A lot of you guys have known for awhile that I was getting tired of my MES 30, because of it's size. I don't like having to cut my ribs up to smoke them. I don't like mixing up a 10 pound batch of Unstuffed Beef Sticks, and only be able to fit 7 pounds on my smoker racks. So when everybody was saying the new MES 40 wouldn't be out until January or Spring, I said I'm waiting until the end of October or November, because that's when I think the new models will be out. Then they started popping up in Sam's Clubs & Cabela's at the end of October. I was real glad I waited when I saw the new model, with the remote control, wheels, and tilting handle. I wanted one real bad! I kept calling Sam's & searching the web. Then my son called me to tell me they had them at Cabela's, but they were $399, instead of the Sam's price of $299. I called Masterbuilt to ask what the difference was between the Sam's model (#211) and the Cabela's model (#311). A very nice lady there told me, "Only the model number, they are both the same---All Stainless Steel--inside & out". I could not understand how that could be possible. Then one of the guys on the SMF bought one at Sam's & posted pictures of it being black on the outside, and my son personally saw one at Cabela's, and told me it was all Stainless. Now we knew why the difference in price. I was quite willing to get one from Sam's, saving the $100, and not getting All Stainless, but there were none anywhere within 70 miles of my home, and the Sam's main office said no new model was even on their computer system (this was after I knew somebody had already bought one at a Sam's Club in Illinois). So Cabela's it is. I hate to lay out that much money, and the sales will be coming up in December, but I'm not taking any chances of missing one and having to wait until Spring. We're going to Cabela's with nothing but a little $30 OFF coupon! While we were getting ready to go, my son called and told my wife, "Don't leave until I get there". Our son only lives about 200 yards away, down the same driveway, farther back in the woods. So we're locking up the doors & my son pulls in, walks over to me, and hands me $500. He says, "I was going to get you that new smoker for Christmas, but since you're getting one now, I want you to use this to buy it. There's a little extra there, so get something else with that". Wow!!! What a great kid!! Somebody did a Helluva Job job raising him!!!
So we get there an hour later & buy one of the 49 brand new #311s Cabela's had in stock. The next day I cleaned up my old MES 30 (what a job!), and put it away. Yesterday I put the loose parts on the new one & tested the remote control (results below). I was going to season it yesterday, and do a bunch of tests, but it was so windy here, the tests would not have been accurate. I hope to do that today.
As you will see below the next problem I had was figuring out where to put this new smoker, but my wife was very helpful in making my decision:
Bear: If I put it in the Living Room, I'd be close to my guns, in case somebody tries to steal my Bacon.
Mrs Bear: NO!
Bear: If I put it here, I can smoke while watching the game.
Mrs Bear: NO!
Bear: If I put it here, I can keep a close eye on the Night Smokes.
Mrs Bear: NO!
Bear: If I put it here, I wouldn't have to carry the stuff very far.
Mrs Bear: NO!
Bear: How about here, next to my Weber "Q"?
Mrs Bear: OKay.
Bear: Boy does she drive a hard bargain!
No bending over, thanks to my stacker boxes (using two of my set of 4).
I tested the remote from where I'm standing while taking this picture (more than 210') from my mailbox to my front porch. The smoker is on the porch, to the left of my American Flag, and the only thing between me & the smoker is the wood porch railing & pickets. I also tested it from my chair in the living room, from the Kitchen, Dining Room, both Bedrooms, The upstairs Loft, the Basement, the Garage, and even from my deck on the other side of the house. I could turn the light in the smoker "on & off" with the remote from any of those places. I would have tested it with a clear shot from 300 feet, because that is how far it's supposed to work, but you can't walk that far in any direction from my house without going into the woods, and that would not be a "clear shot". A distance of 200'+ is fine with me:
Thanks for looking,
Bear
So we get there an hour later & buy one of the 49 brand new #311s Cabela's had in stock. The next day I cleaned up my old MES 30 (what a job!), and put it away. Yesterday I put the loose parts on the new one & tested the remote control (results below). I was going to season it yesterday, and do a bunch of tests, but it was so windy here, the tests would not have been accurate. I hope to do that today.
As you will see below the next problem I had was figuring out where to put this new smoker, but my wife was very helpful in making my decision:
Bear: If I put it in the Living Room, I'd be close to my guns, in case somebody tries to steal my Bacon.
Mrs Bear: NO!
Bear: If I put it here, I can smoke while watching the game.
Mrs Bear: NO!
Bear: If I put it here, I can keep a close eye on the Night Smokes.
Mrs Bear: NO!
Bear: If I put it here, I wouldn't have to carry the stuff very far.
Mrs Bear: NO!
Bear: How about here, next to my Weber "Q"?
Mrs Bear: OKay.
Bear: Boy does she drive a hard bargain!
No bending over, thanks to my stacker boxes (using two of my set of 4).
I tested the remote from where I'm standing while taking this picture (more than 210') from my mailbox to my front porch. The smoker is on the porch, to the left of my American Flag, and the only thing between me & the smoker is the wood porch railing & pickets. I also tested it from my chair in the living room, from the Kitchen, Dining Room, both Bedrooms, The upstairs Loft, the Basement, the Garage, and even from my deck on the other side of the house. I could turn the light in the smoker "on & off" with the remote from any of those places. I would have tested it with a clear shot from 300 feet, because that is how far it's supposed to work, but you can't walk that far in any direction from my house without going into the woods, and that would not be a "clear shot". A distance of 200'+ is fine with me:
Thanks for looking,
Bear
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