Masterbuilt uneven cooking

[smoke57]

Hi all. I just bought a MES 20075515 40" sportsman elite. Yesterday I did a batch of jerky. The cooking was very uneven. On the right side and rear of the racks the jerky was cooked perfect. The rest of the jerky was undercooked. Any ideas why this happened. The outside temperature was about 38 degrees and it was very humid with a light on off drizzle. I had the mes temp set at 180 degrees.
I am new at using an electric smoker so any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Tim.

 

[smoke57]

A little more info, there was no wind and I had the damper fully open.

 

[parrot-head]

Where is the damper on that model?

 

[smoke57]

The damper is on the top rear left corner.

 

[parrot-head]

Might stay hotter on the right side since the damper is on the opposite.  Are the slices all even thickness?

 

[smoke57]

It was ground beef jerky made with a jerky gun so they were pretty uniform. Should I have the damper all the way open?

 

[smoke57]

Anyone else have any advice on what I'm doing wrong? I paid lots of money for this smoker and can't continue smoking like this.

 

[old sarge]

Assuming the heating element is on the right side, the right side will tend to be hotter or retain heat longer than the  open vented side. It's a physics thing. I would choke down the vent consistent with sufficient air flow for producing smoke. If that doesn't work, I would take the smoker back for a refund.

 

[smoke57]

Thanks Sarge. I will try it again. I have some snack sticks to make later this week.

 

[dr k]

I had no luck with that part number. Is it digital or analog? Top rear left vent sounds digital. Does it have the slanted drip plate with the baby water pan that hangs from it?
-Kurt

 

[smoke57]

It's a sportsman elite. It is the same as a 20075315 but with 6 racks. Yes it has the slanted drip pan.

 

[smoke57]

When I bought this smoker I was told it was a generation 2.5. Anyone know if this is true?

 

[dr k]

It's a sportsman elite. It is the same as a 20075315 but with 6 racks. Yes it has the slanted drip pan.

So you have the gen 2. Heat rises up the slant, over heating the right side above the heating element before it goes around it to the top. Then left out the vent. Many with this gen 2 remove the slant drip pan/water pan from the pegs or whatever it sits/hangs from. Put in the bottom rack with a 9x13 or whatever size you want alum. pan you can slide left/right to distribute rising heat evenly. You have a floor drip pan you can foil for easy clean up and put a piece of foil over the chip burner housing. Now you have an open plan above the element to the racks like the gen 1 and 2.5 bluetooth that doesn't trap heat with a solid piece of metal. The slant drip pan allows heat up the back wall and door. Getting it out and a pan on the bottom rack or up to the next to the bottom is an obstruction convection can travel around all sides of the smoker for an even heating. My oval water pan is on the the second from the bottom rack in my gen 1 40" If your not filling all racks for jerky and doing a roast or whatever on one of the upper racks, my empty water pan is on the level below it.
-Kurt

 

[smoke57]

Thanks Kurt, that all makes sense to me. Know I have to decide if I should take it back and get a gen 2.5 or modify this one. Is the Bluetooth the only gen 2.5 or is there others. I'd rather have the rf remote because of the range but I don't like being told untruths and buy junk.
Thanks, Tim

 

[johnmeyer]

The two things I do in my MES to avoid your problem:

1. Put a heat deflector 4-5" above the chip loader to force the heat to the other side of the smoker.

2. Rotate the racks, both front to back and top to bottom, several times during the smoke.

This second thing is recommended even in a conventional oven. Most cookie recipes call for doing exactly this, halfway through the baking time.

[edit] Some links you might find useful:

Mod to the MES

Heat Deflector

 

[dr k]

Thanks Kurt, that all makes sense to me. Know I have to decide if I should take it back and get a gen 2.5 or modify this one. Is the Bluetooth the only gen 2.5 or is there others. I'd rather have the rf remote because of the range but I don't like being told untruths and buy junk.
Thanks, Tim

I think you should be just fine with a pan on the bottom rack. You have a top left vent and not the top side vent. So your on the better of the two gen 2. You as well as myself and many others like the hassle free rf controller vs. bluetooth. If it were me, I'd stick with it. QVC had what appeared to be your model without the slant and small water pan with Mes standard oval pan. It was available in an assortment of color door choices. This was a run exclusive to QVC and Mes sold out their inventory at highly discounted price that didnt sell on QVC. Lots of rave reviews from those units. Just get that slant/water pan setup out and give it a second chance with a pan on the bottom rack.
-Kurt

 

[smoke57]

Thanks Kurt, I will try the modification and see how it goes. I wonder if masterbuilt offers an update to the larger water pan.

 

[smoke57]

Ok here's the latest on my MES MODEL 20075515 smoker and the uneven cooking problem. I called masterbuilt and spoke with Justin. I told him about the uneven cooking problems. He told me they have never had anyone but me call in and complain about this problem. He said I had the vent open too much and the temperature setting (180) was too cold to even produce smoke. I told him that I have been reading on this forum about the slanted pan being a heat distribution problem and he said they never heard of that. When I asked him then why did they change back to the oval bowl water pan on the gen 2.5 he said it was only for economic reason to bring the cost down. He also said my model is a gen 2.5.
He searched this forum while we were speaking and said my post is the only one on the smoking meat forum with this complaint.
When he asked what I expected him to do I told him when I spent $500 on something I expect it to work properly. I told him that I am disabled and am not capable of modifying this product.
Could I please have some of you please weigh in on this to prove it is a problem and I'm not the only one.

Part 2
Just had a call from a manger at Masterbuilt. He too was unaware of this problem but was eager to try to help me out. For now I am doing some temperature tests with a rack thermometer at different positions in the smoker to see what I come up with.

To be continued...

 

[johnmeyer]

I can't believe that no one could find all the posts about uneven cooking.

MES Hot Spot

Mes mod. for hot-spot

MES 30 Interior Mod to even out heat distribution and eliminate the hot spot

There are a huge number of additional posts. Here is the forum search I used:

airflow hot spots

 

[smoke57]

Thank you for that.