How much smoke @225? masterbuilt MES 130B

[tallbm]

Best results today...especially on the skin!

I did more googling and came across another Foam thread...so I decided to work it in. This chicken was brined for prolly 20 hours or so in salt and water. I then took it out, pat dry it as much as I could.....and then left it on a rack with a fan blowing on it for about 2 hours. I would rotate the bird every half hour or so. Not sure ill call what I got a full pellicle...but allowing the bird to dry really did wonders for the skin!

Skin wasnt crispy...but it was dried out, and maybe with a little more dry time will get that crispiness that I keep missing. Ended up seasoning with pepper...and a little more salt. Cooked 3 hours 15 minutes.....Im think Ive noticed that the brined chickens take a few minutes longer to cook. The other days non brined chicken cooked in 3 hours....and was reading above 165!!

VERY JUICY AND VERY TASTY! RIBS TOMORROW! I got some good looking spare ribs. Planning the 3-2-1 on them...and gonna use this as the rub procedure

SO....back to the original post.

I think that my smoker might not give steady and consistent smoke. Im waiting for my damn thermopro thats supposed to be in the mailbox by now. But im thinking that the Amazn pellet tray might be the best way to get steady smoke.

Is there a video or site that explains it? I get that you load it up and light one end....but how do you know how many pellets to put in? I'd rather not buy it...but if I keep seeing blackend instead of ashed wood chips...i think I have to do something.

Nice work on the chicken!!! Something I read about in an Electric Smoker cook book was that cooking chickens and turkey's on a vertical roasting rack helped the skin. It did help me. It didn't solve the issue but it improved the skin and as you can tell every trick counts when you can't get the smoker up over 300F lol.

As for the AMNPS it is roughly that each row (of 3) will give you 3 hours of smoke. Sometimes you get closer to 4 hours depending on a few factors.
The nice thing about using the AMNPS with pellets is that you get a 40 pound bag of pellets for like $20 or less sometimes and it takes FOREVER to burn through 40 pounds of pellets in the AMNPS so you really don't have to worry about cost or using up too many pellets. To me it is better to run a little over on the smoke time than to fall short.

I've used the AMNPS for as little as 30 minutes and had it burn as long as 14 hours when I had a lot of cherry wood pellets (cherry wood is naturally harder to keep light and seems to burn slower in my experience).

I think almost every MES owner here uses an AMNPS.
Some do fine with just putting it inside on the bottom of the MES, others (I'm one of them) go the Mailbox Mod route where we have the AMNPS outside the MES in it's own little compartment. The choice is up to you and will be based on what your preferences and/or what you want to do with your smoking setup.

I went Mailbox Mod so I could mange smoke without needing to open the smoker and to have much greater control over cold smoking, applying smoke for very short times (30min) or very long times (17 hours) again without opening the smoker, and finally I can manage the heat that is added to the smoker by the burning pellets.
I only get about 2 months out of there year here in TX where the temps are just low enough for me to cold smoke Salmon Lox at temps below 65-70F. With the mailbox mod, a 45-50F day outside, and a tray of ice in the MES I can keep at or under 65-70F for my salmon cold smokes :)
So you see why my needs are helped by a mailbox mod where someone in a different area may not have the issue and therefore not need/want the mailbox mod.

I hope this info helps!

 

[johnmeyer]

The mailbox mod has all the advantages tallbm mentions, but also significantly improves the flavor of the smoke because quite a bit of the creosote condenses on the walls of the enclosure and the piping before reaching the MES and your food. For me, the difference is night and day -- not subtle at all.

 

[banderson7474]

I might have a hard time keeping a raw chicken out for 2hrs....kinda skeeves me out. You don't worry about it dropping temp in the danger zones?

 

[Bearcarver]

The mailbox mod has all the advantages tallbm mentions, but also significantly improves the flavor of the smoke because quite a bit of the creosote condenses on the walls of the enclosure and the piping before reaching the MES and your food. For me, the difference is night and day -- not subtle at all.

I don't get any of those creosote flavors, but I never use more than a Light to Medium smoke, and my AMNPS is always inside my MES.


