MES40 Temp Inaccuracy Making Me Crazy

[tallbm]

 
Without getting into the how and why's of this discussion I have a question about temp variations in the MES30 that affects what I want to do..

When making snack sticks (which is one big reason I got an electric smoker) and hanging them from rods these temp variations would make the different areas of the sticks done at different times. I want to make these and not have burnt at the bottom and raw at the top with a few inches of perfect in the middle. I don't know if PIDs, fans or anything else will really help so  how are people making these sticks with good results?

Based on some comments above I could make some and put them on a single rack and try to get the goal temp for that rack but that would be a very small amount to sticks for each cook.

So in the spirit of this discussion can anyone tell me how to make all areas get done at the same time?

I don't do snack sticks but I have done jerky sticks in my oven on racks I the ones around the sides would finish before the ones in the middle.  I would just start pulling the ones that were ready and let the others finish.  I know that doesn't really apply for hanging sticks but how about this.

 I don't think you would have raw sticks vs finished.  If smoking snack sticks at low temps like doing sausage you shouldn't end up drying out the sticks or melting the fat even if the ones at the bottom finish before the ones at the top.

If you tied your snack sticks in a big loop over the hanging stick/dowel you could always rotate the chain of sticks to cook more evenly but again if smoking at the proper temp (no higher than 165F-180F) I don't think you will end up with dry sticks because the fat should not be melting out.

I hope this gives some food for thought :)

 

[Bearcarver]

 
Without getting into the how and why's of this discussion I have a question about temp variations in the MES30 that affects what I want to do..

When making snack sticks (which is one big reason I got an electric smoker) and hanging them from rods these temp variations would make the different areas of the sticks done at different times. I want to make these and not have burnt at the bottom and raw at the top with a few inches of perfect in the middle. I don't know if PIDs, fans or anything else will really help so  how are people making these sticks with good results?

Based on some comments above I could make some and put them on a single rack and try to get the goal temp for that rack but that would be a very small amount to sticks for each cook.

So in the spirit of this discussion can anyone tell me how to make all areas get done at the same time?

You could always rotate your racks to get them done more evenly.

Or if you want you can remove them a few at a time as they finish.

However as long as you aren't smoking at a real high Smoker temp, it shouldn't hurt if you leave them all in until the slowest ones finish. Such as, if you're smoking them to 160° IT, if your smoker temp is at 175° none of them should get too well done.

Bear

 
I have had the same good experience with Masterbuilt Customer Service with my MES40.  I hope you find it just as good.

Lately, my temperature sensor does not work well over 235F...so my MES40 runs hot when I set it at any temp over 235F.  If I set it at 240F or above, it runs about 275F-285F because the temp sensor never climbs above 235F. I am actually liking this glitch.  

Hmmm---That's odd that it does that.

I see why you're liking it, but if it starts going up to 325°, be careful it doesn't go any farther. The insulation may not take it.

Bear

 

[uncle eddie]

 
Hmmm---That's odd that it does that.

I see why you're liking it, but if it starts going up to 325°, be careful it doesn't go any farther. The insulation may not take it.

Bear

Exactly my concern as well - so I popped a thermometer into the exhaust port and check the temperature manually every time I visit my smoker.

 

[Bearcarver]

 
Exactly my concern as well - so I popped a thermometer into the exhaust port and check the temperature manually every time I visit my smoker.

Good!!!

When they sent me the POS Gen #2 a few years ago, it had something loose in the control, and it got up over 330°.

I shut it down & I could hear a crinkling noise. I put my ear against the left side wall, because the right one was too hot, and I could hear what I assume was the insulation crinkling. It kept doing that until it cooled down to more normal temps.

That's why I pay attention if it gets to 300°, and make sure it doesn't get much higher.

Bear

 

[dward51]

 
Without getting into the how and why's of this discussion I have a question about temp variations in the MES30 that affects what I want to do..

When making snack sticks (which is one big reason I got an electric smoker) and hanging them from rods these temp variations would make the different areas of the sticks done at different times. I want to make these and not have burnt at the bottom and raw at the top with a few inches of perfect in the middle. I don't know if PIDs, fans or anything else will really help so  how are people making these sticks with good results?

Based on some comments above I could make some and put them on a single rack and try to get the goal temp for that rack but that would be a very small amount to sticks for each cook.

So in the spirit of this discussion can anyone tell me how to make all areas get done at the same time?

Hondo,

I do my snack sticks cut to length and laying horizontal on the grates in my MES Custom SS.  And yes, I run a PID for precise temp control and do my sticks in multiple steps finishing at 170* until the sticks reach 152-154* internal.

It depends on how many grates I'm running as to if I need to rotate them for even heating.   It is just a fact of life with a rising column of heater air that as it hits multiple grates there is more heat on the bottom grate/rack.  I usually don't start rotating grates until I'm running 4 or more in my modded MES.  Reason is there is the most heat/energy in the air column as it hits the food on the bottom grate. Some of this heat/energy is sucked up by the food on the bottom grate, so there is slightly less energy/heat flowing upwards to the next grate.  The process repeats and the more grates/racks of food you have the greater will be the need to rotate them at smoke point during the smoke.

For snack sticks and whole muscle jerky I have figured out that in my modded MES Custom SS, I can rotate the racks at about the 2/3rd time point and only have to do this once.  I swap the top and bottom grate, the 2nd from top and 2nd from bottom, etc...  So basically if I'm running 5 grates, the middle grate stays put the entire smoke.  Mine heats evenly front to back and side to side, so I only have to deal with the rising air column heat loss into the food as described above.

Here is a recent snack stick & jerky run in my modded MES "Custom SS".  I've started using those teflon coated fiberglass mesh mats since these batches were made. No sticking of the jerky that way.

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• dward51
• Jun 25, 2017

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• dward51
• Jun 25, 2017

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• dward51
• Jun 24, 2017

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• dward51
• Jun 24, 2017

 

[hondo]

That may be how I will need to do them. How much meat weight do you have in there in this photo? Looks like about 100 6" long pieces, is that about right?

I need to figure out how many can be made with 5# of meat and if I can do 5# all at once.

Yours look like they came out perfect.

I have one of those mesh racks and smoked a couple sausage patties on it and it works well and cleans up OK in the dish washer. I will want to get more of them.

 

[dward51]

Jerky was 4.5 pounds initial weight and the sticks were 6 pounds stuffed in 21mm casings.  I think I could get 10 pounds of sticks in there in a single batch if I used all the shelves and put the pellet tray down at the bottom (or used external mailbox mod type box feeding smoke to the air inlet).  I would definitely need to rotate the racks on that sort of a load, and probably more than once as some of the racks are much closer to the heating element.

The mesh rack liners came from Amazon and were like $9 for a set of 2 of them. Measured 15 3/4" x 13" and I trimmed them to fit the racks.  I just checked and the vendor via Amazon I bought them from show they are currently unavailable, but you get the idea.

Not sure on the count of 6" trimmed sticks, but they are all gone and I need to make more!!!!

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• dward51
• Jun 25, 2017

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• dward51
• Jun 26, 2017