meals on it. So far it has performed great except for last week I was smoking a sirloin tip roast and my meat probe read 300 when I first stuck it in and didn't change thru the whole smoke. Has anyone had this problem?

 

[Bearcarver]

 
I have a Mes 40 1200 watts bought it at sams Feb. 2014 And have smoked many great meals on it. So far it has performed great except for last week I was smoking a sirloin tip roast and my meat probe read 300 when I first stuck it in and didn't change thru the whole smoke. Has anyone had this problem?

I would never trust the meat probe built into any smoker.

I rely totally on my Maverick ET-732 for smoker temp & meat temp.

Bear