Bear

 

[FishInTheDesert]

Nice work on the chicken!!! Something I read about in an Electric Smoker cook book was that cooking chickens and turkey's on a vertical roasting rack helped the skin. It did help me. It didn't solve the issue but it improved the skin and as you can tell every trick counts when you can't get the smoker up over 300F lol.

As for the AMNPS it is roughly that each row (of 3) will give you 3 hours of smoke. Sometimes you get closer to 4 hours depending on a few factors.
The nice thing about using the AMNPS with pellets is that you get a 40 pound bag of pellets for like $20 or less sometimes and it takes FOREVER to burn through 40 pounds of pellets in the AMNPS so you really don't have to worry about cost or using up too many pellets. To me it is better to run a little over on the smoke time than to fall short.

I've used the AMNPS for as little as 30 minutes and had it burn as long as 14 hours when I had a lot of cherry wood pellets (cherry wood is naturally harder to keep light and seems to burn slower in my experience).

I think almost every MES owner here uses an AMNPS.
Some do fine with just putting it inside on the bottom of the MES, others (I'm one of them) go the Mailbox Mod route where we have the AMNPS outside the MES in it's own little compartment. The choice is up to you and will be based on what your preferences and/or what you want to do with your smoking setup.

I went Mailbox Mod so I could mange smoke without needing to open the smoker and to have much greater control over cold smoking, applying smoke for very short times (30min) or very long times (17 hours) again without opening the smoker, and finally I can manage the heat that is added to the smoker by the burning pellets.
I only get about 2 months out of there year here in TX where the temps are just low enough for me to cold smoke Salmon Lox at temps below 65-70F. With the mailbox mod, a 45-50F day outside, and a tray of ice in the MES I can keep at or under 65-70F for my salmon cold smokes :)
So you see why my needs are helped by a mailbox mod where someone in a different area may not have the issue and therefore not need/want the mailbox mod.

I hope this info helps!

Your posts always do...and I think we think alike....or you just see these same questions over and over....cuz you answer questions I have before I even ask them! for example you mention pellets and cost....im a frugal guy and that was one of my concerns, but I hadnt looked into it yet...but dont need to since you addressed all concerns associated with that! lol

Still looking for my damn beer can chicken rack....i wanted to use it to dry the bird before cooking....but maybe ill try cooking with it in too.

Mailbox mod looks interesting....but I dont think its for me. I think my smoking is gonna be basic since im a meat and potatoes kinda guy, and also kinda picky with food....i might eventually evolve but for now I think the mailbox is not in the near future.

The mailbox mod has all the advantages tallbm mentions, but also significantly improves the flavor of the smoke because quite a bit of the creosote condenses on the walls of the enclosure and the piping before reaching the MES and your food. For me, the difference is night and day -- not subtle at all.

It definitely looked like a good idea...maybe im being lazy but I think its a bit much for my small smoker at the moment. Im gonna be moving it pretty often since my back porch gets hammered with that desert sun a good portion of the day. Its light and easy to move, so I been taking it back and forth to my back porch and garage.

I might have a hard time keeping a raw chicken out for 2hrs....kinda skeeves me out. You don't worry about it dropping temp in the danger zones?

So no one died. Also, ignorance is bliss. Ive seen the "danger zone" mentioned in a few threads now....but just glanced over it and didnt worry about it. Ended up googling it real quick....and I see it has to do with temps and cooking. I mightve got lucky since it was a whole chicken....and I guess its something to worry about with ground meats.

I left it out about 2 hours, and my house temps are about 75 degrees. Is that dangerous? So i dont do it again. I think ill try and buy a small fan and clip it on IN the refrigerator to dry it.

I don't get any of those creosote flavors, but I never use more than a Light to Medium smoke, and my AMNPS is always inside my MES.


Bear

If i do go AMNPS its gonna be inside also....but im still gonna try and be cheap and see how I like the wood chips. Damn $60 meat probes has me rearing back a little so I dont spend more on accessories than the smoker!!! LOL

Smoke production was better last time at 225....I think I was just expecting a winter chimney look! I just try to keep a fine smoke going, and its been doing it so far.....well I think its wood smoke....

