Well i have had a mes30 for a few years. My second one. Always been a little dissatisfied with the quality of the product compared to my sidebox smoker but the set it and forget it of an electric is very attractive as i get older. It used to be fun staying up all night cooking. Not so much any more.
That said after reading about modifications on these forum and being the kind of guy that likes that kind of stuff i went at it.
First the huge swings in temperature needed to be adressed. My smoker often varied from 219 to over 250 when set on 225. Did the pid mod and now those temperature swings are less than 5 degrees each way. My pid cost $50.
Next i needed to regulate the smoke better. I built a mailbox out of an old electrical pullbox that i had laying around and put an Amnps tray in it. My chickens and ribs used to come out black using the chip loader. Look at the color of the ribs and turkey in the pics below.
Now i have an electric smoker that i am satisfied with. Only thing left original is the box and element.
That said after reading about modifications on these forum and being the kind of guy that likes that kind of stuff i went at it.
First the huge swings in temperature needed to be adressed. My smoker often varied from 219 to over 250 when set on 225. Did the pid mod and now those temperature swings are less than 5 degrees each way. My pid cost $50.
Next i needed to regulate the smoke better. I built a mailbox out of an old electrical pullbox that i had laying around and put an Amnps tray in it. My chickens and ribs used to come out black using the chip loader. Look at the color of the ribs and turkey in the pics below.
Now i have an electric smoker that i am satisfied with. Only thing left original is the box and element.
