MES30 Low Smoke

[Rona0423]

New here - Appreciate any help anyone can offer.

30”Masterbuilt Electric with digital display bought off Amazon a bit back. I’ve never really felt like it rolled much smoke. Neighbor brought his same unit over today and his was billowing smoke out.

The chips in mine literally never burned down. We were both going at 250. I did have my vent closed most of the time (he did also except the hole where he had the temp probe down into the smoker and the shoulder) but his was rolling and mostly all ashes once he was done.

The only difference I really felt like was his would rarely get to 250 so his coil was constantly on more or less. Mine would get above 250 and the coil would cut off. Back and forth. Once we were all done just for testing purposes I set it to 275 with the vent wide open. I got some smoke but still no where near what my buddy was getting and it actually hit almost 290 so again, the coil was on and off. Also, the chips never burned down then either (Ran for 45 minutes).

I looked at my chip tray and coil and the alignment is all identical to his.

Thoughts?

 

[SmokingUPnorth]

You said your vent was closed? It should be wide open! Otherwise there isn’t any air flow for the chips to burn. Do you soak your chips or anything?

 

[Rona0423]

Yeah, but after we finished I emptied the chip tray and started over with it empty. Ran it at 275 for 45 minutes with it wide open and did get a bit more smoke but nothing near what my buddy’s was doing. Also, chips were still not burned down after 45 minutes at 275 (Got over 290 from time to time)

Thebox was empty, though. Not sure if that would affect that smoke though? I wouldn’t think so?

 

[kilo charlie]

An electric smoker cycles on and off just like an electric oven inside your house does.. same thing with pellet smokers.

Were you using the same wood chips?

Definitely need the vent open for air flow as already stated

 

[Rona0423]

While we were smoking, no. When I ran it at 275 empty I did use the same chips he had. I wouldn’t have thought the chips would make a difference (since neither are smoked) but I tried his anyways.

I feel like it’s just not getting hot enough or the coil doesn’t stay on long enough to ignite them and burn them. His MES30 struggled to hold the temp so his coil was constantly on I think.

I guess next time I will make sure to start with the vent wide open and see if it goes any better for the entire process.

 

[kilo charlie]

The element should come on, heat up to the set temp, then cycles off until it needs to heat again.

 

[uncle eddie]

Vent all the way open - always. It should not billow smoke either - that will make the meat taste bitter. You want thin blue smoke.

Example: The smoker on the left is way bad and the one on the right is still a bit on the heavy side.

And this is perfectly fine too

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

Next time, try leaving the chip loader tube out about an inch or so either way, rotate it 180 degrees, and set the exhaust vent wide open.
If that doesn't produce more smoke, then considering using a tube smoker or do the mail box mod. Use the search function for "mail box mod".

Also, how were you verifying the actual temps inside both smokers?

 

[Kevin DeShazo]

Also what kind of chips are you using, hickory, cherry, etc?

As many have said, smoke should not be billowing out, should be very faint, barely visible.

How did the food taste after you were done with your cook?

 

[Winterrider]

Have you verified your pit temp with a digital thermometer? Is it actually getting as warm as the set temp? My 40 would not smoke until well above 200° ( verified) with chips. Hence the mailbox mod.

 

[Buckeye02]

Next time, try leaving the chip loader tube out about an inch or so either way, rotate it 180 degrees, and set the exhaust vent wide open.
If that doesn't produce more smoke, then considering using a tube smoker or do the mail box mod. Use the search function for "mail box mod".

Also, how were you verifying the actual temps inside both smokers?

Next time, try leaving the chip loader tube out about an inch or so either way, rotate it 180 degrees, and set the exhaust vent wide open.
If that doesn't produce more smoke, then considering using a tube smoker or do the mail box mod. Use the search function for "mail box mod".

Also, how were you verifying the actual temps inside both smokers?

Leaving the chip loader out like said above really helped mine. A smoke tube in the bottom of the smoker with the chip loader left out about an inch also makes it nice for the longer smokes

 

[Rona0423]

He had a digital probe for his. I did not have one for mine. His probe was reading 10 degrees or so less than his readout in the smoker.

I will invest in a probe for mine. Need to do it anyways for sure. I was using Mesquite today.

 

[Rona0423]

Where do you get the tube you guys are referencing?

I will try to leave the chip loader out an inch or so as suggestedon next run. Maybe do some chicken just to see since it’s cheap and quick lol

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

By the way, you didn't happen to soak the wood chips did you?

 

[Rona0423]

No, they were not soaked at all.

 

[Kevin DeShazo]

Tubes and trays can be purchased from here

A-MAZE-N Products - Smoker Tubes, Fuel, Fire Starters, and More

A-MAZE-N Products builds and sells quality BBQ Smoker Tubes, smoker boxes, fire starters, wood pellets and Q-MATZ for gas, charcoal, and pellet grills.

amazenproducts.com

Or from Amazon

 

[Rona0423]

Thanks Kevin!

 

[Rona0423]

The website for amazen says for hot smoke up to 180f. Surely it’s functional beyond that? Or no?

Sorry y’all I’m super new to all of this and trying to learn. I really appreciate how responsive and helpful you’ve been!

 

[Rona0423]

Think I answered my question? Box is 180f and tube is 225+?

 

[Buckeye02]

Where do you get the tube you guys are referencing?

I will try to leave the chip loader out an inch or so as suggestedon next run. Maybe do some chicken just to see since it’s cheap and quick lol

You won't need much smoke for chicken. It's really easy to over smoke chicken with those chips in that smoker. I have an MES30 and have over smoked chicken on more than one occasion!