Seperate question....how often do you all clean your smoker?...and what do you clean? just the pans and grates....or the whole thing including walls? I see smokers on TV all black like theyre coated with TAR.....im hoping thats what Im striving for so I can be lazy and not clean it often! LMAO

 

[FishInTheDesert]

also....putting a pork butt in saturday. Prolly a picnic cut since thats what they had at my local walmart. Didnt see boston butt. Gonna start a thread in the pork section with my initial plan, and asking for any tweaks or advice in case any of you are pulled pork gurus and wanna help me there too!

Thanks everyone!

 

[tallbm]

Your posts always do...and I think we think alike....or you just see these same questions over and over....cuz you answer questions I have before I even ask them! for example you mention pellets and cost....im a frugal guy and that was one of my concerns, but I hadnt looked into it yet...but dont need to since you addressed all concerns associated with that! lol

Still looking for my damn beer can chicken rack....i wanted to use it to dry the bird before cooking....but maybe ill try cooking with it in too.

Mailbox mod looks interesting....but I dont think its for me. I think my smoking is gonna be basic since im a meat and potatoes kinda guy, and also kinda picky with food....i might eventually evolve but for now I think the mailbox is not in the near future.



It definitely looked like a good idea...maybe im being lazy but I think its a bit much for my small smoker at the moment. Im gonna be moving it pretty often since my back porch gets hammered with that desert sun a good portion of the day. Its light and easy to move, so I been taking it back and forth to my back porch and garage.



So no one died. Also, ignorance is bliss. Ive seen the "danger zone" mentioned in a few threads now....but just glanced over it and didnt worry about it. Ended up googling it real quick....and I see it has to do with temps and cooking. I mightve got lucky since it was a whole chicken....and I guess its something to worry about with ground meats.

I left it out about 2 hours, and my house temps are about 75 degrees. Is that dangerous? So i dont do it again. I think ill try and buy a small fan and clip it on IN the refrigerator to dry it.



If i do go AMNPS its gonna be inside also....but im still gonna try and be cheap and see how I like the wood chips. Damn $60 meat probes has me rearing back a little so I dont spend more on accessories than the smoker!!! LOL

Smoke production was better last time at 225....I think I was just expecting a winter chimney look! I just try to keep a fine smoke going, and its been doing it so far.....well I think its wood smoke....

Seperate question....how often do you all clean your smoker?...and what do you clean? just the pans and grates....or the whole thing including walls? I see smokers on TV all black like theyre coated with TAR.....im hoping thats what Im striving for so I can be lazy and not clean it often! LMAO

Yeah the sticker shock on the wireless thermometers is real. Here is a ThermoPro Tp08 for $37 https://www.ebay.com/itm/ThermoPro-...:guQAAOSwBkRaSvd-&LH_BIN=1&LH_ItemCondition=3

It has 1 smoker probe and 1 meat/hybrid probe where the TP20 has 2 meat/Hybrid probes. The TP08 should do the trick though at about $20 less.

I don't "clean" my MES.
I wash my racks and I cover the bottom grease pan with foil. Every smoke I change out the foil and I will that pan if/when it gets dirty. I clean my probes with 99% rubbing alcohol all along the probe and about 20 inches up the wire since sometimes the wires come into contact with meat.

I am always sure to not allow meat to rest against the walls or rack holders and try to really keep it from touching the walls and other parts of my smoker if I can. This way the smoker doesn't get all grimy. I've seen a couple of used 2nd hand MES that seamed like someone stuck meat to all the walls and left it there forever on every smoke. That is way too gross and messy for me. If I touch a door or wall of my MES the worst I get is smoke build up :)

 

[Bearcarver]

Seperate question....how often do you all clean your smoker?...and what do you clean? just the pans and grates....or the whole thing including walls? I see smokers on TV all black like theyre coated with TAR.....im hoping thats what Im striving for so I can be lazy and not clean it often! LMAO

Pretty much like "tallbm" said:
I cover my empty water pan with foil, cover my floor with foil, wash only the racks I use after each smoke.
Only wipe anything loose off the walls & ceiling, and don't allow food to touch anything but the racks.
Wash my Maverick probes & cables before each smoke, and use an alcohol pad on the meat probe just before inserting.
I don't change my foil very often, because I smoke most things in foil pans to cut down on dripping.
I wash my Door glass before every Smoke too.

