Need Some Advice and Help (Prepping for Thanksgiving)

[genghiskong]

Like Red said, you can adjust the temp. Just keep bumping it up or down til your thermoworks says thats the temp you want. Then remember what corresponding temp the MES is set at for next time.

Like Red I never use the water dish. Mine is filled with sand and foiled over to keep the sand clean.

The AMNPS you can find on this site. The owner Todd is a great guy (and a sponsor) and he'll answer anything you ask him. No idea what it sells for--I'm a Canuck and had to buy it up here as Todd doesn't export except to dealers.

Until you make up your mind on the AMNPS, the chip tray will work pefectly fine--you just have to keep refilling it.

Gary

Thank you Gary!

Thank you for the advice. I'll definitely do what you and Red suggested.

I was looking into doing the whole "sand" thing but I may hold off for now.

I'll do some more research on the AMNPS but as for now as you mentioned, I'll just use the chip tray. I noticed that yesterday (when I seasoned it) a full side loader of chips lasts about 45 minutes.

 

[seenred]

Good morning Red!

Thank you very much for the information. Honestly I wouldn't have known you can adjust the temperature haha... I guess I'll go ahead and make sure I do that in addition to using my Smoke from ThermoWorks.

I think I'm going to stick with your recommendation on not using any liquid in the pan. I took your advice without using liquid in my other little red and things came out better. So I'm sure it'll come out better with this smoker as well.

I will definitely look into the AMNPS. Where can that be purchased by the way? How much does it typically cost?

Another thing Red, so I got in contact with MasterBuilt just because I had a situation come up. You know when you install the top controller unit, where the screw goes into place on top of the unit? Basically when you line up the screw on the top (not the back) and shift the controller "forward" to lock into place. Well, there's this white sticky tape material sort of thing where the hole is. I asked the rep at MasterBuilt if I'm supposed to remove it or just leave it alone and put the controller on there and he told me to just put it on there. I wanted to make sure I'm doing it right. The rep also gave me some pointers when I was talking to him which is to wipe down the inside of the smoker with water and vinegar after every single use. I don't think I'm going to do that... Based off of what I've researched and what you recommended, that's "seasoning". So why would the rep advise me to clean it every single time?

OH! And the last thing... I noticed when I was wiping down the "seal" around the door, the inside of the seal (not the outer) is not really sticking; especially on the bottom. Like where they would put glue to hold it in place, it didn't stick. I noticed on the left, right, and top side of the seal; its not glued at all. Well, at least not like the bottom. The bottom has some glue here and there but not fully glued. So I asked the rep and just as a safety precaution, he's going to be sending me another door since my unit is brand new. Have you ever heard of this seal problem? I know its hard to read this and picture what I'm talking about. But hopefully you understand...

Thank you Red!!

Those AMNPS smoke generators are sold by A-Maze-N Products. You should be able to find a link here on the forums somewhere...or just google it. As Gary mentioned, the owner, Todd Johnson, is a member here as well as a site sponsor. Great guy with great products.

I doubt I could add anything to what the CS guy from Masterbuilt said. It's good of them to ship you a new door, cuz that faulty door gasket would definitely be an issue. I'm not sure why they recommend cleaning interior surfaces after each use...but like I said, I wouldn't do that. That "seasoning" adds flavor.

Edit: BTW you can order an AMNPS package that comes with a supply of pellets for a little more than $50.

Red

 

[genghiskong]

Thank you for the information Red.

I'll go ahead and look up the AMNPS.

As for the issue with MasterBuilt, yeah... I'm glad they are going to send me a door to fix the issue.

As for the cleaning, I'm going to stick to your recommendation.

Thanks again Red!

 

[genghiskong]

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• genghiskong
• Nov 24, 2016

There it is guys. Smoked this bird for about 6 ~ 7 hours. Skin came out rubbery. But the rest of the bird... Oh my. It was tender and juicy. I think from now on I'm just gonna take the skin off after smoking before serving.

I had a question for you guys. So I preheated the MES30. When it was about temp pretty much I put the turkey in. I think I left the door open too long so it had to get up to temp again. I added wood chips when it was the temp was almost ready. The wood chips caught on fire! It scared the crap outta me. I heard it poof! Like combust and then I looked from the wood chip loader and saw fire. As soon as it went out I opened up the smoker and released all that nasty smoke. I then waited a while and when it was back to temp I loaded it again and poof! Fire again. Did the same thing by releasing the nasty smoke. I then loaded only 8 chips at a time and everything worked fine. I slowly increased the chips once I had a nice bed of ash. Did I do something wrong? Maybe because I accidently put Pam in the wood chip box area when I first seasoned it. Not quite sure... But there definitely wasn't any oil in the wood chip box. I also have the retro box so I know it's not because of that. Anyways, the turkey was a success except for the skin but I can live with that. I love the MES30. I didn't damage it by the fire right? It didn't last too long and I basically god rid of the wood and smoke. Thanks again guys. Thank you got everything. You guys rock!

 

[seenred]

Hey GK,

First off, that turkey looks terrific! Glad it turned out so tasty. Nicely done! Thumbs Up.

Now if you don't care whether you have crisp skin, you can certainly just remove the rubbery skin next time before eating. But, if you really want crispy skin, it's hard to get the MES hot enough to make it so...but you could always pull the bird and finish it in a hot oven for the last hour or so. This should crisp the skin up nicely.

