Hey folks. Omaha checking in with First Smoke.
Bought Masterbuilt Electric Smokehouse at Cabela's for $149 last Wednesday. Thursday did a seasoning for 3 hours set at 275 and put in hickory chips last hour. No problem coming up to that 275, and maybe took 1/2 hour to get there. This was on a cool evening and was maybe 40F outside.
On Sunday did 5.7 lbs of extra meaty babybacks. No wind out side and temp was 40-43 degrees F. Started about to pre-heat at 11am, but didn't realize that I needed the timer set to get it going, so got started a little late, but once I realized, I just put in the pork without pre-heating about 1145. Water pan filled a little over 1/2 with hot water. I had very little smoke escape from the unit door, and everything seemed to be well sealed.
After 1/2 hour and again at an hour the temp just wouldn't get up. I think I maxed at a reading of 210. After about an 1 1/2 hours I dropped a temp probe through the top air damper, and it read 250. So after playing with it for the next 1 1/2 hours, I found that setting the MES to about 177, got me an average temp of 225 on the external thermometer, with a range of 215-235. I basically went for the 3-2-1 and even with the issues trying to figure the temp out, I ended up with pretty good raves on the ribs, with the meat pulling off the bone cleanly without it just falling off. I used 1/3 hickory, 2/3 apple soaked. Foiled about 2:30, Pulled out about 4:30, put on a light coat of a simple bbq sauce and put back in for another hour. Let set for about 20 minutes covered and dug in.
My question is should I be worried about the temperature issue, or just depend on my own thermometer? (I'm even thinking of a second one for the meat itself and just extra assurance). Problem at the time is that with such a variance I didn't know if my external thermometer or the MES unit was the one with the most accurate temp. After eating, I took everything out of the MES and cranked it to 275 and and the cooker read 285 after about 1/2 hour, with my probe reading 350.
I can only assume the water and amount of meat had some impact on the temperature. I did mess with the air damper, and this did help it come up to temp quicker, but the unit never did get to a reading of 225 (but the external did). Unit generated plenty of smoke and I think pretty early in the heat process. Any reason to think this unit has a problem?
Thanks for all the postings to date. Nice site. I was going back and forth between the MES and a Cookshack, but thought I should go the lower dollar route as a first smoker.
Bought Masterbuilt Electric Smokehouse at Cabela's for $149 last Wednesday. Thursday did a seasoning for 3 hours set at 275 and put in hickory chips last hour. No problem coming up to that 275, and maybe took 1/2 hour to get there. This was on a cool evening and was maybe 40F outside.
On Sunday did 5.7 lbs of extra meaty babybacks. No wind out side and temp was 40-43 degrees F. Started about to pre-heat at 11am, but didn't realize that I needed the timer set to get it going, so got started a little late, but once I realized, I just put in the pork without pre-heating about 1145. Water pan filled a little over 1/2 with hot water. I had very little smoke escape from the unit door, and everything seemed to be well sealed.
After 1/2 hour and again at an hour the temp just wouldn't get up. I think I maxed at a reading of 210. After about an 1 1/2 hours I dropped a temp probe through the top air damper, and it read 250. So after playing with it for the next 1 1/2 hours, I found that setting the MES to about 177, got me an average temp of 225 on the external thermometer, with a range of 215-235. I basically went for the 3-2-1 and even with the issues trying to figure the temp out, I ended up with pretty good raves on the ribs, with the meat pulling off the bone cleanly without it just falling off. I used 1/3 hickory, 2/3 apple soaked. Foiled about 2:30, Pulled out about 4:30, put on a light coat of a simple bbq sauce and put back in for another hour. Let set for about 20 minutes covered and dug in.
My question is should I be worried about the temperature issue, or just depend on my own thermometer? (I'm even thinking of a second one for the meat itself and just extra assurance). Problem at the time is that with such a variance I didn't know if my external thermometer or the MES unit was the one with the most accurate temp. After eating, I took everything out of the MES and cranked it to 275 and and the cooker read 285 after about 1/2 hour, with my probe reading 350.
I can only assume the water and amount of meat had some impact on the temperature. I did mess with the air damper, and this did help it come up to temp quicker, but the unit never did get to a reading of 225 (but the external did). Unit generated plenty of smoke and I think pretty early in the heat process. Any reason to think this unit has a problem?
Thanks for all the postings to date. Nice site. I was going back and forth between the MES and a Cookshack, but thought I should go the lower dollar route as a first smoker.