MES 30 uneven heat distribution

[daveomak]

My batch of unstuffed beef sticks showed a significant HOT SPOT in the right rear of the smoker directly under the exhaust vent.

That would not be a problem if the smoker wasn't crammed full of sticks. Normally one could leave that space vacant and not char the food.

There must be someone here that has tried to tackle the problem of equalling the heat distribution to make cooking uniform?

I am thinking of some sort of plate in the corner of the ceiling to move the exhaust closer to the middle of the smoker? Sort of like a tuning plate in a reverse flow?

I have made 1 mod to the smoker. I enlarged 1 hole in the chip tube to 1/2". That helps with air circulation I noticed.

Any mods to your units? Any thoughts?

 

[Bearcarver]

I don't think I saw anyone tackle that from the top, but it could work.

Many have put various plates in the bottom right, above the chip box, including our dearly departed "RonP". RonP used a piece of ceramic tile on the bottom right side. There are a few threads on such things.

I sometimes put a piece of aluminum plate in mine at that same spot.

The problem seems to me to be the fact that the heating element is on the right & so is the exhaust.

If I was the type to mess around with my MES, I would move the top exhaust vent from the top right to the top left. This would make the heat cross inside the smoker, from right to left to get out, instead of taking the shortest route---straight up the right side. If you were using the MES for smoke, the smoke would have to follow that same route.

My 2 cents.

Bear

 

[SmokinAl]

I don't think I saw anyone tackle that from the top, but it could work.

Many have put various plates in the bottom right, above the chip box, including our dearly departed "RonP". RonP used a piece of ceramic tile on the bottom right side. There are a few threads on such things.

I sometimes put a piece of aluminum plate in mine at that same spot.

The problem seems to me to be the fact that the heating element is on the right & so is the exhaust.

If I was the type to mess around with my MES, I would move the top exhaust vent from the top right to the top left. This would make the heat cross inside the smoker, from right to left to get out, instead of taking the shortest route---straight up the right side. If you were using the MES for smoke, the smoke would have to follow that same route.

My 2 cents.

Bear

I always wondered why Masterbuilt never moved the top vent to the left side. I'm sure they are aware of the hot spot.

 

[gnubee]

I tried Ronp's slate trick and it did make a minor improvement but the meat in that top corner still gets a little dry. I also got an aluminum plate, drilled tons of holes in it and tried that but it made no difference so I finally gave up on it and tossed out the plate and the slate.

Really I just consider that its so minor a problem that I ignore it and now just leave that small area clear of meat. I think putting the vent on the other side of the oven would be worth trying if you are the handy type and have nothing to do one afternoon. You could just drill a hole in the top left of the cabinet about the same size as the existing vent leave it open and close the existing vent. NOw do some ribs or a Chuckie to test the theory. If it works let everyone on SMF know, If no improvement just plug the new hole and your back to square one. Simple fix but quite frankly its too much effort for lazy ole me.

PS. I also considered trying a small circulation fan in the bottom of the smoker but that got real complicated real quick so I never tried it. ( blowing air across the wood chips created a nice little fire )

With the factory setup I always get good smoke movement so I dont think smoke is an issue its just the excess heat near the exit vent.

If I have too many ribs so that some of them just have to be near that spot ( Only the top rack ) I rotate them every time I check the meat or spritz. This solves most of the problem. I also make sure I get them extra wet with apple juice/orange brandy each time I spritz

My 3 1/2 cents