Bear

 

[FishInTheDesert]

Yeah the sticker shock on the wireless thermometers is real. Here is a ThermoPro Tp08 for $37 https://www.ebay.com/itm/ThermoPro-TP08-Wireless-Remote-Digital-Kitchen-Cooking-Thermometer-Dual-Probe/163192946202?epid=17006069783&hash=item25ff0ebe1a:g:guQAAOSwBkRaSvd-&LH_BIN=1&LH_ItemCondition=3

It has 1 smoker probe and 1 meat/hybrid probe where the TP20 has 2 meat/Hybrid probes. The TP08 should do the trick though at about $20 less.

I don't "clean" my MES.
I wash my racks and I cover the bottom grease pan with foil. Every smoke I change out the foil and I will that pan if/when it gets dirty. I clean my probes with 99% rubbing alcohol all along the probe and about 20 inches up the wire since sometimes the wires come into contact with meat.

I am always sure to not allow meat to rest against the walls or rack holders and try to really keep it from touching the walls and other parts of my smoker if I can. This way the smoker doesn't get all grimy. I've seen a couple of used 2nd hand MES that seamed like someone stuck meat to all the walls and left it there forever on every smoke. That is way too gross and messy for me. If I touch a door or wall of my MES the worst I get is smoke build up :)

I bit the bullet and went with the TP20! Glad I did too...plus replacement probes are only like $9 which helps. Will follow your methods to keep it "clean"

Pretty much like "tallbm" said:
I cover my empty water pan with foil, cover my floor with foil, wash only the racks I use after each smoke.
Only wipe anything loose off the walls & ceiling, and don't allow food to touch anything but the racks.
Wash my Maverick probes & cables before each smoke, and use an alcohol pad on the meat probe just before inserting.
I don't change my foil very often, because I smoke most things in foil pans to cut down on dripping.
I wash my Door glass before every Smoke too.

Bear

Sounds good...ended up foiling my water pan after I saw a youtube video with it. Ill do all the trays like you all do.

One more MES question about this pulled pork I have planned....do I STILL go dry on the water pan even tho its gonna be a 10-14 hour process?

 

[Bearcarver]

One more MES question about this pulled pork I have planned....do I STILL go dry on the water pan even tho its gonna be a 10-14 hour process?

Yes--If it's an MES---NO Liquid in the pan.
I haven't put water in my Water Pan in any of my MES units in 8 years.
It does nothing good--Only Bad.

The only liquid I ever add would be a Foiling liquid mix that I would put in with the meat when I foil it, like Step 2 on Ribs, or when foiling a Butt at 165°, etc, etc. Never any liquid in the Water Pan.

Bear

 

[tallbm]

I bit the bullet and went with the TP20! Glad I did too...plus replacement probes are only like $9 which helps. Will follow your methods to keep it "clean"



Sounds good...ended up foiling my water pan after I saw a youtube video with it. Ill do all the trays like you all do.

One more MES question about this pulled pork I have planned....do I STILL go dry on the water pan even tho its gonna be a 10-14 hour process?

Just like Bear said, no water/liquid.

I have converted to doing my Pork Butts/Shoulders with no wrapping even and that is the way I am going. So even unwrapped the entire time it needs no water. Just DON'T trim the fat unless you have an insane amount like 3 straight inches of fat which I have never seen on a store bought pork butt/shoulder lol.

I also do my Briskets (whole packer) unwrapped the entire time with no water/liquid.
If I do a Chuck I wrap with foil at about 160-170F and add some liberal splashes of whatever old wine I have in the fridge. A Chuck (and a brisket flat only... i believe) will dry out on you as they are much more finicky than cuts like a whole packer brisket or a pork butt/shoulder.

Try to stab your meat probe into the thickest center most portion of the the pork butt/shoulder WITHOUT hitting the bone. That should give you good temp measurements. Finally, a pork butt is done when it is tender so you can stab all over with your meat probe or toothipc or wooden skewer. Many figure it is done when the bone easily pulls out by hand.

Best of luck!

 

[FishInTheDesert]

Quick pop in, ill reply to you all later today.

Cooking a chicken in a NEW MES 130b...exchanged the old one cuz the hinge cover was broken and i saw some melting.

This MES gets HOT! I had it set to 275 to cook this chicken. Meat probe on the second rack was reading 335 and CLIMBING...the unit was still heating up and only reading 266 on the MES, so it had another 9 degrees to go before it shut down! Wondering how high it wouldve got?!

