New MES Bluetooth Digital smoker

[remsr]

OK guess we like less smoke.
Randy,

 

[remsr]

Also guess I should have been more clear in that I foil almost everything. Ribs at 2 and 3 hours butts and brisket at 160 internal temp which is around 6 hours. Once in foil smoke is a waste. I have read information that says that after a certain point smoke is not effective but when it comes to smoking where there are no set rules I am open to all possibilities and new ideas. All I really know about smoking that makes my smokes consistent,
I learned on SMF. Most of what I say is a quote from someone else. I don't have a lot that is original to share. Pretty much all has been said and done before and their is a lot to pick and choose from.
You did cause me to question something concerning how much smoke is enough. If there is a point where smoke no longer penetrates, why do we cold smoke meat for hours? Why do we double smoke?
Randy,

 

[Bearcarver]

Also guess I should have been more clear in that I foil almost everything. Ribs at 2 and 3 hours butts and brisket at 160 internal temp which is around 6 hours. Once in foil smoke is a waste. I have read information that says that after a certain point smoke is not effective but when it comes to smoking where there are no set rules I am open to all possibilities and new ideas. All I really know about smoking that makes my smokes consistent,
I learned on SMF. Most of what I say is a quote from someone else. I don't have a lot that is original to share. Pretty much all has been said and done before and their is a lot to pick and choose from.
You did cause me to question something concerning how much smoke is enough. If there is a point where smoke no longer penetrates, why do we cold smoke meat for hours? Why do we double smoke?
Randy,

As far as I'm concerned there is no point where meat stops taking on smoke completely.

When I said I give Ribs 2 or 3 hours of smoke & Butts 6 or 7 hours, that is because I foil Ribs & Butts at those points. If I wasn't foiling, I would give the Ribs 5 to 6 hours of smoke & the Butts would get 12, 14, 16 hours, or however long it takes to get them to pulling time.

In other words, I'll say what I've said dozens of times on this forum, "I run light smoke on all of my meats the whole time it is in my smoker, unless it is foiled. The only exception is the first hour or two of Bacon getting Pellicle before putting on the Smoke."

Bear

 

[candurin]

I keep the smoke going as long as there's something in the smoker...

 

[remsr]

I am too old to damn remember to remember where I read that meat stops thanking on smoke at some point all I remember is that I did read it. I think it don't matter if everyone is pleased with what they are doing. No rules just preferences.
Randy,

 

[Bearcarver]

I am too old to damn remember to remember where I read that meat stops thanking on smoke at some point all I remember is that I did read it. I think it don't matter if everyone is pleased with what they are doing. No rules just preferences.
Randy,

Yes I've heard that too, but I don't believe it.

Many say the Smoke Ring stops at a certain Temp too, which may or may not be true. I don't worry about that, because I don't allow that Nasty Smoke Ring to even start in my MES.

Bear

 

[bionicbeast]

Well guys, I bought the 40" Gen 2.5 BT Smoker yesterday! Just did the 3 hour pre-seasoning of the smoker and then the 1 hour pre-seasoning separately for the cold smoker. Everything went great. Although my worries were correct about the terrible Bluetooth range. I might as well just go back outside with the range I have to be in to connect on my phone. And then it has to sit there for 10 seconds trying to reconnect. I've heard people mention they can contact Masterbuilt and get it swapped with an RF panel, any thoughts/experiences with that?

Secondly my question before I actually put some meat in this bad boy is about the smoke level. So I know we want the "Thin Blue Smoke". So the first picture attached is of when I was using the tiny stock wood chip loader for the last 45 min of the pre-season. It seemed to provide a good level of smoke. The 2nd picture is when pre-seasoning the cold smoker. I left the unit powered on, had the smoke vent on top fully open and it produced that extremely thick smoke. Lastly, unfortunately forgot to take a picture, I followed what was previously said in this forum about letting the cold smoker chips get ignited, then turning off the unit and opening the ash tray 1/4 inch and letting oxygen do its thing naturally and the smoke seemed to match the first picture, very light smoking. I am assuming when I get meat in there I wouldnt want that extremely thick smoke like in the 2nd picture or else the meat would taste disgusting. Is that so? If so I guess I will just do the ignite, shut off and vent option to get the cold smoker to smoke a moderate amount over a long period of time. Thanks to everyone on here by the way. You made this journey possible, I am now just excited to embark upon it!

Stock wood chip loader

IMG_20160716_193656.jpg

• bionicbeast
• Jul 17, 2016

Cold Smoker with power on and smoke vent fully open

IMG_20160716_203930.jpg

• bionicbeast
• Jul 17, 2016

 

[remsr]

If I was doing yard work, or working in my garage I would be out of range, but in either family room upper, or lower, the kitchen, or our bed room on the 3ed floor I am in range.
I simply plan my smokes around those issues.
Randy,

 

[Bearcarver]

 
Well guys, I bought the 40" Gen 2.5 BT Smoker yesterday! Just did the 3 hour pre-seasoning of the smoker and then the 1 hour pre-seasoning separately for the cold smoker. Everything went great. Although my worries were correct about the terrible Bluetooth range. I might as well just go back outside with the range I have to be in to connect on my phone. And then it has to sit there for 10 seconds trying to reconnect. I've heard people mention they can contact Masterbuilt and get it swapped with an RF panel, any thoughts/experiences with that?

