RyderB
Newbie
- Nov 9, 2026
- 5
- 2
Hey Everyone,
I smoke a lot of summer sausage and snack sticks in my 3rd gen MES (pretty sure it’s 3rd gen, bought 4 years ago, it has the weird tiered water pan, vent on back right, but no wifi, or glass door). I got a pid controller to control temp swings and that has helped a lot.
Today, I flipped the element to try to eliminate hot spots the best I can. Before I run it, I wanted to get some of yalls opinion on the clearance from the burner to the bottom of the smoker. It seems like I have a lot less clearance than some of the other guys that have done this mod. If I have the drip pan in the bottom of the smoker, the element is almost touching it. If I run it without the pan on the bottom, I have about an inch of clearance between the element and the bottom of the smoker so I’d be concerned about toasting the insulation down there. I can put the old chip tray under the bottom of the element and that should avoid direct contact. Also, curious if I should put the old heat shield on top to prevent dripping on the element (as seen in the last photo below) or if I should just run a drip pan on the bottom rack.
I’ll attach a few photos and if you guys could give me your opinion on what configuration you think is best or what issues you foresee, that would be great, thanks!
I smoke a lot of summer sausage and snack sticks in my 3rd gen MES (pretty sure it’s 3rd gen, bought 4 years ago, it has the weird tiered water pan, vent on back right, but no wifi, or glass door). I got a pid controller to control temp swings and that has helped a lot.
Today, I flipped the element to try to eliminate hot spots the best I can. Before I run it, I wanted to get some of yalls opinion on the clearance from the burner to the bottom of the smoker. It seems like I have a lot less clearance than some of the other guys that have done this mod. If I have the drip pan in the bottom of the smoker, the element is almost touching it. If I run it without the pan on the bottom, I have about an inch of clearance between the element and the bottom of the smoker so I’d be concerned about toasting the insulation down there. I can put the old chip tray under the bottom of the element and that should avoid direct contact. Also, curious if I should put the old heat shield on top to prevent dripping on the element (as seen in the last photo below) or if I should just run a drip pan on the bottom rack.
I’ll attach a few photos and if you guys could give me your opinion on what configuration you think is best or what issues you foresee, that would be great, thanks!