Is that normal? Smokes coming out good tho! LOL

 

[FishInTheDesert]

Calling an audible....keeping the temp on the MES at 275.....and gonna note how high it gets, and if it stays there consistently....or if it just fluctuates.

i think this MES is gonna have more of a learning curve than the last one...last one stayed pretty close to the temp on the digital readout from the smoker. Ill be back in a few hours. doing house crap, and smoking so short on time

 

[tallbm]

Wow. That could be nice that the new one gets really hot... so long as it doesn't just keep going up hahahaha.

Also if you are trusting the MES meat probe on that 335F reading then that might be very bogus as the meat probes have been well known to be off, that and/or maybe the rack it is laying on is getting much hotter than the air would be, who knows.

In any case if it gets good and hot but doesn't climb forever or too high then you might have a score on your hands. Just keep an eye out, use the TP20 (test the probes first) when it comes in to verify how hot things are actually getting :)

Best of luck and I'm interested to see what happens today :)

 

[Bearcarver]

Quick pop in, ill reply to you all later today.

Cooking a chicken in a NEW MES 130b...exchanged the old one cuz the hinge cover was broken and i saw some melting.

This MES gets HOT! I had it set to 275 to cook this chicken. Meat probe on the second rack was reading 335 and CLIMBING...the unit was still heating up and only reading 266 on the MES, so it had another 9 degrees to go before it shut down! Wondering how high it wouldve got?!

Is that normal? Smokes coming out good tho! LOL

335 is about as high as I would let it go, if you're getting an accurate reading, and I wouldn't want it being there for any length of time. 300 is no problem, but over 325° isn't a good thing----If you're getting an accurate reading from a known Therm, like a Maverick or like Tallbm said "A TP20".

Bear

 

[FishInTheDesert]

Wow. That could be nice that the new one gets really hot... so long as it doesn't just keep going up hahahaha.

Also if you are trusting the MES meat probe on that 335F reading then that might be very bogus as the meat probes have been well known to be off, that and/or maybe the rack it is laying on is getting much hotter than the air would be, who knows.

In any case if it gets good and hot but doesn't climb forever or too high then you might have a score on your hands. Just keep an eye out, use the TP20 (test the probes first) when it comes in to verify how hot things are actually getting :)

Best of luck and I'm interested to see what happens today :)

I need to boil some water to test my TP20....but this is what I am using...and its reading that high.

335 is about as high as I would let it go, if you're getting an accurate reading, and I wouldn't want it being there for any length of time. 300 is no problem, but over 325° isn't a good thing----If you're getting an accurate reading from a known Therm, like a Maverick or like Tallbm said "A TP20".

Bear

This one got all the way to 338!!!

What are the negatives of going higher?....is one of them melting?

So I exchanged out my last MES for this one I used today because I saw some melting from the paint on the smoker (along the door/open/front face). Im already noticing it on this one too.....no problems with the inside, and this melting is on the outside....but its still scaling up and easy to peel/chip off. Do you think this is from those high temps?

EXPERIMENT RESULTS....

Chicken came out fine....you can definitely taste the sweetness in cherry wood! But....im not too sure im happy about my temperatures. (Probe is on 2nd rack with the chicken)

So prolly 45 mins in when I started noticing the heat rising to the 300s, I called that audible and left the temp at 275 (vs 255,260 and 265 like ive used before). I wanted to see where It would steady at.....

It never really steadied till the final 30-45 minutes...and when it did it was hovering between 260-265 the final 30-45 mins instead of the 275 it was set at. It was fluctuating what I consider drastically! It dipped as low as 242 and got as high as 328! Cooked chicken for just over 3 hours.....and it was fluctuating prolly 2 or more of those hours. up and down, up and down! A couple times I even went out to check....and lowered the temp JUST to shut off the heating unit. Lowered it below what it was reading, let it shut off, and then raised it back to 275 right after....it stayed off till the temp dropped back below and switched back on.

I got my pork butt in the fridge with seasoning...so thats going in the smoker 100% tomorrow morning. I hear pork butt is forgiving....but I have a feeling im going to test how forgiving it actually is. Planning 630 cook time (doing Bears step-by-step)....so im gonna wake up at 5 just to kick the smoker on and preheat it. Hopefully eliminate the fluctuations....ill post a thread in the pork sub tomorrow! you all holler at me there!