Secondly my question before I actually put some meat in this bad boy is about the smoke level. So I know we want the "Thin Blue Smoke". So the first picture attached is of when I was using the tiny stock wood chip loader for the last 45 min of the pre-season. It seemed to provide a good level of smoke. The 2nd picture is when pre-seasoning the cold smoker. I left the unit powered on, had the smoke vent on top fully open and it produced that extremely thick smoke. Lastly, unfortunately forgot to take a picture, I followed what was previously said in this forum about letting the cold smoker chips get ignited, then turning off the unit and opening the ash tray 1/4 inch and letting oxygen do its thing naturally and the smoke seemed to match the first picture, very light smoking. I am assuming when I get meat in there I wouldnt want that extremely thick smoke like in the 2nd picture or else the meat would taste disgusting. Is that so? If so I guess I will just do the ignite, shut off and vent option to get the cold smoker to smoke a moderate amount over a long period of time. Thanks to everyone on here by the way. You made this journey possible, I am now just excited to embark upon it!

Stock wood chip loader

IMG_20160716_193656.jpg

• bionicbeast
• Jul 17, 2016

Cold Smoker with power on and smoke vent fully open

IMG_20160716_203930.jpg

• bionicbeast
• Jul 17, 2016

I agree---First Pic= Smoke Looks Good.

2nd Pic= Smoke too Heavy.

If you can get an RF remote for that, please let me know. I don't have anything to use with my Bluetooth, so I've just been using the controls on the Smoker itself.

Thanks,

Bear

 

[smokin papallo]

Hi Bear,

   If you look earlier in this thread Deathgrip and I posted pretty detailed instructions on how we got Masterbuilt to ship us the RF unit for our 2.5. I now have both the bluetooth and RF control unit.

 

[smokin papallo]

Does anyone know if I can use the AMNPS pellets in the slow/cold smoker attachment?

 

[Bearcarver]

 
Hi Bear,

   If you look earlier in this thread Deathgrip and I posted pretty detailed instructions on how we got Masterbuilt to ship us the RF unit for our 2.5. I now have both the bluetooth and RF control unit.

Thanks---I'll see if I can find that.

Bear

 

[bionicbeast]

 
Hi Bear,

   If you look earlier in this thread Deathgrip and I posted pretty detailed instructions on how we got Masterbuilt to ship us the RF unit for our 2.5. I now have both the bluetooth and RF control unit.

I think I read those, where you mentioned that the temperature on the panel was saying like 900 degrees or something? But if we don't have that issue, should we just ask for the RF attachment outright or would we have to tell a little white lie that our panel is messed up in order to get it? 

I believe masterbuilt recommends not using pellets in the cold smoker, but even if you did I'm not sure it would get hot enough to light them. If you normally need a torch to get them lit properly, I'm not sure if the electric heater will get hot enough to make them smoke.

 

[Bearcarver]

 
I think I read those, where you mentioned that the temperature on the panel was saying like 900 degrees or something? But if we don't have that issue, should we just ask for the RF attachment outright or would we have to tell a little white lie that our panel is messed up in order to get it? 

I found that discussion, and that's a good question about the "Little White Lie".

You would think we could just buy an RF remote & control that would work with the Gen #2.5 that we have.

Bear

 

[smokin papallo]

Yes, I had no choice. My bluetooth would stay connected but the temp would get stuck and basically stay pegged. Customer service was great about it. You could just tell them the bluetooth is not connecting or staying connected which is basically true. I did have to "guide" her into sending me the RF unit. She was wanting to just send me another BT unit. She used my model # to find the correct RF module as she said they differ depending on where it was manufactured.

 

[candurin]

My BT works pretty well from inside my kitchen and family room. Having said that, what kind of range do you get on the RF remotes?

 

[Bearcarver]

My BT works pretty well from inside my kitchen and family room. Having said that, what kind of range do you get on the RF remotes?

Here's what I posted back in 2010 about the RF Remote's Range:

I tested the remote from where I'm standing while taking this picture (more than 210') from my mailbox to my front porch. The smoker is on the porch, to the left of my American Flag, and the only thing between me & the smoker is the wood porch railing & pickets. I also tested it from my chair in the living room, from the Kitchen, Dining Room, both Bedrooms, The upstairs Loft, the Basement, the Garage, and even from my deck on the other side of the house. I could turn the light in the smoker "on & off" with the remote from any of those places. I would have tested it with a clear shot from 300 feet, because that is how far it's supposed to work, but you can't walk that far in any direction from my house without going into the woods, and that would not be a "clear shot". A distance of 200'+ is fine with me:

View media item 182784

 

[mummel]

Such a nice home Bear.

 

[Bearcarver]

 
Such a nice home Bear.

Thank You Much!

Bear

 

[bionicbeast]

So i emailed customer service about this and this was their reply:

"Both the Bluetooth connection and our RF remotes have a range of up to 100 feet. However, that would decrease if there is interference. You can convert your smoker from Bluetooth to the RF remote, but you would need to purchase the control panel and remote. The control panel is typically $49.99 plus shipping and the remotes are $29.99, if you wanted to purchase both those, I can discount them to $19.99 each. If you are interested in placing an order, please let me know."

So I'm not sure if the RF range has been decreased since your review of 200-300 feet Bear, but apparently something is different now since its only 100ft according to CS. Now to decide if its worth $40 to switch to RF....
 

 
I found that discussion, and that's a good question about the "Little White Lie".

You would think we could just buy an RF remote & control that would work with the Gen #2.5 that we have.

Bear