Now, your chip fire...could be a couple things that were the cause. Hard to say for sure without knowing all the variables, but my first guess is something that seems to have already occurred to you...it sounds like you simply started with too many chips in the tray at one time. When you cut back on the chips, sounds like it worked like a charm.

Every time you smoke, you learn something new. You'll be mastering that MES before you know it!

Red

 

[genghiskong]

Hey GK,

First off, that turkey looks terrific! Glad it turned out so tasty. Nicely done! Thumbs Up.

Now if you don't care whether you have crisp skin, you can certainly just remove the rubbery skin next time before eating. But, if you really want crispy skin, it's hard to get the MES hot enough to make it so...but you could always pull the bird and finish it in a hot oven for the last hour or so. This should crisp the skin up nicely.

Now, your chip fire...could be a couple things that were the cause. Hard to say for sure without knowing all the variables, but my first guess is something that seems to have already occurred to you...it sounds like you simply started with too many chips in the tray at one time. When you cut back on the chips, sounds like it worked like a charm.

Every time you smoke, you learn something new. You'll be mastering that MES before you know it!

Red

Thank you so very much Red! It definitely came out great. Thanks for the compliment. I may try to do a duck next and oven it for the last cooking time period as tour suggested. Crispy duck skin is amazing. Honestly, I've never had such tender turkey in my life. This Smoker has changed the way I think of cooking meat.

As for the fire, yeah. I think it was the factor of putting too much chips at once. I may start just doing 8 pieces at a time and build that bed of ash. I read somewhere that the bed of ash helps the wood smolder instead of having it catch on fire.

I hope so on the mastering part haha. I wouldn't mind helping others with the same problems I've had before. Quick question got you though Red, do you think that small fire damaged anything? Just cause I've read that the Masterbuilts sometimes have issues with the element wiring melting or burning... The fire wasn't lit long. It died and I got rid of the Smoke. Thanks again Red! Happy Thanksgiving

 

[seenred]

Depends on how hot it got and how long it lasted. You could probably damage the smoker if the temp spiked to, say above 400*, and it stayed that hot for an extended time. Those MES rigs are designed to operate at less than 300*, so much higher temps could conceivably be bad for them. From your description though, it doesn't sound like that happened in this case, so if you don't notice any obvious damage, you're probably fine.

Red

 

[genghiskong]

Depends on how hot it got and how long it lasted. You could probably damage the smoker if the temp spiked to, say above 400*, and it stayed that hot for an extended time. Those MES rigs are designed to operate at less than 300*, so much higher temps could conceivably be bad for them. From your description though, it doesn't sound like that happened in this case, so if you don't notice any obvious damage, you're probably fine.

Red

Thanks Red! Is there any way of knowing any noticeable damage? Or at least what to look for? I mean my smoke box is pretty black, from the fire and combination of smoke of course. Everything else in the box itself just looks like seasoning. I checked the bottom and back (outside) of the box and there's no blackness. The fire didn't last that long because I literally saw it happen do I stayed there. As soon as it stopped I opened up the smoker to get all the head and nasty smoke out. I remember looking at the temp and it wasn't even at 200s yet because it took me forever to get the turkey in. The second time the wood chips caught fire I did the same exact thing, I was there when it happened. I just want to make sure nothing is damaged... Thanks again Red!

 

[seenred]

Since you continued to operate it, if it worked fine for the rest of the cook, it's probably not damaged. But if you're still worried, you could call their CS line again, explain what happened, and ask what and where you could check for any damage. I don't remember exactly...it's been a long time since I sold my MES40, but there may be some panels you could remove to check for burned wiring. I'd call them first though...before you start tearing into anything that might void the warranty.

I'm not sure any of that is necessary without seeing it in person...like I said it's probably not damaged at all, no longer than your fire lasted. A little soot is expected if the chip tray was on fire, but doesn't necessarily mean damage.

Red

 

[genghiskong]

Since you continued to operate it, if it worked fine for the rest of the cook, it's probably not damaged. But if you're still worried, you could call their CS line again, explain what happened, and ask what and where you could check for any damage. I don't remember exactly...it's been a long time since I sold my MES40, but there may be some panels you could remove to check for burned wiring. I'd call them first though...before you start tearing into anything that might void the warranty.

I'm not sure any of that is necessary without seeing it in person...like I said it's probably not damaged at all, no longer than your fire lasted. A little soot is expected if the chip tray was on fire, but doesn't necessarily mean damage.

Red

That makes perfect sense. Thank you again Red. I'm the type of person to "worry" a lot lol... But in gonna take your advice. It operated hours after the fire so I think everything is good with it. If anything I'll call them. But Amazon where I bought it from had a return period of end of January. I'm planning on using it every week till then. I heard it's good to use it every week anyways, helps with not accumulating any mold of any sort. I'm so in love with this thing. We all had the left over smoked turkey this morning with eggs. It was delicious. Gonna make sure from now till then everything is fine. Thanks and again Red!!!

 

[Redlegs01]

Question not reply and apologies if I've missed a posting that answers what I am asking. I have my bird temp in the breast at 165 degrees. How long to I maintain this temp if my dark meat is not registering 165 so that I do not dry out the breast meat. I am not confident in the different probe I am testing the dark meat with but any input is appreciated. Correction since posting: I used another probe and it's only 145 temp on the dark meat.