I wish so bad I could have some refined taste buds like you all to try my meats out! I need to hear some criticisms...everyone says what I give them was the best.....but I think thats cuz good barbecue isnt common in El Paso! lol the bar is loooowwwww! I think theyve all been tasty....but im bias! haha

 

[FishInTheDesert]

Don't know how hot it is where you are but my back deck gets 120+ and my electric smoker cycles off so much at lower temps the chips never burn or smoke for that matter

Now that im just sitting here relaxing.....i think this is why my temps were going crazy today. Hot day....and bluebird sky! so the sun was hitting the box pretty heavy......calling an audible and smoking on my front porch tomorrow instead of the back!

this forum is awesome! LOL

 

[Bearcarver]

I need to boil some water to test my TP20....but this is what I am using...and its reading that high.

This one got all the way to 338!!!

What are the negatives of going higher?....is one of them melting?

So I exchanged out my last MES for this one I used today because I saw some melting from the paint on the smoker (along the door/open/front face). Im already noticing it on this one too.....no problems with the inside, and this melting is on the outside....but its still scaling up and easy to peel/chip off. Do you think this is from those high temps?

If they wanted the MES to get that hot, they wouldn't have limited the controls to 275°.

I had a new one get to above 325°, and I heard some crackling noise.
I put my ear against the top left side of the smoker, because the right side was too hot, and I heard the crackling coming from within the walls of the MES.
I killed the heat & kept an eye (EAR) on it, and the noise continued until the temp got down below 300°.
I figured it was the insulation inside the walls crisping up & crackling.
I got Masterbuilt to send me a new control that won't go astray like that one did.
Since that I never let it get over about 310°, and that is only for minutes, because it's only over-run (coasting), after the heating element has shut off at 275°.

Bear

 

[chopsaw]

This one got all the way to 338!!!

What are the negatives of going higher?....is one of them melting?

Every time you run it that high you are running the risk of a fire . The more you do it the more it affects the insulation ( that you can't see ) and at some point down the road conditions will be right for a fire .
Please be careful .

 

[FishInTheDesert]

If they wanted the MES to get that hot, they wouldn't have limited the controls to 275°.

I had a new one get to above 325°, and I heard some crackling noise.
I put my ear against the top left side of the smoker, because the right side was too hot, and I heard the crackling coming from within the walls of the MES.
I killed the heat & kept an eye (EAR) on it, and the noise continued until the temp got down below 300°.
I figured it was the insulation inside the walls crisping up & crackling.
I got Masterbuilt to send me a new control that won't go astray like that one did.
Since that I never let it get over about 310°, and that is only for minutes, because it's only over-run (coasting), after the heating element has shut off at 275°.

Bear

Every time you run it that high you are running the risk of a fire . The more you do it the more it affects the insulation ( that you can't see ) and at some point down the road conditions will be right for a fire .
Please be careful .

Good news....it had to be where the smoker was with all that direct sunlight hitting it....had to be. Temps didnt spike anywhere close to or like they did the other day. Im just gonna smoke on my front porch from now on since itll stay shaded 90% of the day.

Im gonna go start that other thread and fill in what details i remember....some of my family caught wind of my pulled pork via my own facebook post....and "were in the neighborhood" and also just happened to have beers!!! lol I was planning to post it yesterday with all the details....but I had to drink those beers....and take all the praise for the GREAT BBQ! Your step-by-step treated me good bear!!!!

Also....let one 5am wake up sell me on something.....ordered the AMNPS at about 11am yesterday, after waking back up hourly to fill the chip tray! lol Ordering it since it just seems like a bad move not to the more I smoke! Good steady smoke....and as long as the temps stabilize....makes this more set it and forget it! I like that....i like low and slowwwwww Headed to academy tonight to pick up some fishing stuff...and a couple bags of B & B pellets....im going with apple and hickory. Any other must haves I should have on deck....im leaning toward having 3 and 4 at the absolute max! I wont be smoking a ton....prolly just once a week.

Thanks for the words and direction from everyone! looking forward to posting more on these forums!